Contemporary Warfare: Political, Technological and Military Trends and the Use of Force

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1 Contemporary Warfare: Political, Technological and Military Trends and the Use of Force Draft Syllabus Dr. Willem Martijn Dekker Max Weber Fellow European University Institute Course Description: This course introduces undergraduate students to the major changes in the way military force is used since the end of the Cold War. The central question addressed is: Have new forms of warfare decreased the utility of force? To answer this question the course will examine how political, military, and technological developments changed the way military force is used, and how have Western states have responded to adapt to these changes. The course begins by introducing students to the basics of traditional regular warfare and by discussing the claim that new kinds of warfare have reduced the utility of force. Subsequently, each seminar examines an important political, military or technological development and assesses how this has impacted the use of force. Themes that will be discussed include the Revolution in Military Affairs, international terrorism, private military companies, counter-insurgency warfare, the rise of China, and the introduction of robotics onto the battlefield. Each of these developments will be illustrated through examination of one or two case studies. Prerequisites: This course is intended as an elective for 2 nd or 3 rd year bachelor s students. Students are expected to have prior knowledge of the most important theories and concepts in political science and international relations, elementary knowledge of 20 th century international history, and basic academic writing and referencing skills. Credits: 10 ECTS Learning Outcomes: Understand how traditional regular warfare is waged. Understand how the most important political, technological, and military developments since the end of the Cold War have changed the way military force is used. Understand how recent changes in warfare affect the utility of force in international relations. 1

2 Understand how Western states have adapted to maintain the utility of force. Be able to summarise the main arguments in the literature and the main features of a case study in a class presentation. Be able to write an academic paper that either: a) applies a theoretical framework to a case, b) analyses a case or theoretical framework, or c) evaluates a case or theoretical framework. Format: 10 weekly 2 hour seminars. Literature: Approx. 700 pages. Assessment: Assessment consists of a combination of weekly assignments (35% of mark), a presentation in class (15%), a paper outline (10%), and a 3,000 word paper (40%). A total of 7 to 9 assignments are due. The minimum number required is 7, if more than 7 assignments are handed in only the 7 highest marks will be counted. The class presentation needs to be a critical summary of the literature setting out the main developments and arguments and raising points for further discussion. The paper needs to demonstrate a good grasp of the literature by either applying a theoretical framework to explain a case, or by analysing a case or theoretical framework and explaining how it works, or by evaluating a case or theoretical framework and providing a critique of an existing interpretation or argument. Week 1: Introduction: Old Wars, New Wars and the Declining Utility of Force. Assignment: no assignment for the first week. But make sure to study the example assignment handed out in class. Rupert Smith, The Utility of Force. The Art of War in the Modern World (New York: Knopf, 2007) Introduction: Understanding Force, and pp Parts of Field Manual Operations, 1986 Parts of John I. Alger Definitions and Doctrine of the Military Art The rest of John I. Alger Definitions and Doctrine of the Military Art. 2

3 Colin S. Gray, Another Bloody Century: Future Warfare (London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 2005), in particular the introduction Thomas X. Hammes, The Sling and the Stone: On War in the 21 st Century (St Paul: Zenith Press, 2004), especially chapter 1. Mary Kaldor, New & Old Wars (1st. ed. 1999). London: Polity, 2006, vii-xi, 1-14, skim Week2: The 1991 Gulf War and the Revolution in Military Affairs Eliot Cohen, A Revolution in Warfare, Foreign Affairs (March/April 1996), pp Part of Colin McInnes, Spectator-Sport War: The West and Contemporary Conflict (London: Rienner, 2002) Stephen Biddle, Victory Misunderstood: What the Gulf War Tells Us about the Future of Conflict, International Security 21: 2 (Fall 1996): pp ; Thomas G. Mahnken and Barry D. Watts, What the Gulf War Can (and Cannot) Tell Us about the Future of Warfare, International Security 22: 2 (Fall 1997): pp Metz, Steven. Armed Conflict in the 21st Century: The Information Revolution and Post-Modern Warfare. (Carlisle Barracks: U.S. Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, April 2000) Also available from < Murdock, Paul. "Principles of War on the Network-Centric Battlefield: Mass and Economy of Force." Parameters 32 (Spring 2002):

4 B. S. Lambeth, Mastering the Ultimate High Command; Next Steps in the Military Uses of Space (Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2003), pp M. C. Libicki, What is Information Warfare? (Washington DC, National Defense University, 1995.) Norman Cigar, Iraq s Strategic Mindset in the Persian Gulf War: Blue Print for Defeat, Journal of Strategic Studies 15: 1 (March 1992): pp.1-29; Week 3: Ethnic Conflict and Peace Keeping Martin Van Creveld, The Transformation of War. New York: The Free Press, 1991, ixx, skim 33-49, Mary Kaldor, New & Old Wars (1st. ed. 1999). London: Polity, 2006, vii-xi, 1-14, skim Parts of Jack L. Snyder, From Voting to Violence: Democratization and Nationalist Conflict. (New York: Norton, 2000) A Roberts, The Crisis in UN Peacekeeping, Survival, Autumn 1994 Erik Melander, Magnus Öberg, Jonathan Hall, Are New Wars More Atrocious? Battle Severity, Civilians Killed and Force Migration Before and After the End of the Cold War, European Journal of International Relations, 15 (3)(2009): Parts of Stathis N. Kalyvas, The Logic of Violence in Civil War. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,

5 Herbst, Jeffrey African Militaries and Rebellion: The Political Economy of Threat and Combat Effectiveness. Journal of Peace Research 41 (3): skim P. W. Singer, Children at War. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006, Isabelle Duyvesteyn, Clausewitz and African War. Politics and Strategy in Liberia and Somalia. London: Frank Cass, 2005, W J Durch (ed), The Evolution of UN Peacekeeping: Case Studies and Comparative Analysis, St Martin's Press, New York, 1993 Week 4: International Terrorism, WMD, and the Bush Doctrine The National Security Strategy of the United States of America (September 2002) Lawrence Freedman A New Type of War in Ken Booth and Tim Dunne, Worlds in Collision: Terror and the Future of Global Order (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002) Bruce Hoffman Rethinking Terrorism and Counterterrorism Since 9/11 Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Vol., no. (2002) Antony J. Blinken From Preemption to Engagement, Survival, vol. 45, no. 4 ( ) Adam Roberts The War on Terror in Historical Perspective Survival, vol. 47, no 2 (2005) Cronin, Audrey K. "Rethinking Sovereignty: American Strategy in the Age of Terrorism." Survival 44 (Summer 2002):

6 Colin McInnes, A different kind of war? September 11 and the United States Afghan War, Review of International Studies, 29 (2003): John Parachini Putting WMD Terrorism into Perspective The Washington Quarterly, vol. 26, no. 4 (2003) Graham Allison How to Stop Nuclear Terror Foreign Affairs, vol. 83, no. 1 (2004) Robert Rotberg Failed States in a World of Terror Foreign Affairs, vol. 81, no. 4 (2002) Week 5: Air Power and Combined Arms: the RMA thesis tested Daniel L. Byman and Matthew C. Waxman, "Kosovo and the Great Air Power Debate." International Security, vol. 24, no. 4 (2000): Richard Andres, et. al., Winning with Allies. The Strategic Values of the Afghan Model, International Security, 30 (3) (Winter ), Stephen D. Biddle, Allies, Airpower, and Modern Warfare. The Afghan Model in Afghanistan and Iraq, International Security, 30 (3) (Winter ), Stephen Biddle, Speed Kills? Reassessing the Role of Speed, Precision, and Situation Awareness in the Fall of Saddam, The Journal of Strategic Studies, 30 (1) (February 2007), Colin McInnes Fatal Attraction: Air Power and the West Contemporary Security Policy, vol. 22, no. 3 (2001) Stephen Biddle, Military Power (Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2004) 6

7 Stephen Biddle, Afghanistan and the Future of Warfare, Foreign Affairs 82 (2) (March/April 2003) Ivo H. Daalder and Michael E. O Hanlon, "Unlearning the Lessons of Kosovo." Foreign Policy (Fall 1999): Week 6: The Return of the Mercenary: Private Military Companies Sarah Percy, Mercenaries: The History of a Norm in International Relations. Oxford: OUP, 2007, pp Serewicz L.Wc Gobalization, Sovereignty and the Military Revolution: From Mercenaries to Private International Security Companies International Politics, Volume 39, Number 1, March 2002, pp (15) Chakrabarti, S., Privatisation of Security in the Post-Cold War Period. An overview of its Nature and Implications., Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi, 2009, p. xi-47. ( y_in_the_post-cold_war_period_an_overview_of_its_nature_and_implications. pdf?bcsi_scan_3c79e7817cdc4fd7=0&bcsi_scan_filename=chakrabarti_privatisat ion_of_security_in_the_post-cold_war_period_an_overview_of_its_nature_and _Implications.pdf) Recommended Readings Holmqvist, C., Private Security Companies. The Case for Regulation, SIPRI, SIPRI Policy Paper No. 9, Stockholm, 2005, 60 p. ( ) Perlo-Freeman, S. and Sköns, E., The Private Military Services Industry, SIPRI, SIPRI Insights No. 2008/1, Stockholm, 2008, 20 p. ( ) 7

8 McBride, M.T., The proliferation of contractors on the battlefield: a changing dynamic that necessitates a strategic review, US Army War College, Carlisle, 2003, 30 p. ( GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA ) Week 7: Adapting to Expeditionary Operations: NATO and EU Sven Biscop Able and Willing? Assessing the EU s Capacity for Military Action European Foreign Affairs Review 9: , Gustav Lindstrom Enter the EU Battlegroups Chaillot paper, no. 97 (February 2007) Strategic Concept For the Defence and Security of The Members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Adopted by Heads of State and Government in Lisbon Anand Menon, Empowering paradise? The ESDP at ten International Affairs 85: 2 (2009)

9 Alistair Shepherd Irrelevant or Indispensable? ESDP, the War on Terror and the Fallout from Iraq. International Politics 43: Wallace, W. et al Not Such a Soft Power: the External Deployment of European Forces, Survival 46/2, 2004 Howorth, Jolyon Security and Defence Policy in the European Union. Houndmills: Palgrave. Chapter 4. Week 8: Counter-Insurgency Warfare Parts from Hammes, Thomas X. The Sling and the Stone John A. Nagl, Foreword to the University of Chicago Press Edition. The Evolution and Importance of Army / Marine Corps Field Manual 3-24, Counterinsurgency Sarah Sewall, Introduction to the University of Chicago Press Edition. A Radical Field Manual General David H. Petraeus, General James F. Amos, Introduction, in: The U.S. Army Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual. U.S. Army Field Manual N. 3-24, Marine Corps Warfighting Publication N (first issued 15 December 2006). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2007, xiii-xlvi. Mark Kramer, The Perils of Counterinsurgency: Russia s War in Chechnya, International Security, 29 (3) Winter , John A. Nagl, Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife. Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam (1st ed. 2002). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2005, read 3-11, skim 59-68, read 68-77, skim 77-81, skim 87-91, read , skim

10 Arreguin-Toft, Ivan. "How the Weak Win Wars: A Theory of Asymmetric Conflict." International Security 26 (Summer 2001): Stephen Biddle Seeing Bagdad, Thinking Saigon Foreign Affairs, vol. 85, no. 2 (2006) Ahmed S. Hashim, Insurgency and Counter-Insurgency in Iraq. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2006, skim , Carter Malkasian, Counterinsurgency in Iraq: May 2003-January 2007, in: Daniel Marston, Carter Malkasian, eds., Counterinsurgency in Modern Warfare. New York: Osprey, 2008, Week 9: The Rise of China Parts of Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui Unrestricted Warfare, Christensen, Thomas J., Fostering Stability or Creating a Monster? The Rise of China and U.S. Policy toward East Asia International Security, Volume 31, Number 1, Summer 2006, pp Holslag, Jonathan Trapped Giant: China s Military Rise. (London, IISS, 2010), pp The rest of Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui Unrestricted Warfare, Friedberg, Aaron L. The Future of U.S.-China Relations Is Conflict Inevitable? International Security, Volume 30, Number 2, Fall 2005, pp Robert S. Ross. Navigating the Taiwan Strait: Deterrence, Escalation Dominance, and U.S.-China Relations International Security, Vol. 27, No. 2 (Autumn, 2002), pp. 10

11 O Rourke, Ronald. China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities Background and Issues for Congress. (Congressional Research Service, May ) Week 10: War without Casualties: Robot War. Parts from P. W. Singer, Wired For War. The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century. New York: The Penguin Press, Rest of Wired for War. Robert Sparrow, Killer Robots Journal of Applied Philosophy, Vol. 24, No. 1, 2007 Sullins, John P. RoboWarfare: can robots be more ethical than humans on the battlefield? Ethics and Information Technology (2010) 12: The U.S. Air Force Remotely Piloted Aircraft and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle 11

12 Strategic Vision, 2005 Majeet Singh Pardesi, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: missions, challenges, and strategic implications for small and medium powers. In Bernard Loo (Ed.) Military Transformation and Strategy: revolutions in Military Affairs and Small States, (Oxford: Routledge, 2009) pp