Fourth Generation Warfare (4GW)

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“Of the military theories developed in the last quarter century, none have stirred the heated feelings in the defense community quite like Fourth Generation Warfare has done. In part, this is due to the unsparingly harsh criticism that leading 4GW advocates have directed at both the mainstream Pentagon establishment and the rival school of Network-centric Warfare; mostly though, it is because 4GW questions the validity of the current defense establishment itself. If 4GW theory is correct, then much of the American defense budget amounts to so much waste.” – Mark Safranski, ZenPundit

To view our present conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan with any clarity, one must first understand Fourth Generation Warfare (4GW), a term used by military thinkers (see here and here) to describe the type of conflict that began emerging in the late 20th century. It is the world’s response to our nation’s monopoly on conventional military power, an asymmetric type of warfare in which the enemy avoids our strengths and exploits our weaknesses. (Hence, why you don’t see Al-Qaeda amassing a large uniformed army to battle America in the open…they’re not stupid).

Those who view present day conflicts through a 4GW-lens tend to see a very different picture than those (including, sadly, many in the military) who view it through a traditional lens (state vs state, army vs army) when the enemy was easy to identify and he fought in a more predictable manner. As pointed out by DNI, “One way to tell that 4GW is truly new is that we don’t even have a name for its participants-typically dismissing them as “terrorists,” “extremists,” or “thugs.” And yet, calling them names doesn’t reduce their effectiveness.

John Robb, author of “Brave New War” wrote a few years back that, “In general, 4GW is an extremely effective method of warfare that the US and its allies will find very difficult to defeat (a slow burn, rather than complete eradication, may be the best possible outcome).” He then presented the following which is one of the best summaries of 4GW I have seen:

Definition
4GW can be defined as a method of warfare that uses the following to achieve a moral victory:

* Undermines enemy strengths (this may seem obvious, but most of modern warfare has involved direct attacks on enemy strengths — find the enemy army and destroy it).
* Exploits enemy weaknesses.
* Uses asymmetric operations (weapons and techniques that differ substantially from opponents).

Drivers
The rise of 4GW is both a product and a driver of the following:

* The loss of the nation-state’s monopoly on violence.
* The rise of cultural, ethnic, and religious conflict.
* Globalization (via technological integration).

Tactics
4GW is fought on the tactical level via:

* Rear area operations — 4GW warriors do not confront a nation-state’s military but rather it society.
* Psychological operations — terror.
* Ad-hoc innovation — use of the enemy’s strengths against itself.

Generations of Warfare
The generational development of warfare can be outlined as:

* First generation — wars of Napoleon, conscription and firearms (the decline of mercenaries).
* Second generation — the US civil war and WW1, firepower and nation-state alignment of resources to warfare.
* Third generation — WW2, maneuver and armored warfare.
* Fourth generation — ad hoc warriors and moral conflict.

Differences
Many of the methods used in 4GW aren’t new and have robust historical precedent. However, there are important differences in how it is applied today. These include:

* Global — modern technologies and economic integration enable global operations.
* Pervasive — the decline of nation-state warfare has forced all open conflict into the 4GW mold.
* Granularity — extremely small viable groups and variety of reasons for conflict.
* Vulerability — open societies and economies.
* Technology — new technologies have dramatically increased the productivity of small groups of 4GW warriors.
* Media — global media saturation makes possible an incredible level of manipulation.
* Networked — new organizational types made possible by improvements in technology are much better at learning, surviving, and acting.

Winning a 4GW conflict
Victory in 4GW warfare is won in the moral sphere. The aim of 4GW is to destroy the moral bonds that allows the organic whole to exist — cohesion. This is done by reinforcing the following (according to Boyd):

* Menace. Attacks that undermine or threaten basic human survival instincts.
* Mistrust. Increases divisions between groups (ie. conservatives and liberals in the US).
* Uncertainty. Undermine economic activity by decreasing confidence in the future.

4GW Resources:

ZenPundit’s Military Theory Primer on Chicago Boyz
Defense and the Nation Interest – 4GW Theory
“The Sling and the Stone” by Col Thomas X. Hammes
My 4GW bookmarks on delicious

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Related posts:

1. What I’m Reading (12.17.09)
2. What I’ve Been Reading (9.28.09)
3. Matthew Hoh’s Letter of Resignation Regarding Afghanistan
4. Globalization, Black Swans and the Need for Resilience

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