General Rupert Smith’s book The Utility of Force explains why modern armies are unsuccessful in ‘winning’ wars claiming it’s due to a paradigm shift in the nature of war and that “War no longer exists as a massive deciding event in a dispute in international affairs.”
The old paradigm, Interstate Industrial War between Peoples, in which states aimed for unconditional surrender and military force was decisive has been replaced by War amongst People, a strategic confrontation between a range of combatants, not all of which are armies. In this new reality, the objective is to capture the minds of the people and military force is used to create conditions facilitating the achievement of strategic results.
Wars are never ‘won’ – according to Smith – because armies still fight the wrong war, and don’t have the capacity to link their military activities firmly enough with a clear political logic.
Although based on his experiences as a British army commander in Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo and Northern Ireland, Smith’s book is particularly relevant for Israel which in recent years has suffered from Strategic Inferiority in National Security.
How can Israel better lever its military strength to serve political considerations?
Related Links
Reut memo to Winograd: Updating Israel’s National Security Strategy
Israel’s National Security Concept is Irrelevant
Israel’s National Security and the Dahiyah Doctrine
Changing Nature of Wars: The Importance of the Civilian Front
General
Amit Granek
Yuval Holtzmann
Ronit Gudes
Gidi Grinstein
Gaddy Weissman
Calev Ben Dor
Yossi Horesh
Dana Preisler
Omri Dagan
Eran Shayshon
Liran Bainvol
Merav Pick
Noa Ecker
Netaly Ophir
Yariv Mann
Reut Institute
Omri Zegen
Yael Weisz
Toni Hasson
Talia Gorodess
Gil Murciano
Anat Horowitz
Abed Assli
Daphna Kaufman
Shay Gurion
Elad Leshem
Aliza Petrack
Jessica Brandt
Yael Brendel
Martin Ben Moreh
yotamhacohen
We need to differentiate between “wars” as not all wars driven alike and the scale of the armed conflict and the capacities to direct “force”.
“is war amongst the people, where the strategic objective is to win the hearts and minds, and the battle is for the people’s will, rather than the destruction of an opponent’s forces.”
taking the assumption that Israel suffered from Strategic Inferiority in National Security. the ideas project that we need to widen the scope of Stability Operations and influence directly on the population ability to take the power for self management build civil infrastructure and healthy economy.
it is actually expanding the responsibility of using force and training the personal and bringing resources to activities avoided so far. as the more we weaken the other side we actually flame its extremists, and in a society that prove not to have capacity we find ourselves in Inferiority in National Security when our army need to fight the embedded in population terrorists.
(see : Field Manual 3-07, Stability Operations
usacac.army.mil/CAC2/Repository/FM307/FM_3-07_Pre-RolloutBrief.ppt
http://www.army.mil/-newsreleases/2008/10/06/13091-army-unveils-new-stability-operations-manual/