Fifth Generation Warfare and

the Challenges for Pakistan

Shafaat Ullah Shah

“For the present, we are at war and do not grasp the dimensions of the
conflict.”

Ralph Peters

The term Fifth-Generation War has become a favorite acronym in Pakistan

with media, politicians and military analysts, without the majority imbibing its
true meanings. This is partially due to its evolving nature and the fact that the
theoretical construct often neglects insights about the enduring nature of war.
In order to gain an insight into its concept and the changing character of war,
it is imperative to refer to earlier generations of warfare .

While the first three generations of warfare were clearly delineated, the Fourth
Generation Warfare (4GW) obscures more than it explains. In simple
terms, 4GW is a conflict characterized by a blurring of the lines between war
and politics, combatants and civilians. The term was first used in 1989, after
the demise of the Cold War era, by US analysts to describe warfare’s return
to a decentralized form. 4GW was used successfully by the Afghan and
Pakistan based Mujahedeen to defeat the erstwhile Soviet Union and is being
used against the US today by the insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Fifth Generation Warfare (5GW), once thought to be a generation too far in

scope, has arrived and is irreversibly changing the dimensions of war. In its
definition proffered by the US analysts, non-state warriors fight nation states
out of sheer frustration without clear political objectives. Arguably, this
definition impedes an otherwise broad spectrum concept of warfare by
confining its attributes to merely, non-state actors, frustration and void in
political objectives. It could be foreign sponsored by an ideological movement
like Muslim Brotherhood or Al Qaeda or a state(s) with well-defined political
objectives and the motive besides frustration could be self-generated or
instigation like in the case of “Arab Spring” of 2011 or even a monetary
incentive for the fighters. In addition to the manner in which it expands the
basic elements of war, 5GW has three distinct characteristics: its potential to
achieve supra-combinations, blur the boundaries that have traditionally
restricted warfare within a specified military or political range and its ability to
limit the role of modern combined arms mechanized force in future conflict.

In its wake, 5GW has confronted many nations of the world, including Pakistan
with an evolving strategic paradigm. Some of the affected nations could also
be waging a fight against terrorists and must first confront this most potent
and real threat of terrorism. The war on terrorism in itself manifests
unprecedented advancements in the dimensions of conflict and has been
characterized in many ways. It has been called as a new type of war, where
the enemy is not a defined entity but a movement and as a war of ideas
against extremism and without any borders. Simultaneously, and because war
is a social institution that evolves along with changes in societies, political
entities and technologies, if a nation is to maintain its security, it must also
look beyond the war on terror and prepare itself for the ascension of 5GW.
This kind of unrestricted warfare demands a totally new thinking and
approach, different from the perspective of military preparedness for past
wars and embracing the perspective of national preparedness for the evolving
spectrum of future forms of conflicts.

As the divisive demarcation between 5GW and its earlier version is blurred,
there has not been any concrete evidence which fully illustrates its criterions.
Some plausible manifestations in the context of Pakistan could be the use of
media to propagate against the State and its institutions, cyberattacks, fake
news, social media, money laundering, hacking of bank accounts, secessionist
movements in Baluchistan, sectarian strife, creating unrest by raising popular
religious slogans ( blasphemy related protests by TLYR) hacking etc . The acts
of terrorism especially against hard core military targets like Naval and Kamra
military bases and targeting foreign missions like the Chinese Consulate with
responsibilities claimed by various terrorists entities like Tehreek e Taliban
Pakistan (TPP), ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Baluchistan Liberation Army(BLA), but would
have been perpetrated by hostile foreign power(s) to showcase the weakness
of the State and erode conventional war fighting capability. The primary
objective of these nefarious activities is to mar the credibility of the State,
create a wedge between Army and the Executive, create mass unrest and
portray Pakistan unsafe for foreign investment and as a failed state.

Defining challenges facing Pakistan related to its national authority, national

interests and national will by 5GW are relatively easy, more difficult is to find
antidotes to these enigmas. The quest is further compounded due to the
nascent and evolving nature of this warfare. As 5GW meets Clausewitz’s
definition of war as the ‘’continuous interaction of opposite”, a cogent response
must also address multiple aspects to equip and respond to any eventuality
both in kinetic and non-kinetic forms. As a cardinal principle of the response
parameters, first, a long term strategic perspective of security must be taken,
second, focus must shift from a pure military dimension to all elements of the
national power to shape conflict termination, third, the elements of national
power must be transformed by not mere reorganization of government
apparatus but a redefinition of forms and functions. In the context of Pakistan,
to surmount the challenges of new brands of warfare, it is imperative to
highlight certain response parameters.

Firstly, given that National Action Plan has political consensus and a broad
framework of involvement of all the elements of national power, it should be
implemented in totality. Secondly, there is an urgent need to revive the
national spirit, fervor and the Ideology of Pakistan. We still tend to align
ourselves more with the Muslim Umma, than our country which has been
created on the basis of Islamic Ideology. All Arab Nations describe themselves
as Arabs first and Muslims later. Also, local governments provide channels of
communications and implementation of reform policies and hence need to be
empowered at the grass root levels. It is doubly important to improve all tiers
of governance and strengthen their accountability.

Moreover, there is a dire need to control mosques and madrasas with the
objective of controlling extremism. No Muslim country has progressed without
achieving this. Data in today’s world is a precious national asset. We have no
safeguards for the protection of data and hence we must take measures to
secure data and turn it into an important cog in policy-making.

Another important area that we need to work on is Cyber Security. Cyber-

warfare provides easy disruption options for the malfunctioning of government
and financial institutions without detection of the originators. Therefore, a lack
of focus on this domain can prove costly for Pakistan.
There are other recommendations that, if implemented, can help Pakistan
mitigate the challenges emanating from this new form of warfare:

 Media Management both through internal principles, ethics and

censorship of news against national interests / institutions.
 A wholesome analyses of the threats facing us in the spectrum of 5GW,
Hybrid Warfare to streamline response parameters.
 A drastic review of our foreign relations and closing of fronts to focus
resources towards most potent threat(s).
 Revision of curriculum from primary to masters to include inculcation of
national moorings, ideology and sacrifices rendered in salvation of
Pakistan to name a few.

To conclude, in a globalized world today, Pakistan like many other countries

is facing multiple threats to its sovereignty both by internal elements and
hostile states. These challenges call for a wide ranging discourse for an in-
depth understanding of this ever evolving threat spectrum and gearing up all
elements of national power to mount a potent response.