Evolution of warfare

Comment

In the early 21st century, the nature of war and violence has changed. Fortunately, and thanks to a functioning deterrent, the horror vision of nuclear war has not yet materialised. The era of classic war and major military interventions abroad, such as the recent one in Afghanistan, appears to be over. War has now taken on a new form. This is evidenced not only by the global centres of crisis and conflict, the endless "small wars" in the fight against terror or the civil wars in failed states. These conflicts usually have neither declarations of war nor peace agreements. War and peace are therefore difficult to distinguish. New weapons such as unmanned systems often blur the distinction between combatants and non-combatants. However, the conflict between the rising world power China and the fading world power USA determines the predominant security policy events in the world today. Both are engaged in a new Cold War, which is about trade and investment, but which has also long had a technological dimension.