Fourth-generation warfare
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Fourth-generation warfare (4GW) is
The term was first used in 1980 by a team of
The simplest definition includes any war in which one of the major participants is not a state but rather a violent non-state actor. Classical examples of this type of conflict, such as the slave uprising under Spartacus, predate the modern concept of warfare.
Elements

Fourth-generation warfare is defined as conflicts which involve the following elements:
- Complex and long term
- Terrorism (tactic)
- A non-national or transnational base – highly decentralized
- A direct attack on the enemy's culture, including genocidal acts against civilians.
- All available pressures are used – political, economic, social and military
- Occurs in low-intensity conflict, involving actors from all networks
- Non-combatants are tactical dilemmas
- Lack of hierarchy
- Small in size, spread out network of communication and financial support
- Use of insurgency tactics as subversion, terrorism and guerrilla tactics
- Decentralised forces
History
The concept was first described by the authors
The generations of warfare described by these authors are:
- First generation: tactics of line and column; which developed in the age of the smoothbore musket. Lind describes First Generation of warfare as beginning after the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 ending the Thirty Years' War and establishing the state's need to organize and conduct war.[3] 1GW consisted of tightly ordered soldiers with top-down discipline. These troops would fight in close order and advance slowly. This began to change as the battlefield changed. Old line and column tactics are now considered suicidal as the bow and arrow/sword morphed into the rifle and machine gun.
- Second generation: tactics of linear fire and movement, with reliance on indirect fire. This type of warfare can be seen in the early stages of World War I where there was still strict adherence to drill and discipline of formation and uniform. However, there remained a dependence on artillery and firepower to break the stalemate and move towards a pitched battle.
- Third generation: tactics of infiltration to bypass and collapse the enemy's combat forces rather than seeking to close with and destroy them; and defence in depth. The 3GW military seeks to bypass the enemy, and attack his rear forward, such as the tactics used by German Stormtroopersin World War I against the British and French in order to break the trench warfare stalemate (Lind 2004). These aspects of 3GW bleed into 4GW as it is also warfare of speed and initiative. However, it targets both military forces and home populations.
The use of fourth-generation warfare can be traced to the
Fourth-generation warfare has often involved an
Fourth-generation warfare is often seen in conflicts involving
Fourth-generation warfare has much in common with traditional low-intensity conflict in its classical forms of insurgency and guerrilla war. As in those small wars, the conflict is initiated by the "weaker" party through actions which can be termed "offensive". The difference lies in the manner in which 4GW opponents adapt those traditional concepts to present day conditions. These conditions are shaped by technology, globalization, religious fundamentalism, and a shift in moral and ethical norms which brings legitimacy to certain issues previously considered restrictions on the conduct of war. This amalgamation and metamorphosis produces novel ways of war for both the entity on the offensive and that on the defensive.[4]
Characteristics
Fourth-generation warfare is normally characterized by a
A 4GW enemy has the following characteristics: lack of hierarchical authority, lack of formal structure, patience and flexibility, ability to keep a low profile when needed, and small size.[6] A 4GW adversary might use the tactics of an insurgent, terrorist, or guerrilla in order to wage war against a nation's infrastructure. Fourth generation warfare takes place on all fronts: economical, political, the media, military, and civilian. Conventional military forces often have to adapt tactics to fight a 4GW enemy.[7]
Resistance can also be below the physical level of
Another characteristic of fourth-generation warfare is that unlike in
Fourth-generation warfare goals:[8]
- Survival.
- To convince the enemy's political decision makers that their goals are either unachievable or too costly for the perceived benefit.[9]
Yet, another factor is that political centers of gravity have changed. These centers of gravity may revolve around nationalism, religion, or family or clan honor.
Disaggregated forces, such as guerrillas,
It has been theorized that a state vs. state conflict in fourth-generation warfare would involve the use of
Three principal attributes of the new-age terrorism were held to be their hybrid structure (as opposed to the traditional microscopic command and control pattern[10]), importance given to systemic disruption vis-a-vis target destruction, and sophisticated use of technological advancements (including social media and mobile communications technology).[11] A terrorist network could be designed to be either acephalous (headless like Al-Qaeda after Bin Laden) or polycephalous (hydra-headed like Kashmiri separatists). Social media networks supporting the terrorists are characterized by positive feedback loops, tight coupling and non-linear response propagation (viz. a small perturbation causing a large disproportionate response).
Criticism
Fourth-generation warfare theory has been criticized on the grounds that it is "nothing more than repackaging of the traditional clash between the non-state insurgent and the soldiers of a nation-state."[12]
Strategic Studies Institute writer and United States Army War College professor Antulio J. Echevarria II, in his article Fourth-Generation War and Other Myths, argues what is being called fourth generation warfare are simply insurgencies. He also claims that 4GW was "reinvented" by Lind to create the appearance of having predicted the future. Echevarria writes: "The generational model is an ineffective way to depict changes in warfare. Simple displacement rarely takes place, significant developments typically occur in parallel."[13] The critique was rebutted by John Sayen, a military historian and retired Lt. Col. in the Marine Corps Reserve.[14]
Lieutenant General Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., USMC, characterizes fourth-generation warfare theory as "elegant irrelevance" and states that "its methods are unclear, its facts contentious and open to widely varying interpretations, and its relevance questionable."[15]
Rod Thornton argues that Thomas Hammes and William S. Lind are "providing an analytical lens through which to view the type of opposition that exists now 'out there' and to highlight the shortcomings of the current US military in dealing with that opposition." Instead of fourth generation warfare being an explanation for a new way of warfare, it allows the blending of different generations of warfare with the exception that fourth generation also encompasses new technology. Fourth generation warfare theorists such as Lind and Hammes wish to make the point that it "is not just that the military's structure and equipment are ill-suited to the 4GW problem, but so is its psyche".[6]
See also
- Asymmetric warfare
- Special Activities Division
- DIA's Defense Clandestine Service
- Civilian casualty ratio
- Counter-insurgency
- Cyberwarfare
- Divide and rule
- Fifth-generation warfare
- Grey-zone (international relations)
- Irregular warfare
- William S. Lind
- Military operations other than war – concept that encompass the use of military capabilities across the range of military operations short of war
- Military strategy – collective name for planning the conduct of warfare
- New generation warfare
- H. John Poole – writer on 4GW topics
- Proxy war – opposing powers using third parties as substitutes for fighting each other directly
- Unrestricted Warfare
- War amongst the people
- War cycles– the theory that wars happen in cycles
- War on drugs
References
- ^ "The Changing Face of War: Into the Fourth Generation", Marine Corps Gazette, October 1989, pp. 22-26. Archive
- ^ Colonel Mike Capstick, Canadian Military Journal "Book Review" July 2008
- ^ Lind, William S. "Understanding Fourth Generation Warfare." ANTIWAR.COM 15 JAN 2004 29 Mar 2009
- ^ Ghanshyam. S. Katoch, Fourth Generation War: Paradigm For Change, (June, 2005). Masters Thesis submitted at The Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California. Available from Defence Technical Information centre at www.dtic.mil/
- ^ "NEWS ANALYSIS / Hezbollah wages new generation of warfare". SFGate. 2006-08-06. Retrieved 2018-08-25.
- ^ a b Thornton, Rod (2007). Asymmetric Warfare. Malden, MA: Polity Press
- ^ Vest, Jason (2001-12-01). "Fourth-generation Warfare". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2018-08-25.
- ^ a b Beyond Fourth Generation Warfare, Dr. George Friedman, Stratfor Forecasting, p. 1, July 17, 2007
- ^ Colonel Thomas X. Hammes, 'Four Generations of Warfare' in The Sling and The Stone: On War in the 21st Century, St. Paul, MN. 2006, p 293.
- ^ Schmitt, John F. " Command and (Out of) Control The Military Implications of Complexity Theory" Archived 2017-02-01 at the Wayback Machine, 2004.
- ^ Arquilla, J., Ronfeldt, D, and Zanini, M. "Networks, netwar and information-age terrorism", RAND Corporation, 1999.
- ^ On Fourth Generation Warfare, The Mackenzie Institute
- ^ Echevarria, J. A. Fourth Generation War and Other Myths Archived 2018-04-22 at the Wayback Machine, Strategic Studies Institute, November 2005.
- ^ 4GW – Myth, or the Future of Warfare? A Reply to Antulio Echevarria by John Sayen. Archive
- ^ Global Insurgency and the Future of Armed Conflict: Debating Fourth-generation Warfare, edited by Terry Terriff, Aaron Karp and Regina Karp. New York: Routledge, 2008, p. 68.