Fresh thinking by 'The News Aztecs'
Ken W.,
You cited in Post 849:
Quote:
OTOH, for some fresher thinking, check the Monograph linked and available for download at "The New Aztecs: Ritual and Restraint in Contemporary Western Military Operations" It's impressive.
It is a SSI article available here, not on SWJ:http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute...cfm?pubID=1076
Synopsis:
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The Western way of war has come full circle. After centuries of evolution toward increased totality and brutality, it has turned back once again to the ritualistic and restrained methods of primitive warfare. Largely, this has been due to an interaction between the perceived lack of utility in contemporary warfare, developing humanitarian public opinion, and increasing professionalism among militaries. The significance of these evolutionary trends in the way that the West engages in modern warfare is that they are potentially dangerous, and they include the possibility that the West will be unprepared for a future foe whose defeat requires more unrestrained methods.
The article got a critical response on KoW, taken from the first paragraph:
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I must say that I profoundly disagree with its author. He misunderstands several of his key premises, including Clausewitz’s fundamental dictum. What is more, I think that the piece is a thinly veiled polemic which unhelpfully encourages an essentially militaristic perspective on the conduct of contemporary war.
Link to KoW:http://kingsofwar.org.uk/2011/07/how...h-it/#comments