FOURTH GENERATION WARFARE
Fourth
generation warfare (4GW) is conflict characterized by
a blurring of the lines between
1. War
and politics,
2. Soldier
and civilian.
The generations of
warfare described by these authors are:
Tactics
of line and column; which developed in the age of the smoothbore musket.
1GW
consisted of tightly ordered soldiers with top-down discipline. These troops
would fight in close order and advance slowly. This began to change as the
battlefield changed.
Old line
and column tactics were now suicidal as the bow and arrow/sword morphed into
the rifle and machine gun.
Tactics of linear fire and movement, with reliance on indirect
fire.
This type of warfare can be seen in the early stages
of WWI where there was still strict adherence to drill and discipline of
formation and uniform.
However, there remained a dependence on artillery and
firepower to break the stalemate and move towards a pitched
battle.
Tactics of infiltration to bypass and collapse the
enemy's combat forces rather than seeking to close with and destroy them; and defence
in depth.
The 3GW military seeks to bypass the enemy, and attack
his rear forward,
The tactics used by German Storm Troopers in WWI
against the British and French in order to break the trench warfare stalemate.
These aspects of 3GW bleed into
4GW as it is also warfare of speed and initiative. However, it targets both
military forces and home populations.
4th Generation :
Warfare can be
traced to the Cold
War period, as superpowers and major
powers attempted to retain their grip on colonies and
captured territories.
Unable to
withstand direct combat against bombers, tanks, and machine guns, non-state entities used tactics of
education/propaganda, movement-building, secrecy, terror, and/or confusion to
overcome the technological gap.
Fourth generation
warfare has often involved an insurgent group or other violent non-state actor trying to implement
their own government or reestablish an old government over the current ruling
power.
A fourth
generation war is most successful when the non-state entity does not attempt,
at least in the short term, to impose its own rule, but tries simply to
disorganize and delegitimize the state
in which the warfare takes place.
The aim is to force the state
adversary to expend manpower and money in an attempt to establish order,
ideally in such a highhanded way that it merely increases disorder, until the
state surrenders or withdraws.
Fourth generation warfare is often
seen in conflicts involving
2.
Particularly in conflicts involving non-state
actors,
3.
Intractable ethnic or religious issues, or
4.
Gross conventional military disparities.
The simplest
definition includes any war in which one of the major participants is not a state
but rather a violent non-state actor. Classical examples,
such as
1. the
slave uprising under Spartacus or
2. the
assassination of Julius Caesar by members of the Roman senate,
predate the modern
concept of warfare and are examples of this type of conflict.
As such, fourth
generation warfare uses classical tactics—
1. tactics
deemed unacceptable by traditional modern thinking—
2.
to weaken the advantaged opponent's will to win.
Elements
Fourth generation
warfare is defined as conflicts which involve the following elements:
1.
Are complex and long term
2.
Terrorism (tactic)
3.
A non-national or transnational base—highly
decentralized
4.
A direct attack on the enemy's culture
6.
All available pressures are used –
a. political,
b. economic,
c. social
and
d. military
7.
Occurs in low intensity conflict, involving
actors from all networks
8.
Non-combatants are tactical dilemmas
9.
Lack of hierarchy
10.
Small in size, spread out network of
communication and financial support
11.
Use of Insurgency and guerrilla
tactics
Characteristics of fourth generation warfare
Fourth generation warfare is
normally characterized by a violent non-state actor (VNSA) fighting a state.
This fighting can be physically done,
such as by modern examples Hezbollah or the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
In this realm the VNSA uses all
three levels of fourth generation warfare.
These are the
1.
Physical (actual combat; it is considered the least
important),
2.
Mental (the will to fight, belief in victory, etc.) And
3.
Moral (the most important, this includes cultural
norms, etc.) Levels.
A 4GW enemy has the following
characteristics:
1.
Lacks hierarchal authority,
2.
Lack of formal structure,
3.
Patience and flexibility,
4.
Ability to keep a low profile when needed, and
5.
Small size.
A 4GW adversary might use the
tactics of an
1.
Insurgent,
2.
Terrorist, or
3.
Guerrilla
in order to wage war against a
nation's infrastructure.
Fourth generation warfare takes
place on all fronts:
1.
Economical,
2.
Political,
3.
The media,
4.
Military, and
5.
Civilian.
Fourth generation warfare goals:
Survival
To convince the enemy’s political decision makers that their goals are
either unachievable or too costly for the perceived benefit.
Yet another factor is that
political centers of gravity have changed. These centers of gravity may revolve
around nationalism,
religion, or
family or clan honor.
Disaggregated forces, such as
guerrillas, terrorists
and rioters, lacking
a center of gravity, deny to their enemies a focal point at which to deliver a
conflict ending blow.
As a result strategy becomes more
problematic while combating a VNSA.
It has been theorized that a state
vs. state conflict in fourth generation warfare would involve the use of
1.
computer hackers and
2.
international law to obtain the weaker side’s
objectives,
3.
The logic being that the civilians of the stronger
state would lose the will to fight as a result of seeing their state engage in
alleged atrocities and
4.
Having their own bank accounts harmed.
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