Networks, culture and narratives

Abstract This paper examines the difficulty the US armed forces face in shifting their focus from preparing for regular wars, in which combat is separated from civil society, to irregular wars, in which combat is integrated with civil society. It argues that the political context of contemporary irregular wars requires that the purpose and practice of Western forces be governed by liberal values. This is also the case with regular wars, to the extent that they occur, but it is the integration with civil society that makes the application of liberal values so challenging. It argues that this challenge becomes easier to meet when military operations are understood to contribute to the development of a compelling narrative about the likely course and consequence of a conflict, in which these values are shown to be respected. However, while it is vital that the employment of armed force remains sensitive at all times to the underlying political context and to the role of narratives in shaping this context, a key test of success will always be the defeat of the opposing forces. The application of this test in regular war remains straightforward; this is not the case with irregular war, which can be of long duration and contain frequent shifts in tempo and focus. The 'war on terror' has highlighted these issues and the paper concludes with suggestions for a strategic response. Notes 1 Actually, if you want to knock a body off balance the worst place to aim for is the centre of gravity. 2 US Department of Defense, Field Manual 100-5: Operations (Washington DC: Department of the Army, 1982), vol. 2-1. 3 Anthony H. Cordesman and Abraham R. Wagner, The Lessons of Modern War, Vol. IV: The Gulf War (Boulder, CO: Westview, 1996). 4 Barry D. Watts, 'Effects and Effectiveness', in Eliot A. Cohen, ed. , Gulf War Air Power Survey, Vol. 2: Operations and Effects and Effectiveness (Washington DC: GPO, 1993), p. 363. 5 Important articles in defining the RMA were Andrew F. Krepinevich, 'Cavalry to Computer: The Pattern of Military Revolutions', The National Interest, no. 37, Fall 1994; William A. Owens, 'The Emerging System of Systems', US Naval Institute Proceedings, May 1995, pp. 36–39; and Eliot A. Cohen, 'A Revolution in Warfare', Foreign Affairs, vol. 75, no. 2, March/April 1996. For an analysis of the various theories see Colin S. Gray, Strategy for Chaos: Revolutions in Military Affairs and The Evidence of History (London: Frank Cass, 2002). 6 Robert H. Scales, Yellow Smoke: The Future of Land Warfare for America's Military (Lanham, MD: Rowman Lind, 'Understanding Fourth Generation War', Military Review, September–October 2004, pp. 12–16. This reports the findings of a study group which he convened at his house. 24 Hammes, 'War Evolves into the Fourth Generation', Contemporary Security Policy, vol. 26, no. 2, August 2005. This issue contains a number of critiques of the idea of fourth-generation warfare, including one by the author. For a full account of Hammes's ideas see The Sling And the Stone: On War in the 21st Century (St Paul, MN: Zenith Press, 2004). 25 Lind presents anything corrosive of the cultural foundations of a society as part of such a war. Cultural damage appeared as the product of deliberate and hostile moves by enemies, aided and abetted by naïve and wrong-thinking elements at home, rather than of broader and more diffuse social trends or economic imperatives. See Bill Berkowitz, 'A mighty Lind', September 2003. http: //www. workingforchange. com/article. cfm? ItemID=15659. 26 Scales, 'Culture-Centric Warfare', US Naval Institute Proceedings, October 2004. 27 Arquilla and Ronfeldt (eds), Networks and Netwars. 28 See for example Robert Fulford, The Triumph of Narrative: Storytelling in the Age of Mass Culture (Toronto: Anansi, 1999) ; Jay Rosen, 'PressThink Basics: The Master Narrative in Journalism', September 2003. http: //journalism. nyu. edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2003/09/08/basicsₘaster. html. 29 Cohen, Supreme Command: Soldiers, Statesmen, and Leadership in Wartime (New York: The Free Press, 2002). 30 Freedman, 'War in Iraq: Selling the Threat', Survival, vol. 46, no. 2, Summer 2004, pp. 7–50. 31 Jay Rosen, 'Theoretical Foundations: Public Journalism as a Democratic Art', July 2002, http: //www. imdp. org/artman/publish/printer₂3. shtml. 32 William D. Casebeer and James A. Russell, 'Storytelling and Terrorism: Towards a Comprehensive "Counter-Narrative Strategy"', Strategic Insights, vol. IV, no. 3, March 2005.