The 36 Stratagems — made usable.

Plain-English doctrine, evidence, and counters for leaders under pressure.

Explore by Domain

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Economic Warfare

Use trade, subsidies, and supply-chain leverage to shape choices without firing a shot. In boom times it looks like cooperation; in crisis it feels like coercion. The art is dependency—who needs whom when shocks hit.

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Financial & Monetary Warfare

Currencies, debt, and capital flows are invisible terrain. Incentives draw investment and technology inward; regulations, listings, and liquidity become pressure points when narratives turn.

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Information Warfare

Narrative is infrastructure. Control channels, flood the zone, and tune algorithms so optimism amplifies—and dissent dissolves. The same tools that educate can anesthetize.

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Psychological Warfare (PsyOps)

Morale is a resource. Signals of abundance calm; signals of scarcity and risk reshape behavior. Fear and hope cycle to wear down resistance and normalize new baselines.

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Legal Warfare (Lawfare)

Rules, standards, and jurisdictions are slow-moving weapons. Procedure outlasts protest: selective enforcement, venue shopping, and emergency acts turn legality into leverage.

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United Front / Political Influence

Coalitions decide outcomes before votes are cast. Shape elites, boards, campuses, and associations so interests converge—then decisions ‘naturally’ align.

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Asymmetric & Irregular Warfare

Small moves, outsized effects. Proxies, deniable ops, and gray-zone probes stretch defenses while staying below thresholds that would trigger open conflict.

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Cyber & Tech Warfare

Software eats the battlespace. Intrusions, data leverage, AI models, and supply-chain implants create persistent access—quiet influence that compounds over time.

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Cultural & Ideological Warfare

Stories teach people what to want. Curricula, platforms, and entertainment stitch identity. Showcase success, edit history, and values move with the medium.

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AI & Cognitive Systems

The engine room. Models steer what people see, buy, vote, and fear. We audit data, test outputs, and force human override on high-impact calls. No black boxes in safety-critical use.

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Biological & Chemical

Quiet weapons wreck communities. We trace precursors and partners, deploy testing and SOPs, and move fast when lives are on the line. Evidence preserved, end-use vetted.

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Data & Surveillance

Data is fuel. Treat it like ammo. Cut collection to the bone, lock down the rest, and rip out hostile gear. SBOMs, provenance, zero-trust, on-prem where it counts.

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