Winning Wars Amongst the People

Since the end of World War II a paradigm shift has occurred in armed conflict. Asymmetric, or fourth generation warfare--the challenge of non-state belligerents to the authority and power of the state--has become the dominant form of conflict while interstate conventional war has become an increasingly irrelevant instrument of statecraft. In this type of war the enemy is really more of an opponent, a fellow citizen with a different vision for the future of the country waging war amongst the people, maneuvering on the borderlines between parliamentary politics, street politics, criminal activity, and combat operations. Modern security forces must find the enemy among the citizenry and defeat him without harming the civilians around him. Winning Wars amongst the People: Case Studies in Fourth-Generation Conflict analyzes the special circumstances of asymmetric conflicts in the domestic context and seeks to identify those principles that allow a democratic state's security forces successfully to meet the challenge and at the same time obey their homeland's laws; protect its culture; observe its values; and retain its liberties, traditions, and way of life. Using five detailed case studies, author Peter A. Kiss explains the fundamental differences between the paradigm of conventional war and asymmetric warfare as well as the latter's political, social, and economic roots and main characteristics. Most importantly, Winning Wars amongst the People identifies the measures a government must take in order to prepare its security forces and other institutions of state for an asymmetric conflict.