The changing character

of war
The changing character of war
Introduction
Definitions
The nature of war
The revolution in military affairs
Postmodern war
Newwars
Conclusion
The changing character of war
The changing character of war
The changing character of war
The changing character of war
After post-cold war
Nature of war changing (for some)
Economic interdependence + spread of democracy

Some groups of states - SECURITY COMMUNITIES

War between them is

NO LONGER A POSSIBILITY
The changing character of war
Elsewhere in the world
War has continued to exist
Different forms.
USA - use of advanced technology

REVOLUTION IN MILITARY AFFAIRS

The changing character of war
Other parts of the world

Non-state actors prominent

Unsophisticated military technology,
Atrocities a commonplace.
The changing character of war
Contemporary World

History - Around 14,400 wars: 3.5 billion deaths

Since 1815 - 224 to 559 wars

1990s - the least violent decade since the end of WWII

very present in many regions
With novel features
The changing character of war
The utility of warfare
Past two centuries- war seen as a brutal form of politics

INSTRUMENTALITY OF WAR
Defense
Deterrence
Support of foreign and defense policies
 The changing character of war
The utility of warfare

Post-cold war period

threats have not taken the form of traditional state-to -state military rivalry
More amorphous and less predictable threats:
Terrorism
Insurgencies
The changing character of war
Carl von Clausewitz
The fundamental nature of war
the use of violence in pursuit
of political goals
is immutable.

1780- 1831
 The changing character of war
Carl von Clausewitz
The nature of war
the constant, universal, and inherent qualities that shape war as a political
instrument throughout the ages:
Violence, Chance, And Uncertainty
The forms of war
the circumstantial, and adaptive features that war develops
each displaying attributes determined by
socio-political and historical preconditions.
 The changing character of war
Characteristics might change
But
THE ESSENTIAL NATURE OF WAR COULD NOT
Clausewitz - new characteristics of war: the result of new ideas and social
conditions
Globalization - constant change

Changes in the forms of warfare

Wars must be understood within the wider contexts of their political and cultural
environments.
The changing character of war
New communications, New technologies,
New fields of warfare have emerged.

Nonstate actors
New Battlegrounds
Cyberspace
Global media
The changing character of war

Past - the battlefield

Now - the battlespace
three-dimensional : including airpower and satellites
in some senses
non-dimensional - cyberspace
The changing character of war
 The changing character of war
Military technology with enormous destructive capacity
available to more states.

Technology to produce and deliver weapons of mass destruction is spreading

Highly advanced 'conventional military technology
such as remotely piloted 'drone' aircraft - widely available.
The changing character of war

Definitions
The changing character of war
War - large number of sometimes contradictory definitions.
For some - any form of armed and organized physical conflict

CLAUSEWITZ:

'an act of force intended to compel our opponents to fulfil our will

' War is a continuation of politics by other means, '.

 The changing character of war
Webster's Dictionary

'a state of usually open and declared armed hostile conflict between states or
nations'.
PROBLEM
Current era - nonstate groups have become prominent actors in contemporary
warfare.
 The changing character of war
Hedley Bull
organised violence carried on by
political units against each other

Bull insisted:
Violence is not war unless
it is both carried out by a political unit,
and directed against another political
unit.

1932 1985
 The changing character of war
What goals are involved?
how much violence is required for an armed clash to be called a 'war?
Choosing a particular threshold (arbitrary):
Singer and Small definition: a war should to involve at least 1,000 battle deaths
per year.
By this token:
The 1982 Falklands/Malvinas War between Argentina and the UK doesnt qualfy
 The changing character of war
Quincy Wright
War is 'a conflict among political
groups, especially sovereign states,
carried on by armed forces of
considerable magnitude, for a
considerable period of time'

1890 1970
 The changing character of war
The nature of war
War - organized human violence
Easy to recognize when:
conducted by states .
At the lower end of the spectrum of violence: overlaps with other forms of
conflict:
Terrorism, Insurgency, criminal violence.
Clear distinctions are difficult
War always involves violence, but not all violence can be
described as war.
The changing character of war
 The changing character of war
War and society
War is a form of social and political behavior.
Contemporary wars are partly fought on television
the media have a powerful role in providing a framework of understanding of the
conflict.
Characteristics, or form, of war might change, but the essential nature of war
could not.
globalization characterized by constant change -changes in the forms of warfare
being waged.
 The changing character of war
War and society
Wars - a socially constructed form of largescale human group behavior

Must be understood within the wider contexts of their political and cultural
environments.
 The changing character of war
War and society
Clausewitz - each age has its own dominant characteristic form of war, reflects the
era in which it occurs
Modern Warfare
The rise of nationalism
Rapidly rising populations
Scientific and industrial revolutions
States mobilized mass armies through centralized bureaucracies and the power of
nationalism.
DRESDEN WW II
The changing character of war
War and society
Hiroshima
Armies - equipped with the products of industrialization
Expected - to sacrifice themselves for the state
Result - industrialized warfare on a massive scale
Civilian populations as much as enemy soldiers - seen as legitimate targets
Culmination - nuclear attacks on Japan in 1945.
 The changing character of war
War and society
Another feature of warfare during the modern period:

Governed by rules.
International law - developed to constrain and regulate the use of violence in
wartime
 The changing character of war
War and change
War often unleashes forces for change
Transforming industry, society, and government
By destroying traditional structures:
war may create conditions conducive to social change and political modernization.
The changing character of war
War and change
Defeating the opponent's forces may lead to advances in technologies
GPS
COMPUTERS
MICROWAVE

Communications- applications beyond the military sphere.

War - a powerful catalyst for change

War An agent of historical change
 The changing character of war
The revolution in military affairs
Popular after the American victory in the 1991 Gulf War

Superior technology and doctrine - give the USA an almost effortless victory
Suggested that
Future conflicts would be decided by:
TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANTAGES
- advanced guided weapons and space satellites.
Speed, precision, and selective destruction
The changing character of war
The revolution in military affairs
Computing and space technology allowed the US forces:
to acquire information about the enemy
never before seen in warfare
Precision targeting of weapon systems.
Advanced communications
Allowed generals to have instant control
over the developing battle
The changing character of war
The revolution in military affairs

At the outset of the American invasion of Iraq (2003):

Iraqi forces initiated anti-satellite warfare
by attempting to jam the US military satellite signals.

A feature of future inter-state wars

 The changing character of war
Military responses to the RMA
RMA - Western concept of war-fighting
Utility - only in certain well-defined situations.
Less discussed-

How the opponents of a technologically advanced state might use unconventional

or asymmetric responses?
 The changing character of war
Military responses to the RMA
Wars against Iraq (2003) and Afghanistan(2001)
Extreme superiority in combat power of the USA:
Battle phases - fairly brief; few combat deaths.
However
Post-conventional phases in Iraq and Afghanistan
Asymmetry - guerrilla-style conflict.
Contemporary asymmetric warfare - Techniques such as guerrilla warfare and
terrorism are now being used as the main strategy against advanced states
Case Study 1 The Iraq War, 2003- 10, p. 339
The changing character of war
Technology and the RMA
Most parts of the world
Current wars not influenced by the RMA technology.
However
Some conflicts influenced by elements of the RMA.
Fighting between India and Pakistan
(1990s) - highly advanced weapon systems
and satellite technology.
 The changing character of war
Postmodern war

States transferring functions, including military functions,

to private businesses.
INCREASING 'OUTSOURCING' OF WAR.
More and more states contract military services to private corporations.
Hundreds of PMCs operating in more than fifty countries.

Recent wars: Angola, Croatia, Ethiopia, and Sierra Leone.

 The changing character of war
New wars
Mary Kaldor: a category of 'new wars' has emerged
since the mid-1980s.
The driving force behind these new wars globalization
'a contradictory process involving
both integration and fragmentation
homogenisation and diversification
globalisation and localisation'
 The changing character of war
New wars
'new wars' related to - disintegration and collapse of states, much come from the
effects of globalization.
Past decade: 95% of conflicts within states
.

Economy of the Tax revenues Increase in Paramilitary groups Legitimacy Distinction soldier/civilian
state collapses decline corruption and proliferate collapses. disappears
criminality
 The changing character of war
New wars
Feature of these conflicts - combatants focus on questions of identity
Identity and war
The 'feminization' of war has grown
Women - increasingly important roles, from military to female suicide bombers.
'feminized' in a darker sense also.
The majority of the violence - directed against women.
The genocide in Rwanda, 1994, more than a quarter of a million rapes
 The changing character of war
New wars
Children also become participants in war.
Civil war in Sierra Leone: nearly 70 % of the combatants were under the age of
eighteen.
Children fight in around 75% today's armed conflicts
Nearly 30% include girls in their ranks.
 The changing character of war
New wars
Post-Westphalian warfare
'Westphalian' state system - Assumption that 'war' takes place between opposing
states
Fought by uniformed, organized bodies of men
Regulated by formal acts including
declarations of war
laws of neutrality
peace treaties
 The changing character of war
Post-Westphalian warfare
Sub-state wars are prominent

Fought by militias, paramilitaries, warlord armies, criminal gangs, private security

firms, and tribal groups

Ex: Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, and Bosnia.