Kamran Stu
MPA (400+ posts)
More ‘developed’ nations often claim they are more democratic than their developing counterparts and often employ talking heads to push this narrative. Over the years, and certainly more recently, these talking heads can be seen desperately trying to push one version of events while ganging up on others who have a difference of opinion — cyber bullying.
Further, these talking troll heads try to muddy waters by falsely labeling people they don’t know and claiming Fifth Generation Warfare (5GW) is nothing more than a silly conspiracy to derail attempts at their free speech.
And while many unfounded conspiracies abound, it behooves us to take a closer look at these individuals and their claims. For starters, let’s consider what 5GW is.
Turns out, 5GW is real. Only it doesn’t feature armies or clear ideas. In an article for Wired Magazine, written about 10 years ago, David Axe quoted the US Army Major Shannon Beebe, the top Intel officer for Africa at the time, as describing the “fifth-generation as a vortex of violence, a free-for-all of surprise destruction motivated more by frustration than by any coherent plans for the future.”
How to Win a 'Fifth-Generation' War
Author: David AxeDavid Axe
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In recent years, military thinkers have been focused on "fourth-generation" warfare – that is, conflicts over ideas, waged by what author John Robb calls "ad-hoc warriors." Compare that to industrialized "third-generation" war fought by traditional armies over land and resources. The U.S. and its allies are already good at 3GW. And five years into the Iraq war, we are beginning to get pretty good at 4GW, too, especially in encouraging everyday Iraqis to reject hardliners' visions of the world.
But the next generation of war – the so-called "fifth-generation" – won't feature armies or clear ideas. It will be what U.S. Army Major Shannon Beebe, the top intel officer for Africa, calls a "vortex of violence," a free-for-all of surprise destruction motivated more by frustration than by any coherent plans for the future.
5GW is what happens when the world's disaffected direct their desperation at the most obvious symbol of everything they lack, taking advantage of the tactics and battlefields pioneered by more highly organized fourth-gen warriors. The symbol is the United States, the world's sole super-power. And the fifth-gen fighters' weapon of choice is political "stalemate," contends Marine Lt. Col. Stanton Coerr, in a new piece in Marine Corps Gazette.
"5GW fighters will win by ... point[ ing ] out the impotence of secular military might. ... These fighters win by not losing, while we lose by not winning."
5GW is anchored in the global
Islamic jihad espoused by Al Qaeda, Coerr writes. But that doesn't mean that fifth-gen warriors necessarily are clearly ideological, with aspirations of setting up alternative political systems. They're opportunists, intent only on destruction. But even seemingly pointless violence can have a perverse logic, for the sudden, irrational destruction undermines the idea that nations – and especially the most powerful nation, the U.S. – are viable in the modern world.
So how do you beat a fifth-gen enemy? By not fighting, first of all.
Beebe says ending the vortex of violence in Africa means alleviating
"the conditions of human beings that create these insecurities across state borders." In other words, focus on economic development, humanitarian assistance and communication, with nary an M-16 or Abrams tank in sight.
In Coer's words, "success will vary inversely to exported violence."
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