Unit 6:

International Conflict
Dr Anneli Botha
POLS1524
Outline

1. Definition
2. Classification / Types of war
3. Reasons for war
4. Cost of war
5. Legitimacy of war
 War is nothing more than the continuation of
politics by other means.
Karl von Clausewitz

Politics is war without bloodshed

while war is politics with bloodshed.

What is War? Mao Tse-Tung

War is the point at which politics turns into
murder
Michel Serres
(Le Contrat naturel, 1990)
 Defining ‘War’
A war is a large-scale conflict between two or more groups in which each group is attempting to
achieve a political goal of some kind through the employment of violence, often with the goal of the
winner forcing the loser to the bargaining table to agree to terms favorable to them.
War includes:
1. Organized, deliberate violence by a political authority
2. > 1,000 battle deaths in a year
3. Both sides must have capacity to harm each other - not necessarily equal power
4. A legal state created by a declaration of war and ended by official declaration during which the
international rules of war apply
5. Condition of open, armed, often prolonged conflict carried on between nations, states, or parties
PEACE OF WESTPHALIA
The Peace of Westphalia, 1648, ended the Thirty Years'
War. Deadliest European religious war (Catholics vs
Protestants) in history, resulting in eight million
casualties.
Credited with establishing the international system as
we know it today:
Ø The principle of the sovereignty of states and
the fundamental right of political self
determination
Ø The principle of (legal) equality between states
Ø The principle of non-intervention of one state
in the internal affairs of another state
Ø The right of every State to decide on a religion
Ø Minority Christians guaranteed the right to
practice their faith in public
Historic Evolution of War
4 Generations of Warfare
William S. Lind
History of War: 4 Generations of Modern
Warfare - Variables

TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIP AND THE MILITARY DOCTRINE ROLE OF THE

STATE AND THOUGHT POPULATION AND
THE
NATURE/DIMENSIONS
OF THE
BATTLEFIELD/BATTLE
SPACE
 • Runs roughly from 1648 to
1860.
• War of line and column tactics,
where battles were formal and
the battlefield was orderly.
• Battlefield of order created a
military culture of order.
ØDistinguish "military" from
"civilian" - uniforms,
saluting etc.
ØCareful gradations or rank -
intended to reinforce the
First Generation culture of order.
 1. Technology leads the
development of warfare as
artillery, machine guns, and
rifled bore weapons create
massive firepower.
2. Battlefield is linear
3. State retains near
monopoly on the use of
force
Second Generation:
Firepower

Third Generation: Maneuver,
Armor and Mechanized warfare
• Based not on firepower and
attrition but speed, surprise,
and mental as well as physical
dislocation.
• Doctrine: Military thought
drives force deployment to
overcome firepower and static
armies.
• Battlefield: disrupt opponent’s
communications and support,
causing collapse of armies.
• Technology increases
command and control as the
use of radios increased.
• Third Generation warfare is
non-linear.
 • The state loses its monopoly
on war.
• Mind: Psychological
Operations (Psyops) become
primary and seek to degrade
and collapse national will of
opponent.
• Time becomes a chief weapon
to exploit by prolonging
conflict and thus expense in
blood and treasure.
• Space is traded for time,
becomes critical for hiding and
sanctuary, and for expanding
the battlefield to civilian areas.
Fourth Generation / • Cover: Combatants blend in
with civilian population
Asymmetric Warfare • World of cultures, not merely
states, in conflict.
 • States
• Multi-national corporations
• Non-governmental organizations
• Ideological groups, such as radical
environmentalists (example), animal
rights and anti-abortion activists
• Private Security Companies &
Mercenary armies (the Bush
administration reversed centuries of
work to minimize them)
• Transnational ethnic groups (e.g., the
Kurds, the Pashtun people)
• Religious groups e.g. Islamist Jihadi
organisations – Islamic State and al-
Qa’eda
Role players • Organized crime networks
 Asymmetric Warfare: Examples
Insurgents Terrorists
Ideology Political Secular / religious motivations =
political
Objectives Overthrow government Intimidation through fear
Territory Objective to control liberated areas = Territory not the main objective
legitimacy
Distinction Wear uniforms or insignia Objective to blend in – do not wear
uniforms
Targets Official targets – government & Civilian and non-combatants
representatives
Terrorism as a tactic Part of a broader strategy Indiscriminate tactic
Operations Paramilitary & cell structures Cell structures (different types)
Tactics Guerilla warfare Indiscriminate use of explosives,
firearms, knives and means of
 Factors facilitating
Fourth Generation

• Technology: new technologies have

dramatically increased the
productivity of small groups.
• Nuclear bomb vs. cell phone
and 60mm mortar
• AK-47 – 100 million distributed
worldwide
• Globalization & Media: global
manipulation.
• Psychological impact.
• Identity cross national borders
• Networked: new organizational
types made possible by
improvements in technology
facilitating learning, surviving, and
acting.
Old & New Wars
Mary Kaldor
 Old Wars New Wars
Actors Regular armed forces of the State State & non-state actors
(civilian/military distinction) (civilian/military distinction broken
down)
Operations Inter-state Civil wars
Goals Geo-political interests/ideologies Identity politics
(implements state policies)
Methods Battles capturing territory through Battles are rare (asymmetric)
military means Territory is captured through political
means (support of the population)

Rules International Law Fought as if there is no rules

(barbaric)
Financed Financed by the State (taxation) State: (financed by taxpayers)
Non-state: other forms of income
including crime
 Old & New Wars
State no longer the monopoly on war = 95% of
armed conflict since mid-1980’s within states
Decline in inter-state wars = created ‘zones of
peace’:
• Spread of democracy
• Advance of globalization
• Changing attitudes towards ‘war’ due to:
• Role of the UN
• Developments in weapon technology
(Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear
and Explosives - CBRNE)
 Old & New Wars 2
• Increase in civil war = ’zones of turmoil’
• Post-colonialism = ethnic/tribal rivalry
• Economic underdevelopment
• Weak states / quasi states / failed states:
• Government unable to maintain governing
functions & provide basic services
• Unable to maintain order & provide security
• Unable to maintain control over entire
country (uncontrolled territory)
• Limited / no border control
• Asymmetric structure: regulars fighting irregulars
• Privatization / commercialization of violence =
Private Security Companies (Executive Outcomes,
Blackwater / mercenaries)
• Globalization of warfare = identity politics
 • War and warfare have always been
affected by changes in military
technology
• ‘Post-modern War’: development of
new military strategies based on high-
tech technologies and ‘smart weapons’
aimed at achieving swift and decisive
outcomes
• Limit civilian casualties
• Limited casualties to own forces – large
number of casualties in other countries
= calls for withdrawal
• Limited / no footprint in area of
operations
• BUT Smart weapons does not win wars
Post-modern Warfare (it might win the battle)
Types of Conflict
 War Classifications: Types of conflict
Conventional warfare:
Uses conventional weapons and battlefield
tactics
Conventional weapons effects can be limited in
space and time to those who are legitimate
targets of war
Only combatants are legitimate targets
Lost or won when one side acknowledges defeat
Unconventional warfare: Asymmetric wars:
Willingness to ignore conventions of war One side has big advantage over the other
Unconventional weapons - effects not limited Tactics of the weak include:
(e.g. WMDs) Guerrilla warfare
Biological warfare: use of weaponized biological
Terrorism
toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria,
viruses, and fungi.
Chemical warfare: use of weaponized chemicals
in combat. Poison gas used during World War I,
and resulted in an estimated 1.3 million
casualties, including 100,000–260,000 civilians.
Flouting restrictions on legitimate targets
Refusing to accept traditional outcomes of
battles
 Intervention: a third-party state to get
involved in a civil war or a war between two
or more other states.
Intervenes by:
§ Sending troops
§ Provide arms
§ Provides money, or goods
to help another state that is already at war.
During the Cold War, the term intervention
was used to describe one of the
superpowers becoming involved in a smaller
country’s war (often a developing country)
see also proxy wars.
States can also intervene in order to bring
peace. This type of intervention occurs when
a country (or countries) sends military forces
into another state to act as peacekeepers or
to block other forces from attacking.
Sometimes these interventions are organized
or conducted by the United Nations or

Intervention / Proxy Wars another international governmental

organization.
2. Location of Conflict
 Location of Conflict
Interstate: war between states - WWII
Intrastate: war takes place within a state (i.e. civil
wars)
Different types:
• Establishment of government for control of a
“failed state” (Somalia)
• Ethno-nationalist movements seek
autonomy/secession (Chechens)
• Wars between ethnic, clan, or religious groups
for control of state (Rwanda)
Intrastate wars often affect outside states = e.g.
forced migration, rebel safe/strong holds
Outside states often influence intrastate wars = e.g.
Vietnam or Lebanon
3. Intensity of Conflict
 War Classifications: Intensity of conflict
• Total war: conflict of unlimited scope in which a belligerent engages in a mobilization of all available resources at their disposable
whether human, industrial, agricultural, military, natural, technological or otherwise, in order to entirely destroy of render beyond
use their rivals capacity to continue resistance
• In total war the goal of the government has been to bring about the surrender of the enemy
• The objective military function is to achieve the enemy’s surrender at a minimal cost of resources/ national treasure
• Thirty Years War, WWII
• The number of countries participating in total wars has fallen, and they tend to last for shorter lengths of time This has led
some to argue that this type of war is obsolete.
• Limited war: wars that involve less-than-total resources
• The objective is not surrender and occupation of enemy territory, but rather to attain limited goals.
• Initiated with limited aims (i.e. less than critical)
• Nuclear weapons never deployed
• Korean War, Gulf War I (1991)
Categorizing Wars

A war can often be a limited war, a guerrilla war, and a civil war all at the same time. The
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 is a great example. The United States sent
trainers, money, and weapons to Afghan rebels to fight against the invaders, making it a
low-intensity, limited conflict from the U.S. point of view. The Afghan resistance mostly
relied on guerrilla tactics. And the war split Afghanistan, so it was also a civil war.
Causes / Reasons
Causes / Reasons for war
Kenneth Waltz (The Man, The State
and War, 1959) identifies 3 levels of
analysis to examine the causes of war
Global level – Cycle Theories
Conflict of Ideas
War is traceable to human nature and behavior;
Internal structure of the state
Structural / Systemic Pressures - international anarchy –
absence of law and organization that would be efficacious for
peacekeeping.
 Thucydides (460-406 BCE) – instinct and
appetites part of human nature
• “War caused by the lust of power
arising from greed and ambition”
• War will be endless
Charles Darwin (1809-82) – survival of the
fittest
Konrad Lorenz (1966) – aggression is
biologically programmed in humans,
especially men

Classic REALIST Theories

• Power politics manifestation of

1. Individual Level: Human individual selfishness & competiveness

Rational decision based on a calculation by

Nature both parties

 2. Internal Characteristics
of States
‘Democratic Peace Thesis’ - Democracies are less likely to
start wars than other regimes.
• Democracies are less likely to fight other
democracies.
• Democracies are, however, just as likely as other
types of regimes to fight non-democracies.
Authoritarian & Imperial Regimes inclined to militarism
and war
• Rely on armed forces to maintain domestic order
• Lack of representative process
• Glorification of armed forces
• War is not only a legitimate policy instrument –
expression of national patriotism
 ‘Power transition theory’
• Conflict when power is
relatively equally
distributed
• Rising power is
threatening to overtake
a declining hegemon
Arms race not a deterrence =
wars are caused not
prevented by military buildup

Interstate Level

3. Structural-Functionalist
Perspective
Neorealist – War is inevitable consequence
of an anarchic international system
Offensive realists – all states always seek to
maximize power / advantage = military
conflict unavoidable
• Uncertainty amongst states = defensive
actions interpreted as offensive
• Solution to war = establishment of a world
government
• Emphasis on economic factors = Marxists
vs Capitalists
• ∴Protection / expansion to new markets /
raw materials / cheap labor = wars of
plunder
Liberal version = war product of economic
nationalism
• Less attractive since 1945 –
interdependence and integration
 Karl Von Clausewitz (On War, 1833)
Clausewitzian / Political conception of war = Criticism
‘trinitarian’ theory of warfare
ØInterest versus Justice
1. The masses, who are motivated by a sense of
ØModern world = war is less effective /
national animosity,
obsolete?
2. The army, which devises strategies to take
ØIndustrial warfare = is war ever worth the
account of the contingencies of war, and
cost?
3. Political leaders, who establish the aims and
objectives of military action.
War is a means to an end – force opponent to submit
War & peace rational pursuit of self-interest = means
only difference
Cost-benefit analysis
Product of Westphalian state system
C. Conflict of Ideas

• Psychological and Emotional factors

• Ethnic
• Religious
• Ideological
• VERSUS
• Nationalism / National Identity
 Identity Politics &
Conflict

Identity Politics extends beyond national borders

(States)
Not all ‘identity’ politics leads to hatred and
conflict
‘Solitaristic’ form of identity = define human
identity in terms of membership of a single
social group.
• When perception exists that ‘identity’ is
under threat possibility of conflict
increase
• ‘I’ need to become ‘us’ against ‘them’
Passionate – willing to endure hardship in
defense of ‘us’
‘Identity war’ – demand that a people’s
collective identity is publicly and politically
recognized, becoming the primary motivation
for conflict
 • World War II was largely
a war over democracy
versus fascism.
• Cold War largely
involved conflict over
capitalism versus
communism.
• Wars over differing
religious beliefs have
led to some of the
worst episodes of
bloodshed in history.
Ideology: War of ideas
Legitimacy of War

Manage War
 Realpolitik: war, as a political act,
needs no moral justification.

Just war theory: war can be

Justifying War justified only if it conforms to moral
principles.

Pacifism: war, as an unnecessary

evil, can never be justified.
 Realpolitik

War and peace are beyond morality and should be

determined by pursuit of national interests
Peace is temporary, but war is perpetual
Appetite for conflict driven by:
• Innate human aggression
• Unlimited human appetite and scarce resources
‘Negative peace’: Peace defined as a period when war is
neither imminent nor actually being fought, although the
forces that give rise to war remain in place.
Maintain peace through balance of power and the
recognition that only power can be a check on power.
Example of moral relativism as it places ethical
nationalism / national self-interest above moral
considerations.
Legitimacy of war rests on:
• Power politics
• Conflict
• Greed and
• Violence
 Cicero, Augustine of Hippo, Thomas
Aquinas, Francisco de Vitoria and Hugo
Grotius. Modern contributors: Michael
Walzer and David Rodin
2 Assumptions:
• Human nature composed of a
mixture of good and evil. People
may strive to be good, but they are
capable of immoral acts = War is
inevitable.
• Suffering that war leads to can be
‘managed’ by subjecting warfare to
moral constraints.
Being sensitized to the principles of a just
war and the laws of war = fewer wars and
the harm done by warfare will be reduced.

Just War Theory Purpose of War = reestablish peace and

justice
 • All non-violent options must have been exhausted
1. Last Resort before force can be justified.

• Purpose to redress a wrong.

2. Just Cause • Usually self-defence in response to military attack =
classic justification for war.

Jus ad Bellum: 3. Legitimate

Authority
• Declared by lawfully constituted government of a
sovereign state, rather than a private individual or
group.

Legitimate use
of force
• Aims that are morally acceptable not revenge or the
4. Right Intention desire to inflict harm.

5. Reasonable • War should not be fought in a hopeless cause

prospect for success

• War should result in more good than evil, in that any

6. Proportionality response to an attack should be measured and
proportionate
 Jus in Bello: Just conduct of war

1. Discrimination
• Force only directed at military targets = civilians or non-
combatants are innocent.
• Death or injury to civilians only acceptable if accidental
and unavoidable

2. Proportionality
• Force used not greater than needed to achieve an
acceptable military outcome
• Must not be greater than the provoking cause.

3. Humanity
• Force must not be directed against enemy personnel if
they are captured, wounded or under control (prisoners
of war) = Laws of War
 Modern Pacifist Theories
• Pacifist Writers of Enlightenment Period – Erasmus,
Voltaire, Kant.
• War and morality is irreconcilable 1. War is wrong because killing is
wrong
• Often rooted in religion (not always)

2. Violence breeds more violence

• Leads to a psychology of hatred,

bitterness and revenge
• Pacifism as a political tactic (Gandhi /
Martin Luther King)
Legal pacifism
• League of Nations & United
Nations
• Peaceful resolution of
disputes through
international law
• Advocate world government

Peace movements
• Nuclear disarmament
• Anti-war movements