Terry Terriff, Aaron Karp and Regina Karp (eds.), Global Insurgency and the Future of Armed Conflict: Debating Fourth Generation Warfare (London: Routledge, 2008)

摘要

The concept of 'Fourth Generation Warfare' (4GW) claims that a fundamental change in the nature of warfare is well under way. It proposes that after three previous generations of warfare that focused on state-against-state clashes, a new one has emerged in which non-state actors take centre stage. They are able to use a variety of means to bypass the advantages and undermine the will and cohesion of traditional state powers, collapsing their ability and desire to fight a campaign rather than defeating them in the traditional, battlefield sense. The insurgencies in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the activities of Al-Qaeda and Hizballah, seem to lend enough weight to this thesis to make it at least worthy of consideration.