Hail to the new war, same as the old war
I don't care for the Generations of War construct. Short of technological advances the changes have occurred mostly in the political world. Much of this "non-state" nonsense is the result of westerners drawing arbitrary lines on the ground to define states. Truth be told "Nations" (groups of people sharing a common identity, history, religion, and language) have always fought against "States" (political entities that claim a monopoly on legitimate violence within a prescribed portion of the earth's surface) when their beliefs about what it right and what is wrong clash.
As for fighting for eternal salvation, I would suggest that that started long before the last century with the Crusades being the most well known example. Wars of identity - be it religion or ethnicity - have always existed.
If I really wanted to argue generations of war, my construct would be based on human needs. The first generation wars, conducted primarily by hunter-gatheres, were over food and women. The second generation wars, which occurred through most of recorded history, were wars of collective identity. Nations against Nations (and sometimes against States). The third generation are wars of individual identity - wars for individual rights (democracy) and sometimes wars for religions that offer individual salvation (christian and Islamic wars in particular). These wars are the most savage because in these wars each individual has his own reason to fight. He does not need a tribal or political leader to push him forward, only an idea of what the ultimate truth is. Today, with the advent of rapid communications, these wars can spread like wildfire. There are no peace treaties in these wars. There is often no single leader who can claim victory or concede defeat. Only exhaustion and a temporary reprieve. Force has limited value. You can't kill your way to victory in these wars - you would have to kill an idea. Accommodation, if it is even possible, is probably the only way out of these conflicts.
Bookmarks