The Military versus Decentralize Power
This is from a recent interview with GEN Dempsy:
Quote:
Dempsey: Well, I’m going to get a little philosophic with you here, but when you look at what the military instrument of power can accomplish, it is actually more effective in dealing with strength-on-strength situations than it is in dealing with strength-on-weakness scenarios. And we’re finding that a weakening of structures and central authority is pervasive in today’s world. The Middle East is a poster child for that dynamic. But if you look at almost any sector of civilization – from international organizations, to big corporations to places of worship – their authority has diminished over the past decade. That has to do with the spread of technology that has made information so ubiquitous in today’s world. But the result has been a weakened international order. And frankly, it’s harder to articulate the proper use of military power in that environment as opposed to a world with stronger centers of authority.
This is a question that I have brought before. The world has changed from a time when power was best seen as centralized (as in the central power of the king) to being decentralized (as in the power of the individual members of society). This is a philosophical change that alters how we perceive what society SHOULD look like. As the Chairman notes, it presents difficulties to a military designed to defeat a centralized structure (like a state).
The Chairman notes the basic problem with a military designed to defeat a near pear competitor state: “it’s harder to articulate the proper use of military power in that environment as opposed to a world with stronger centers of authority.” This may not seem like a difficult question – killing is killing – but a decentralized structure presents problems when it comes to things like how do you decide you won if there is not a central authority to declare their surrender.
So the question comes up: how do you use a military against a decentralized structure?
Moderator, I looked to see if an existing thread was out on this but did not find one. If there is one please delete this and move it.
