Evolution of Warfare and Security
in the Modern World
Lecture 1: Introduction and Basic
Concepts
Dr. James Corum- Dean- Baltic
Defence College
Dr. Eric Sibul, Asst. Prof. Baltic
Defence College
Lecture outline
1. Course outline
2. Introduction and the basic concepts
3. Summary
Course outline
I. Learning outcomes:
The course is designed for specialists in the field of cyber
defence/security. It’s purpose is to provide the general
understanding of the nature of warfare and outline the
role and scope of information warfare (IW – cyber
warfare is a part of it) used by states in contemporary
world.
In particular, the learning outcomes constitute:
1. Knowing the evolution of warfare and its basic concepts
2. Comprehending connections between the warfare,
technology and state organisation
3. Understanding the role of cyberspace in modern warfare
and knowing various views on utilising it for offensive
and defensive purposes
Course outline
II. Topics to be discussed
1. The evolution of traditional warfare from antiquity to
present day
2. The evolution of untraditional/unconventional warfare
3. Infromation warfare and different views on it
NB! This course is not so much about the history of war, but
about the history of warfare,i.e. about the ways people
have fought wars, thought about wars, and keep doing
it in present time
Course outline
III. Individual assignments
•
Two essays: each 1,500 words (exceeding the limit is not
recommended)
•
Essay no.1: Analyse the major changes in warfare from antiquity
to modern days. What are the most significant changes? What
has remained unchanged? Deadline: 26.03.2012
•
Essay no 2: Analyse the meaning of victory in conflict in the
information age. What has changed? What has remained
unchanged? How information society and information warfare
influences achieving the victory? Deadline: 14.05.2012
•
Submission: in electronic form to an email address:
•
james.corum@bdcol.ee
Course outline
IV. Marking of essays and completion of course
Marking of essays:
•
knowledge of literature and references to authoritative texts
•
independent thought
•
presentation of the most important aspects of the topic
•
timely submission (delaying submission will reduce the mark by
one grade a day – if the essay is, for example, submitted two days
late and it is marked “E” on the basis of its contents, then it will
receive a total mark “fail” because of the delay and it must be
submitted again)
•
References to Wikipedia are not welcome and their presence will
be considered as lowering the quality of the essay
Written fail/pass examination: 90 minutes for answering several
questions in written form
Introduction: the world
To begin with...what kind of world do we live in?
• Tokyo 1995, 9/11
• February 2003 – three hackers disrupted the US logistics
planning for the US operations in the Persian Gulf, etc.
• Internet is used by 1.7-2 billion people
• 50% of world population lives in the cities
• Globalisation is on the rise – over 550 million people move
across borders annually, over 6 million people fly daily
• India+China = 35% and the US+EU = 60% of the world
economy (there are 192 United Nations’ member states!); of
the 100 largest ‘economies’ in the world only 47 are states, the
rest are multinational corporations
• There are 45,000 non-governmental organisations in the world
and many of them have become very influential in
international politics
• Every 2-3 years mankind produces more written/printed
information than in previous 5,000 years...
Introduction:conflicts
• The world is rapidly becoming a ‘global village’
connected at various levels by new
technologies, integrating economy and societies
• Does it mean that we solve our conflicts
differently? Have we become more peaceful, do
we fight differently?
• Are we witnessing changing conflicts in a
changing world? Has information warfare gained
a special role in these conflicts or has it become
a way of fighting a conflict in its own right?
Introduction:conflicts
Source: Human Security Brief 2007, Vancouver: Simon Fraser University
Introduction:conflicts
Source: Human Security Brief 2007, Vancouver: Simon Fraser University
Introduction:terrorism
Source: Human Security Brief 2007, Vancouver: Simon Fraser University
Introduction:conflicts and
terrorism
• Although the world has become more integrated than
ever, the number of conflicts waged in the world has
increased from 1946-2006
• Considerable number of states in the world have
become unstable and suffer from internal conflicts –
nature of conflicts has changed and they have migrated
into states. States fight each other rarely nowadays
• Conflicts have become less violent. The deadliest
conflicts have been wars between states
• The number of incidents of terrorism has generally not
increased dramatically – with the exception of conflict
areas
Introduction:changes in conflicts
Continuing the previous thread of thought, we can say
that...
• ...indeed, states have become more peaceful with regard
to each other and they avoid, as a rule, (at least) open
warfare
• ...nations and nationalities still solve their internal
problems through violence
• ...terrorism is used frequently in these internal conflicts
• ...the general insight into conflict statistics tells us little
about the IW.
However, we know IW happens. We know something goes
on in the cyberspace, but is it a systematic development,
is it a natural evolution of warfare – evolution of means
for solving conflicts (be it through the offensive or
defensive actions)?
Introduction:why knowing the
history of warfare is necessary
In order to get a definitive answer and also establish the
purpose, different types and applications (and limits of
application) of IW, we need to investigate the historical
evolution of warfare in general.
We need to know:
(1) Why and how people have used violence?
(2) What could be achieved through the violence?
(3) How have nations organised themselves and their
tools for fighting through times and how is it done in
the information age?
These are the questions that will be investigated and
answered during this course.
Introduction:basic terms
War is...
...continuation of politics by other means. War is an act of
violence that theoretically could have no limits. Traditonal
war consists of strategic, operational and tactical levels
State is...
...an entity comprising territory, citizens and constitutional
order/legislation
Constitutional order is...
...a set of principles reflected in laws and describing how
state is constituted, i.e. how it works, how it is governed
and how much control it exerts over its population and
various sectors of society and economy.
Politics/policy is...
...a process of decision-making/purposeful flow of action
Introduction:basic terms
Strategy is...
...an idea or set of ideas for employing the instruments of
power in a synchronized and integrated fashion to
achieve various objectives
Operational art is...
...an application of creative imagination by commanders
and staffs to design strategies, campaigns, and major
operations and organize and employ military forces
Operation is...
... a large-scale military action consisting of tactical
engagements in support of strategic goals
Tactics is...
...an employment and ordered arrangement of forces in
relation to each other
Introduction:basic terms
Information warfare/operations (IW/IO) is...
...the integrated employment of (1) the core
capabilities of electronic warfare, (2) computer
network operations, (3) psychological
operations, (4) military deception, and (5)
operations security, in concert with specified
supporting and related capabilities, to influence,
disrupt, corrupt or usurp adversarial human and
automated decision-making while protecting our
own
Introduction:changes in warfare
and in constitutional order
Innovations
Constitutional
Warfare
Princely
state
1494-1572
Kingly state
1567-1651
Territorial
state
1649-1789
State-nation
Nation-state
1776-1870
1861-1991
-Consistent
finance
-Permanent
government
-Absolutism
-Trade
control
-Sectarianism -Aristocratic
leadership
-Nationalism
-Nationalism
-Imperialism
-Ideology
-Use of
mercenaries
-More
firearms
-Professional
armies
-Nuclear
weapons
-Mobile
artillery
-Siege
warfare
-Limited wars
-Mass
conscription
and mass
armies
-Fortification
-Standing
armies
-Decisive
battles
-Rapid
computation
-International
communications
Source: Bobbitt, P. (2002) “The Shield of Achilles”, London: Penguin Books,
pp.346-347
Introduction:changes in warfare
and in constitutional order
• 1991...the end of a nation-state?
• ...arrival of a market state?
• ...what does it mean for warfare?
– Enemy
– Goals
– Means
– Conflicts
– Strategy of countering the enemy
Introduction:Evolution of war-generations of wars
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
1800: Napoleonic wars and the arrival of mass armies
on the battlefield
1870-1918: Wars of industrial societies characterised
by mass armies and massive fire power
1918-1945: Mechanised manoeuvre warfare
1945-1990: Insurgencies/guerilla wars. 1990: War has
ceased to be a predominantly physical battle
supported by IW and has transformed into a strategic
communication campaign where physical battle is a
tool for sending messages and breaking the will of
enemy’s government.
2001: War has become an activity of networks,
supranational groups in pursuit of their objectives. It is
increasingly becoming unlimited.
Source: Hammes, T.X. “Fourth Generation Warfare Evolves, Fifth Emerges”,
Military Review, May-June 2007
Summary
• We inhabit a globalising world characterised by
developing information society where every individual
has much more access to information, ability to process
information and produce information
• This world of ours is characterised by the fact that there
are more conflicts taking place than half a century ago
• States fight states rarely – majority of conflicts are
intrastate conflicts characterised by a high incidence of
terrorism
• Warfare and constitutional order of states have through
the centuries evolved in the direction of maximum
mobilisation of society and its resources for war. Since
the Great French Revolution, war has become a truly
national undertaking
Summary
• The evolution of information society seems to be
transforming war into a communication
campaign of violent and destructive messages
• Information society (i.e. growing access to
technologies that could be used for destructive
purposes as well as growing vulnerability of
society) enables smaller groups to challenge
states
• Does it all mean fading of nation-state and
emerging of a new constitutional order (market
state – P.Bobbitt) remains to be seen and will be
discussed during the course
• Some Course texts;
• Richard A. Preston , Sydney F. Wise and
Herman O. Werner, Men in Arms: a
History of Warfare and its
Interrelationships with Western Society
(New York: Frederick Praeger, 1956).
• Emily O. Goldman, ed., Information and
Revolutions in Military Affairs (London:
Routledge, 2005).
• Lecture One – Introduction
• Preston, Wise, & Werner. Men in Arms.: 1- 9
• Lecture Two – Classical Warfare in the Western
World
• Preston, Wise, & Werner. Men in Arms.: 17 – 49
• Lecture Three – Classical Warfare in Asia the
Eastern Way of War
• Lecture Four – Feudal Warfare to the
Beginnings Modern Warfare
• Lecture Five – Limited Warfare in the 18th
Century to Nations in Arms and Napoleon
• Lecture Six – The 19th Nineteenth Century
Limited War and the rise of the Information Age
• Lecture Seven – Total War
• Lecture Eight—World War II on the Eastern
Front and in the Baltic Area
• Lecture Nine – Modern Irregular Warfare
• Lecture Ten: The Cold War
• Lecture Eleven– Military Thought in the late
20th Century and Beyond
• Lecture Twelve – The Russian and
Chinese Approaches to information
warfare
• Lecture Thirteen – The US Approach to
Information Warfare
• Lecture Fourteen –Summary and Review
of current Debates
• Lecture 15: Final Exam
Some themes for the course
• Overview of evolution of war
• Role of technology in war
• A look at military history in the Baltic
Region
• Historical experience shaping current
debates– views on future conflict
• Develop critical thinking– and expression –
especially in papers
Final Goal
• Understand the basics on evolution of
conflict
• Understand some basics as to role of
technology in conflict
• Understand some of the current thinking
and development of Information War
• Improve your ability to think critically
• Improve your ability to express yourselves
in English