Relativized Cindynics offers a strategic analysis and operational management instrument that can be used in complex situations, based on a set of models at different levels. They extend the field of Cindynics to conflict situations, and were conceived as an actionable response to Qiao and Wang's Great Art of War. While the models may seem complex at first glance, in practice they prove to be very simple to use: the important point is to understand where their fundamental concepts come from, and how Mioara Mugur-Schächter's conceptualization method has enabled them to be constructed and freely developed.
Georges-Yves Kervern, between millennial strategic thinking and Quantum Mechanics
Georges-Yves Kervern has drawn on two major sources of thought to develop Cindynics: that of Sun Tzu, and that of Mioara Mugur-Schächter. Cindynics are unique in that they adopt a propensionist approach to go beyond traditional frequency-based approaches to risk management, such as the macro-quantitative methods used to predict coups d'état, which have clearly failed. Although the contribution of Karl Popper, who saw propensities as forces, is often invoked, it was Sun Tzu who inspired Georges-Yves Kervern: mastering propensity (‘shi ’) is the core concept of the Art of War, and is based on the systematic ex ante trapping of possibilities.
Mastering propensities means not undergoing an unwanted transformation, and succeeding in carrying out a preventive transformation to forge resilience. And in conflict situations, it means mastering the transformations desired by the antagonists. The need to take conflicts into account led to the development of Relativized Cindynics, designed in particular to take account of hybrid wars and information warfare, at a time when this issue was institutionally underestimated, particularly in diplomatic circles, which led, for example, to the departure of Barkhane.
Mioara Mugur-Schächter, physicist who crossed the Iron Curtain to join Louis de Broglie
The formalization of Relativized Cindynics is based on intensive use of the Relativized Conceptualization Method (MRC) developed by Mioara Mugur-Schächter as part of her research in Quantum Mechanics. Mioara Mugur-Schächter began her career by invalidating von Neumann's theorem.
She took this approach one step further when Louis de Broglie offered her the opportunity to write her thesis in France, after becoming aware of her work. He praised the exceptional quality of this thesis, noting the logical rigor of its demonstration. Louis de Broglie was the father of the wave-corpuscle duality: the coexistence of two valid models of the same phenomenon could not help but prompt a focus on the process of constructing models. This is what Mioara Mugur-Schächter set out to do when developing MRC.
MRC is a unique epistemic method for conceptualizing conflictualities
Although Mioara Mugur-Schächter is first and foremost a physicist, MRC is a method that enables the formal construction of scientific concepts and the description of phenomena, making a major and unparalleled contribution to epistemology.
This essentially constructivist method is Husserlian in that the relativity of the observer's point of view is systematically considered: in practice, this philosophical aspect is fundamental in the analysis of conflict situations.
Cindynic models that can be used at different levels of expertise
MRC can be used in a wide range of fields, from the sciences of danger to the social sciences, and goes far beyond the scope of Quantum Mechanics. When applied, it is a powerful and rigorous method of conceptualization, which leaves a great deal of freedom to its users. Few people understand the work of Mioara Mugur-Schächter, and many, like her friend Edgar Morin, may have been intimidated by MRC's mathematical appearance. That said, it's perfectly possible to use MRC in a straightforward way, without needing to understand all of Mioara Mugur-Schächter's work on physics.
What's more, while MRC may enable some users to refine models, you don't need to know it to use existing Cindynic models. With this in mind, a Cindynic method totally masking MRC processes is currently being finalized, which could help democratize Cindynics, and thus risk prevention, conflict reduction and the efficiency of development actions.
Cindyniques, Art de la guerre, et Mécanique Quantique