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The Revolution in Military Affairs

Author : Earl H. Tilford (Jr.)

Publisher :

Page : 28 pages

File Size : 34,97 MB

Release : 1995-06-23

Category :

ISBN : 9781463708795

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Book Description

The current Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) is taking place against the background of a larger historical watershed involving the end of the Cold War and the advent of what Alvin and Heidi Toffler have termed "the Information Age." In this essay, Dr. Earl Tilford argues that RMAs are driven by more than breakthrough technologies, and that while the technological component is important, a true revolution in the way military institutions organize, equip and train for war, and in the way war is itself conducted, depends on the confluence of political, social, and technological factors. After an overview of the dynamics of the RMA, Dr. Tilford makes the case that interservice rivalry and a reintroduction of the managerial ethos, this time under the guise of total quality management (TQM), may be the consequences of this revolution. In the final analysis, warfare is quintessentially a human endeavor. Technology and technologically sophisticated weapons are only means to an end. The U.S. Army, along with the other services, is embracing the RMA as it downsizes and restructures itself into Force XXI. Warfare, even on the digitized battlefield, is likely to remain unpredictable, bloody, and horrific. Military professionals cannot afford to be anything other than well prepared for whatever challenges lie ahead, be it war with an Information Age peer competitor, a force of guerrillas out of the Agrarian Age, or a band of terrorists using the latest in high-tech weaponry. While Dr. Tilford is optimistic about the prospects for Force XXI, what follows is not an unqualified endorsement of the RMA or of the Army's transition to an Information Age force. By examining issues and problems that were attendant to previous RMAs, Dr. Tilford raises questions that ought to be asked by the Army as it moves toward Force XXI. Warfare is, the author reminds us, the most complex of human undertakings and the victors, even in the Information Age, will be those who, as in the past, are masters of the art-as well as the science-of war.



The Difficult Task of Peace

Author : Francisco Rojas Aravena

Publisher : Springer Nature

Page : 338 pages

File Size : 43,96 MB

Release : 2019-09-05

Category : Political Science

ISBN : 3030219747

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Book Description

This book provides a holistic view on the topics of peace and conflict, peace education, international relations and regional studies during the end of the second decade of the twenty-first century. It collects the studies, experience and analysis of faculty members of the University for Peace presented in three sections: regional and institutional outlook, and common challenges and interventions. Some of the topics in this book include the complex concept of peace; governance and security in Africa; peace and conflict in the Middle East; maritime security conflicts in South China Sea, the European Union in a multipolar world, religious fundamentalism and violent extremism; food security, climate change; and participatory action research in the culture of peace. Scholars, capacity building trainers, policy makers, politicians, lawyers, and individuals interested in international affairs among others might find in this book a diverse academic source for further analysis in their respective fields.



The Revolution in Military Affairs and Conflict Short of War

Author : Steven Metz

Publisher :

Page : 28 pages

File Size : 23,49 MB

Release : 2013-01-27

Category : Political Science

ISBN : 9781482091045

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Book Description

Many American strategic thinkers believe that we are in the beginning stages of a historical revolution in military affairs (RMA) . This will not only change the nature of warfare, but also alter the global geopolitical balance. To date, most attention has fallen on the opportunities provided by the RMA rather than its risks, costs, and unintended consequences. In the arena of conflict short of war, these risks, costs, and unintended consequences may outweigh the potential benefits. The Strategic Context. The Cold War notion of conflict short of war is obsolete.Politically and militarily, the Third World of the future will be full of danger. The future will most likely be dominated by peace enforcement in failed states, new forms of insurgency and terrorism, and "gray area phenomena." Many if not most Third World states will fragment into smaller units. Ungovernability and instability will be the norm with power dispersed among warlords, primal militias, and well-organized politico-criminal organizations. U.S. policy in the Third World is likely to be more selective and the U.S. homeland may no longer provide sanctuary. Renewed external support will restore the lagging proficiency of insurgents and terrorists. The Application of Emerging Technology. Emerging technology will have less impact on conflict short of war than on conventional, combined-arms warfare. It will, however, have some role. In noncombatant evacuation operations, new technology can assist with identification and notification of evacuees. Sensor technology, robotics, nonlethal weapons, and intelligence meshes will be used in combatting terrorism, countering narcotrafficking, and peace operations. These technologies, along with simulator training and unmanned aerial vehicles, will also be useful in insurgency and counterinsurgency.



Recognizing and Understanding Revolutionary Change in Warfare: The Sovereignty of Context

Author : Colin S. Gray

Publisher : DIANE Publishing

Page : 67 pages

File Size : 49,5 MB

Release : 2006

Category :

ISBN : 1428916210

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Book Description

"Revolution in Military Affairs" (RMA) was the most widely used, and abused, acronym in the U.S. defense community in the 1990s. Subsequently, "transformation" has superceded it as the preferred term of art. For the better part of two decades, American defense professionals have been excited by the prospect of effecting a revolutionary change in the conduct and character of warfare. In this monograph, Dr. Colin S. Gray provides a critical audit of the great RMA debate and of some actual RMA behavior. He argues that the contexts of warfare are crucially important. Indeed so vital are the contexts that only a military transformation that allows for flexibility and adaptability will meet future strategic demands. Dr. Gray warns against a transformation that is highly potent only in a narrow range of strategic cases. In addition, he advises that the historical record demonstrates clearly that every revolutionary change in warfare eventually is more or less neutralized by antidotes of one kind or another (political, strategic, operational, tactical, and technological). He warns that the military effectiveness of a process of revolutionary change in a "way of war" can only be judged by the test of battle, and possibly not even then, if the terms of combat are very heavily weighted in favor of the United States. On balance, the concept of revolutionary change is found to be quite useful, provided it is employed and applied with some reservations and in a manner that allows for flexibility and adaptability. Above all else, the monograph insists, the contexts of warfare, especially the political, determine how effective a transforming military establishment will be.



Reassessing the Revolution in Military Affairs

Author : Andrew Futter

Publisher : Springer

Page : 195 pages

File Size : 21,64 MB

Release : 2015-10-12

Category : Political Science

ISBN : 1137513764

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Book Description

A generation after the First Gulf War, and in the wake of a decade of counterinsurgency operations and irregular warfare, this book explores how the concept of the Revolution in Military Affairs continues to shape the way modern militaries across the globe think about, plan and fight wars.



Armed Conflict in the 21st Century

Author : Steven Metz

Publisher :

Page : 0 pages

File Size : 32,21 MB

Release : 2018-06-25

Category : Information warfare

ISBN : 9781536137033

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Book Description

Within the past decade, the U.S. military has implemented a number of programs to assess the changes underway in the global security environment and in the nature of warfare. Defense leaders and thinkers have concluded that revolutionary change is taking place and, if the United States develops appropriate technology, warfighting concepts, and military organizations, it can master or control this change, thus augmenting American security. In this monograph, Dr. Steven Metz, who was one of the earliest analysts of the strategic dimension of the revolution in military affairs, suggests that official thinking within the U.S. military may be too narrow. The information revolution, he contends, will have far-reaching strategic effects. The transformation it brings will not only be technological, but political, social, ethical and strategic as well.





The Revolution in Military Affairs: Prospects and Cautions

Author :

Publisher :

Page : 66 pages

File Size : 16,20 MB

Release : 1995

Category :

ISBN :

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Book Description

A characteristic of the American way of war is our fascination with technology and the search for that technological 'silver bullet' that will deliver victory quickly and with a minimum of loss of life. The current Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) is driven by rapid technological advance fostered by the advent of the microprocessor and by decreased defense spending. It operates against the background of a historical watershed brought about by the end of the Cold War. The RMA has been embraced by all the United States' military services; especially the Air Force and the Army. As the Army downsizes it is seeking to change itself into Force XXI; a strategic force, trained and ready, to fight and win the nation's wars in the 21st century. That we are in the midst of a true revolution in military affairs is evident. What it may mean for the Army and the nation is not so evident. This monograph outlines where the Army is going as it seeks to define change rather than be defined by change. It also looks to the past to ask what have been the results of change during past RMAs? Accelerated interservice rivalries and over-reliance on management systems marked the last RMA, one driven by the advent of atomic weapons at the end of World War II and the relatively stable and sparse defense budgets of the 1950s. The author argues that the consequence of interservice rivalry and the institutionalization of the managerial ethos was defeat in Vietnam. Finally, the author warns against becoming so entranced with the sophisticated technologies of the RMA that we lose both our grounding in strategic thinking and our basic warrior skills. To do so could be potentially disastrous when two peer competitor forces meet on the 21st century battlefield and, quite possibly, cancel each other out electronically.