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Beyond the War on Terror: Into the Fifth Generation of War and Conflict

NCJ Number
224357
Journal
Studies in Conflict & Terrorism Volume: 31 Issue: 8 Dated: August 2008 Pages: 684-722
Author(s)
Donald J. Reed
Date Published
August 2008
Length
39 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the premise of fifth generation warfare.
Abstract
The resultant model discusses and produces two outcomes: first, it demonstrates how recent events such as the rise of computer hackers, the 2001 anthrax attacks, the 2003-2004 ricin attacks, the 2004 Madrid bombings, and the emergence of al Qaeda demonstrate characteristics of fifth generation warfare. Secondly, it illustrates the way in which these events are unique indicators of a future in which non-state entities are increasingly able to wage war on equal footing with nation-states. This article uses four essential elements of war--the new domains of conflict, the changing nature of adversaries, the changing nature of objectives, and the changing nature of force--to build a generational typology of war and conflict that informs the characteristics of what is termed fifth generation warfare. It is stated that fifth generation warfare has arrived and is irreversibly changing the character and nature of human conflict. This is noted so as to confront the United States with the evolving strategic dilemma of not only dealing with the "War on Terror," but of simultaneously crafting strategies that look beyond military preparedness for past wars and embrace the perspective of national preparedness for the spectrum of future conflicts. The article concludes that the United States must embrace fifth generation warfare if it is to successfully confront these threats that have taken on new and heretofore unimagined forms in the postmodern era of war. Figures and notes

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