Description

The paper examines the employment of the military against non-traditional threats. This paper argues that the changing nature of conflict has also forced the military to change its operating procedures, warfighting concepts and organization not only to win wars decisively and but also to win the peace. In doing so, the military transformation that has taken place has extended the utility of the military to combat non-traditional threats. New military capabilities to win the peace can be easily adapted for use against non-traditional threats, and this paper examines the changes in force structure and operating concepts and how they can be adapted for use in non-traditional security roles. The paper also matches the evolving capabilities and the evolving spectrum non-traditional security threats and argues that while the military remains an important instrument of national security, the military is not a comprehensive instrument against the entire spectrum of non-traditional security threats.

Employing the military against all non-traditional security threats will seriously jeopardize its main purpose of defending national sovereignty and territorial integrity. However, the military would remain the most versatile and flexible state institution as the military force undergoes further transformation to meet emerging demands of future military operations against security threats of an interwoven mix of traditional and non-traditional threats. Such operations will demand multi-national cooperation involving coalition military forces, own and coalition government and non-government agencies. Paradoxically, this trend will continue to make the military the most relevant state institution against enemies of the state well into the future and suggests a fundamental new role for the military into the future.