For years, I have done a lot of commentary on various radio shows about the War on Terror, especially since I have an award-winning book on the topic. Real war, of course, provides some of the best illustrations of Sun Tzu's ideas. Right now, we are seeing a huge shift in climate in the terror war. Like a change of seasons, this climate change has many different aspects, but the general shift is more important than any of its components, but its most important components, a recent airstrike by Israel against Syria, isn't getting much publicity at all. Why not?

Sun Tzu taught that all systems exist as cycles powered by opposing but complementary forces. When you are stopped by what you see as a "what comes first?" problem, the answer is often than neither comes first, but that the elements can only be understood as a cycle. Neither the chicken or the egg comes first. They are both part of a cycle. Think about working cycles the same way you ride a bicycle. You press on one peddle then the other, depending on their position in the cycle. You cannot move forward if you press on only one pedal, no matter how hard you work.