Asymmetry and future war : theory and principles

Abstract

In this work we wish to examine the position that modern state based militaries find themselves in at the beginning of the 21s' century. With the 'diffusion and privatization of military power' due to the weakening of the Westphalia state system in the age of globalization, the primary instrument of state power, conventional military force, is becoming caught in the middle of a 'three tiered' dilemma. The lower tier is commonly defined as insurgency, guerrilla war or terrorism and utilizes various tactics to avoid the conventional military power. The upper tier uses concepts driven by the information revolution to utilize high tech weapon systems which bypass conventional military power by replacing attrition warfare and hierarchical structure with precision strikes and networked forces.