Fourth-generation warfare (4GW) is
conflict
Conflict may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films
* ''Conflict'' (1921 film), an American silent film directed by Stuart Paton
* ''Conflict'' (1936 film), an American boxing film starring John Wayne
* ''Conflict'' (1937 film) ...
characterized by a blurring of the lines between
war and
politics,
combatants and
civilians
Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not "combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatant, b ...
.
The term was first used in 1980 by a team of
United States analysts, including
William S. Lind
William S. Lind (born July 9, 1947) is an American conservative author, described as being aligned with paleoconservatism. He is the author of many books and one of the first proponents of fourth-generation warfare (4GW) theory and is the Dire ...
, to describe
warfare's return to a
decentralized form. In terms of
generational modern warfare, the fourth generation signifies the
nation state
A nation state is a political unit where the state and nation are congruent. It is a more precise concept than "country", since a country does not need to have a predominant ethnic group.
A nation, in the sense of a common ethnicity, may inc ...
s' loss of their near-monopoly on combat forces, returning to modes of conflict common in pre-modern times.
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 of this type of conflict, such as the
slave uprising under Spartacus, predate the modern concept of warfare.
Elements
Fourth-generation warfare is defined as conflicts which involve the following elements:
* Complex and long term
*
Terrorism (tactic)
* A non-national or transnational base – highly decentralized
* A direct attack on the enemy's culture, including genocidal acts against civilians.
* All available pressures are used – political, economic, social and military
* Occurs in
low-intensity conflict
A low-intensity conflict (LIC) is a military conflict, usually localised, between two or more state or non-state groups which is below the intensity of conventional war. It involves the state's use of military forces applied selectively and wit ...
, involving actors from all networks
* Non-combatants are tactical dilemmas
* Lack of hierarchy
* Small in size, spread out network of communication and financial support
* Use of insurgency tactics as subversion, terrorism and
guerrilla tactics
* Decentralised forces
History
The concept was first described by the authors
William S. Lind
William S. Lind (born July 9, 1947) is an American conservative author, described as being aligned with paleoconservatism. He is the author of many books and one of the first proponents of fourth-generation warfare (4GW) theory and is the Dire ...
, Colonel
Keith Nightengale (
US Army), Captain
John F. Schmitt (
USMC), Colonel
Joseph W. Sutton (US Army), and Lieutenant Colonel
Gary I. Wilson (
USMCR
The Marine Forces Reserve (MARFORRES or MFR), also known as the United States Marine Corps Reserve (USMCR) and the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve, is the reserve force of the United States Marine Corps. It is the largest command, by assigned pe ...
) in a 1989 ''
Marine Corps Gazette'' article titled "The Changing Face of War: Into the Fourth Generation". In 2006, the concept was expanded upon by USMC Colonel
Thomas X. Hammes (Ret.) in his book, ''The Sling and The Stone''.
The generations of warfare described by these authors are:
*
First generation: tactics of line and column; which developed in the age of the smoothbore
musket. Lind describes First Generation of warfare as beginning after the
Peace of Westphalia in 1648 ending the
Thirty Years' War and establishing the state's need to organize and conduct war. 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 are now considered suicidal as the bow and arrow/sword morphed into the
rifle and
machine gun.
*
Second generation: tactics of linear fire and movement, with reliance on
indirect fire. This type of warfare can be seen in the early stages of World War I 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.
*
Third generation: tactics of
infiltration
Infiltration may refer to:
Science, medicine, and engineering
*Infiltration (hydrology), downward movement of water into soil
*Infiltration (HVAC), a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning term for air leakage into buildings
*Infiltration (me ...
to bypass and collapse the enemy's combat forces rather than seeking to close with and destroy them; and
defence in depth
Defence in depth (also known as deep defence or elastic defence) is a military strategy that seeks to delay rather than prevent the advance of an attacker, buying time and causing additional casualties by yielding space. Rather than defeating ...
. The 3GW military seeks to bypass the enemy, and attack his rear forward, such as the tactics used by German
Stormtroopers in World War I against the British and French in order to break the trench warfare stalemate (Lind 2004). 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.
The use of fourth-generation warfare can be traced to the
Cold War period, as
superpowers and
major power
A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power inf ...
s attempted to retain their grip on
colonies
In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...
and captured territories. Unable to withstand direct combat against
bomber
A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped from an aircr ...
s,
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
An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irreg ...
group or other
violent non-state actor trying to implement their own government or reestablish an old government over the current ruling power. However, a non-state entity tends to be more successful when it 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
failed states
A failed state is a political body that has disintegrated to a point where basic conditions and responsibilities of a sovereign government no longer function properly (see also fragile state and state collapse). A state can also fail if the g ...
and
civil wars
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
, particularly in conflicts involving
non-state actors, intractable ethnic or religious issues, or gross conventional military disparities. Many of these conflicts occur in the geographic area described by author
Thomas P.M. Barnett as the
Non-Integrating Gap, fought by countries from the globalised
Functioning Core.
Fourth-generation warfare has much in common with traditional low-intensity conflict in its classical forms of insurgency and guerrilla war. As in those small wars, the conflict is initiated by the "weaker" party through actions which can be termed "offensive". The difference lies in the manner in which 4GW opponents adapt those traditional concepts to present day conditions. These conditions are shaped by technology, globalization, religious fundamentalism, and a shift in moral and ethical norms which brings legitimacy to certain issues previously considered restrictions on the conduct of war. This amalgamation and metamorphosis produces novel ways of war for both the entity on the offensive and that on the defensive.
Characteristics
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 physical (actual combat; it is considered the least important), mental (the will to fight, belief in victory, etc.,) and moral (the most important, this includes cultural norms, etc.) levels.
A 4GW enemy has the following characteristics: lack of hierarchical authority, lack of formal structure, patience and flexibility, ability to keep a low profile when needed, and small size.
[Thornton, Rod (2007). ''Asymmetric Warfare''. Malden, MA: Polity Press] A 4GW adversary might use the tactics of an insurgent, terrorist, or guerrilla in order to wage war against a nation's infrastructure. Fourth generation warfare takes place on all fronts: economical, political, the media, military, and civilian. Conventional military forces often have to adapt tactics to fight a 4GW enemy.
Resistance can also be below the physical level of
violence. This is via
non-violent
Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...
means, such as
Mahatma Gandhi's opposition to the
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
or the marches led by
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
Both desired their factions to deescalate the conflict while the state escalates against them, the objective being to target the opponent on the moral and mental levels rather than the physical level. The state is then seen as oppressive and loses support.
Another characteristic of fourth-generation warfare is that unlike in
third generation warfare, the VNSA's forces are decentralized. With fourth generation warfare, there may even be no single organization and that smaller groups organize into impromptu alliances to target a bigger threat (that being the state armed forces or another faction). As a result, these alliances are weak and if the state's military leadership is smart enough they can split their enemy and cause them to fight amongst themselves.
Fourth-generation warfare goals:
[''Beyond Fourth Generation Warfare'', Dr. George Friedman, Stratfor Forecasting, p. 1, July 17, 2007]
* 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, which lack 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
computer hackers
A security hacker is someone who explores methods for breaching defenses and exploiting weaknesses in a computer system or network. Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, such as profit, protest, information gathering, challenge ...
and
international law
International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...
to obtain the weaker side's objectives, 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 having their own bank accounts harmed.
Three principal attributes of the new-age terrorism were held to be their hybrid structure (as opposed to the traditional microscopic command and control pattern
[Schmitt, John F]
" Command and (Out of) Control The Military Implications of Complexity Theory"
, 2004.), importance given to systemic disruption vis-a-vis target destruction, and sophisticated use of technological advancements (including social media and mobile communications technology).
[Arquilla, J., Ronfeldt, D, and Zanini, M]
"Networks, netwar and information-age terrorism"
RAND Corporation
The RAND Corporation (from the phrase "research and development") is an American nonprofit global policy think tank created in 1948 by Douglas Aircraft Company to offer research and analysis to the United States Armed Forces. It is financed ...
, 1999. A terrorist network could be designed to be either acephalous (headless like Al-Qaeda after Bin Laden) or polycephalous (hydra-headed like Kashmiri separatists). Social media networks supporting the terrorists are characterized by positive feedback loops, tight coupling and non-linear response propagation (viz. a small perturbation causing a large disproportionate response).
Criticism
''Fourth-generation warfare'' theory has been criticized on the grounds that it is "nothing more than repackaging of the traditional clash between the non-state insurgent and the soldiers of a nation-state."
Strategic Studies Institute writer and
United States Army War College
The United States Army War College (USAWC) is a U.S. Army educational institution in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on the 500-acre (2 km2) campus of the historic Carlisle Barracks. It provides graduate-level instruction to senior military officer ...
professor
Antulio J. Echevarria II, in his article ''Fourth-Generation War and Other Myths'', argues what is being called ''fourth generation warfare'' are simply insurgencies. He also claims that 4GW was "reinvented" by Lind to create the appearance of having predicted the future. Echevarria writes: "The generational model is an ineffective way to depict changes in warfare. Simple displacement rarely takes place, significant developments typically occur in parallel." The critique was rebutted by John Sayen, a military historian and retired Lt. Col. in the Marine Corps Reserve.
Lieutenant General
Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr.
Kenneth Franklin McKenzie Jr. (born 1956 or 1957) is a retired United States Marine Corps general who served as the 14th commander of the United States Central Command from March 28, 2019 to April 1, 2022. He served as Director of the Joint Staff ...
, USMC, characterizes ''fourth-generation warfare'' theory as "elegant irrelevance" and states that "its methods are unclear, its facts contentious and open to widely varying interpretations, and its relevance questionable."
''Global Insurgency and the Future of Armed Conflict: Debating Fourth-generation Warfare''
edited by Terry Terriff, Aaron Karp and Regina Karp. New York: Routledge, 2008, p. 68.
Rod Thornton argues that Thomas Hammes
Colonel Thomas X. Hammes is a retired U.S. Marine officer who is considered a specialist in counter-insurgency warfare.
Education
He has a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Naval Academy, a master's degree from Oxford University, ...
and William S. Lind
William S. Lind (born July 9, 1947) is an American conservative author, described as being aligned with paleoconservatism. He is the author of many books and one of the first proponents of fourth-generation warfare (4GW) theory and is the Dire ...
are "providing an analytical lens through which to view the type of opposition that exists now 'out there' and to highlight the shortcomings of the current US military in dealing with that opposition." Instead of fourth generation warfare being an explanation for a new way of warfare, it allows the blending of different generations of warfare with the exception that fourth generation also encompasses new technology. Fourth generation warfare theorists such as Lind and Hammes wish to make the point that it "is not just that the military's structure and equipment are ill-suited to the 4GW problem, but so is its psyche".
See also
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Generation warfare 04
Military doctrines
Military operations by type
Psychological warfare
Warfare by type
Warfare post-1945