Military Review English Edition January-February 2016 | Page 26

Originally published in Military-Industrial Kurier, 27 February 2013.1 Translated from Russian 21 June 2014 by Robert
Coalson, editor, Central News, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
This article is provided to acquaint our readers with the perspectives of senior Russian military leaders on the subject of future
war and should not be construed as an effort to promote their views.

I

n the twenty-first century we have seen a tendency
informational conflict and the actions of special opertoward blurring the lines between the states of war
ations forces. The open use of forces—often under the
and peace. Wars are no longer declared and, having
guise of peacekeeping and crisis regulation—is resorted
begun, proceed according to an unfamiliar template.
to only at a certain stage, primarily for the achievement
The experience of military conflicts—including those of final success in the conflict.
connected with the so-called color revolutions in North
From this proceed logical questions: What is modAfrica and the Middle East—confirms that a perfectly
ern war? What should the army be prepared for? How
thriving state can, in a matter of
should it be armed? Only after
months and even days, be transanswering these questions can we
The very “rules of war”
formed into an arena of fierce
determine the directions of the
armed conflict, become a victim
construction and development
have changed. The role
of foreign intervention, and sink
of the armed forces over the long
into a web of chaos, humanitariterm. To do this, it is essential
of nonmilitary means of
an catastrophe, and civil war.2
to have a clear understanding of
achieving political and
the forms and methods of the
The Lessons of the
application of force.
strategic
goals
has
grown,
Arab Spring
These days, together with
Of course, it would be easiest
traditional
devices, nonstanand, in many cases, they
of all to say that the events of
dard ones are being developed.
the “Arab Spring” are not war,
have exceeded the power The role of mobile, mixed-type
and so there are no lessons for
groups of forces, acting in a
of force of weapons in
us—military men—to learn. But
single intelligence-informamaybe the opposite is true—that
tion space because of the use of
their effectiveness.
precisely these events are typical
the new possibilities of comof warfare in the twenty-first century.
mand-and-control systems, has been strengthened.
In terms of the scale of the casualties and destruction, Military actions are becoming more dynamic, active,
the catastrophic social, economic, and political conseand fruitful. Tactical and operational pauses that the
quences, such new-type conflicts are comparable with
enemy could exploit are disappearing. New information
the consequences of any real war.
technologies have enabled significant reductions in the
The very “rules of war” have changed. The role of
spatial, temporal, and informational gaps between forces
nonmilitary means of achieving political and strategic
and control organs. Frontal engagements of large formagoals has grown, and, in many cases, they have exceedtions of forces at the strategic and operational level are
ed the power of force of weapons in their effectiveness
gradually becoming a thing of the past. Long-distance,
[see figure 1].
contactless actions against the enemy are becoming the
The focus of applied methods of conflict has altered
main means of achieving combat and operational goals.
in the direction of the broad use of political, economic,
The defeat of the enemy’s objects [objectives] is coninformational, humanitarian, and other nonmilitary
ducted throughout the entire depth of his territory. The
measures—applied in coordination with the protest
differences between strategic, operational, and tactical
potential of the population.
levels, as well as between offensive and defensive operaAll this is supplemented by military means of a
tions, are being erased. The application of high-precision
concealed character, including carrying out actions of
weaponry is taking on a mass character. Weapons based
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January-February 2016  MILITARY REVIEW