“A Spectrum of Modern Warfare”, actually began as a series of articles on warfare which I had written over the past few years. it was my friend and editor Col (Retd) A K Sharma, who suggested that I compile it and put in down in a book. That compilation took two years to put in place and update and the result was this small volume.
The book traces the evolution of warfare over the past two centuries. It covers the momentous changes in warfare, both conventional and unconventional, and evaluates how unconventional warfare- which is the pre-dominant form today – has impacted war-fighting concepts across the globe.
It examines the different generations of warfare – The muscular, simple form of First Generation Warfare; the firepower and attrition based model of Second Generation Warfare;the Maneuver predominant form of the Third Generation; and finally the unconventional form of Warfare – The Fourth Generation- that we are witnessing now. The book also brings out how dwindling resources, (including water and oil), global warming can precipitate future conflict and highlights the impact of technology on modern war.
It is pertinent that amongst the wars of this century, only one – “The Russo-Georgia War” has been a conventional war fought between two nations. All other wars, be it ‘The War Against Terror’,The Israeli-Hezbollah Conflict of 2006” even the US invasion of Iraq which soon degenerated into a battle with militia groups were largely unconventional wars. The evaluation of these wars provide a insight into the changing nature of modern warfare.
Five likely scenarios of future conflict in the 21st Century have been depicted.The potential flashpoints have been identified as:-
- The Korean Peninsula
- The Middle East
- India- Pakistan
- India- China
- USA-China,
In each case, the background, earlier conflicts and the present situations have been analyzed. This has been followed by the painting of a conflict scenario and the mannerin which itis likely to unfold. The likely conflict between India and Pakistan and India- China with the very real possibility of collusion between our likely adversaries is a pointer to the future. The scenarios painted reveal a striking similarity with the war-posturing in Korea and the present Chinese intrusions in Ladakh.
The book provides an insight on the nature of modern warfare and perhaps in a small measure will help prepare for the wars that are to come.’
Release
The book was released in June 2013 at the Center for Joint Warfare Studies, by Lt Gen A S Kalkat, a long-time mentor.
Reviews
The review of the book as it appeared in the Pune Edition of DNA Newspaper is below
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