This saying comes from Sunzi, the well-known military strategist, who said that the best military strategy is “to defeat the enemy without going to war.” He listed two ways for achieving this: ( 1 ) the use of stratagems to foil the enemy’s plans; ( 2 ) the use of diplomacy to totally isolate the enemy. The opponent is thus forced into a hopeless situation and compelled to submit. This is an over-arching vision of military strategy that combines politics, force, and diplomacy, and has been the ideal of generations of successful commanders. This thinking is prevalent up to the present day in international relations, “business wars,” and other areas. At its heart is the dictum “build yourself and form alliances.”

Winning every battle is not the wisest use of force. Making the enemy surrender without fighting is the best military strategy. The preferred way is to foil the enemy’s plans, the next best to use diplomacy, failing that to attack the enemy’s forces, and the least desirable is to assault the enemy’s cities. Assaulting cities is a last resort when all else has failed. (The Art of War)