Thursday, September 05, 2013

Fourth Generation Warfare

Synopsis provided by Sipsey from the pen of a French general (!):

The outcome is to force the enemy to accept the terms we wish to impose on him. In this dialectic of wills a decision is achieved when a certain psychological effect has been produced on the enemy: when he becomes convinced that it is useless to start or alternatively to continue the struggle. (MBV: Emphasis in the original) -- General D'Armee Andre Beaufre, An introduction to Strategy, 1965.

This should be nothing "new" in terms of war, but the general included 'maintenance of the existing political scene' as a part of '4GW.'

IOW, even "peace" is war.  In recent history, the Cold War was the example.

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