Introduction

摘要

OOTW, to which this special edition of the journal is devoted, stands for operations other than war. It is a modified version of its original MOOTW (pronounced, aptly and with the appropriate sense of the sardonic military humour, as 'mootwar') where 'M' stands for 'military.' In the days when the term and its corresponding acronym were created, the world of military operations underwent yet another of its dramatic profile changes. Gone were the plans for massive tank battles in the Fulda gap, naval strikes at the opposing task forces fighting to dominate transatlantic or transpacific sea lanes, and the all-pervasive fear of one of the sides originating the 'first strike,' whose aftermath could, potentially, lead to the devastation of the entire planet. The 'iron curtain' lifted, the 'wall' fell down and Germany reunited, and suddenly the armed forces of the former adversaries faced a completely new world. The world that was present all the time, but whose existence was hidden from view by issues either more threatening or, for the sake of political expedience, made to appear more threatening.