An Examination Of Modern Forms Of Warfare (Essay Sample)

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Hybrid Warfare
The contemporary war has always been fought on the battlefield. However, with changing times, the approach to war has significantly changed as countries and warring parties move to limit the collateral damage. This sustained change has brought about new age and better effective tactics and weapons. This paper seeks to support the view that hybrid warfare is a new form of war. Hybrid warfare has been adopted to as a useful tool in war carrying the fundamental natures of war – violence, interaction, and politics. It also bears the characteristic similarity to conventional warfare in its endurance and changing nature (Lonsdale 20).
Hybrid warfare has steadily gained popularity as fighting parties strive to have an upper hand in war encounters. This tactic involves both the typical and complex fighting methods. As Murray and Mansoor note, through hybrid warfare, the military exploits its opponent’s weaknesses and combines multiple styles of combat that include conventional capabilities, irregular tactics and formations, terrorist’s acts and criminal disorder. The use of hybrid tactics is meant to achieve the greatest immediate and results that are beneficial regardless of the immediate effect it brings (2).
Communication platforms are a useful tool in hybrid conflict to serve the politics and interaction elements of war. Communication is used in the dispersal of war propaganda and fear. The objective for using communication in war is to generate unrest in the people and also to destroy their trust in their defense forces. The growth of mass communication networks offers a broad range of propaganda avenues which can be used as a powerful tool against the military powers. Developments in war technology will increase the harmfulness of irregular threats as technology continues to make them easier to cause widespread chaos and problematic to counter. The internet has also provided vital support to the use of technology in warfare. Social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook are increasingly becoming an effective platform for propaganda dispersal.
True to the violence element of war, hybrid warfare is based on complex weaponry systems that are combined with some other disrupting technologies. With the support of new technologies, more fierce and deadly weapons continue to be created. Governments are using more resources as they seek to have the most advanced and sophisticated conventional and unconventional weapons staying ready for both internal and external threats. This move is also meant to improve the homeland departments from the possible violence and harmful interaction that are part of war. An example of efficient use of technology in battle is mobile networks that are now a part of modern combat. This technology was used as Hezbollah forces used aerial drones to gather intelligence, communicated with encrypted cellphone and watched Israel troops with thermal night vision equipment.
In hybrid fighting, several styles of war are used simultaneously by flexible and complex enemies. Essentially hybrid war seeks to combine all the natural elements of war by causing violence, negative interaction and for political interests. The combination of approaches is highlighted in war’s primary characteristic of continuous change. A current example is the Islamic State’s (ISIS) effective use of cross-border ventures, combined tactics, structured formations and the employment of terror attacks as part of their tactics. Swift reaction is essential to minimize the loss incurred during a hybrid assault. In response to the US aerial bombing campaign, ISIS quickly reduced the use of checkpoints, massive fleets and cell phones to cover their traces
In war, when the enemy is using complex weapons, the state can directly engage or use proxies who may be after the interests of the state are the primary objective in war. However, these proxies may also at times have their agendas in the war (Lovelace 166). When proxies are used, they may decide to conduct their operations according to outlined military guidelines to outdo the enemy forces. The use of proxies as a substitute to direct conflict reflects the endurance and changing characteristics of war.
Conventional tactics in hybrid battles are utilized in the typical battlefield. The forces on each side are well defined and use weapons targeting the rivals’ military and essential infrastructure. The aim of the opposing forces is to destabilize and destroy the enemy’s forces by all means. Despite the hybrid approach, direct conflicts are characterized by massive violence and loss of life. With the aim being to weaken the enemy, the fighters may eventually employ unconventional ways to shift the scale to their advantage. It is necessary for a periodical tactic change to avoid predictability and also adapt to the enemy’s tactics. Whoever is most effective in their tactics ends up winning the war. For instance, In the recent Arabian upr...