| Abstract [eng] |
War has been an integral part of human history. The economical, political, social and technological advancement of society, has transformed primitive, tribal type wars into state waged wars that are highly organized and deadly. At the same time war appears to be taking new face. Today both states and non states wage war. Still ongoing insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan, remind us that not all wars are fought among nation-states. Majority of wars in past three decades were not interstate, when at least in one fighting side it was something other than a military force, organized and operating under the control of national government. Almost all of these conflicts had the external intervention by other states. War against terrorism has showed that state owned armed forces meet new type of enemy in battle field. Not only armies and navies, but also local warlords, nets of terrorist groups and criminal gangs are the force that state militaries have to deal with. So the aim of this paper is to find out, how new warfare affects the international system and answer the questions what are the implications of the new warfare for the Armed Forces, nation states and international system. This study consists of five parts. In the first part the three concepts, competing for the position of leading theory of conflict in the twenty first century are analyzed: realpolitik approach, Transformation theory, and Forth Generation Warfare theory. Main focus is on the later. Works of the leading proponents of 4GW theory are discussed in this part: M. Creveld’s theoretical thoughts about decentralization of warfare and its ‘decoupleation’ from the state; W. S. Lind’s Forth Generation model and main driving factors simulating generational shift; and T. X. Hammes’s ideas about political, social and economic factors as a true drivers of generational change. The aim of this analysis was to derive characteristics of the New Warfare. This enabled to identify the most dominant, specific features of this type of war fighting: new actors, new space and asymmetry. The second part of the paper is devoted for substance of the identified features elaboration. Today new participants of the new warfare could be divided at least into two groups: state and non-state actors, while within each of the aforementioned groups possible all other divisions according certain criteria. This paper focuses on civilian and military sectors including private dimension in both. Space where new warfare is taking place could be viewed through two different levels: micro and macro. While talking about the third feature - asymmetry, here this issue is discussed in terms of ways and means. In each of the other three parts of the paper the implications of new warfare for Armed Forces, States an International System are discussed. Results of the research show the need for adaptation for armed forces in terms of cooperation with private sector and more military focused civilian institutions. Concerning the states, results of the analysis show the necessity of deeper cooperation and integration with “friendly” international actors and possibility of “isolation” concerning non friendly ones. In general research shows the need for international cooperation in order to find new tools required in new war fighting; and the effect of it – the loss of states monopoly over warfare, by transferring part of their sovereignty to private sector and international institutions. New non-state actors appear in international system willing and able to shape international security issues. This affects international system, which needs to adapt to new changes in this sphere. Not only international legal base concerning war and military conflicts has to be reconsidered, but also international tools of power projection should be re-examined in terms of their relevance and effectiveness. |
