The rise of insurgencies and counterforce tactics provides an in-depth understanding of how warfare has evolved. It is important to acknowledge how past ideas and wars both contribute to the lessons to be learned in the 21st century. 

Political analysts have categorized previous wars into the four generations of warfare. The first generation of war stemmed from the invention of gunpowder. States relied heavily on column attacks- which are lines of soldiers marching together in one or more files, nationalism, and telegraphs for long-distance communication in order to progress further along into modern war. The second generation of war depended on increased taxes, industrialization- such as transportation and technology, and patriotism. Similarly, third-generation warfare required political, economic, and social conditions to be put in place in order for combatants on both sides to leverage speed, technology, and stealth to defeat opponents. The first three generations of warfare are conventional forms of war fought with conventional armies, weapons, and war tactics. Moreover, conventional forms of war are characterized as being more professional and uniform ways to conduct war. These include uniformed soldiers and advanced weapons. Additionally, superpowers were set on weakening or destroying the opponent’s military forces. The side that has more money, power, and resources tends to have the advantage over their adversary. As states progressed into the late 20th century, there was a massive shift from third-generation warfare to fourth. Fourth-generation warfare differs from the first three forms as it relies heavily on unconventional weapons and strategies as well as the political and psychological forms of war. It focuses primarily “on the direct destruction of the enemy’s political will to fight.” Chairman of the People’s Republic of China Mao Tse-Tung first classified unconventional warfare as fourth-generation/guerrilla warfare. Mao Tse-Tung argues that this type of warfare is necessary for revolutionary based war. Guerrilla warfare can best be summarized in three phases: (1) organization, (2) expansion, and (3) attack and destroy the enemy. Throughout the 20th century, insurgents have adopted this three-phase method when combatting superpowers, becoming increasingly more successful in combating superpowers. 

Given the modern reality of warfare, superpowers have been forced to progress past conventional war tactics and into more unconventional forms of warfare by adopting counter-terrorism and insurgency tactics. As of the 21st century, fourth-generation warfare is the only form of war that America has lost. Until the U.S. war in Vietnam, the United States had gone 200 years undefeated. From 1964 to 1973, South Vietnam soldiers employed unconventional strategies to defeat the United States. Similar approaches were adopted by insurgents fighting in Somalia, Afghanistan, and Lebanon as well. 

Additionally, conventional methods of deterrence evolved into more nuclear deterrence strategies. From these engagements and ones similar to them, the United States drew an emphasis on gathering intelligence and technology to combat their adversaries. One primary example is the Cold War competition between the United States and the Soviet Union (U.S.S.R.). The Cold War has been classified as the most unconventional conflict of the 20th century. The tension between the US and the U.S.S.R. was caused by the Soviet expansionist policy that sought to incorporate as much of Central and Western Europe into communism as possible. From 1947 to 1991 the United States and the Soviet Union were forced into an arms race to develop new nuclear weapons. America came out successful in leveraging nuclear arsenals in the end. An important part of the Cold War nuclear competition was the concept of the balance of power through mutually assured destruction. Mutually assured destruction is a form of deterrence for the indirect use of force. It attempts to ensure that the mere threat of using nuclear weapons against the enemy prevents the enemy’s use of those same weapons. Nuclear proliferation on both sides prevented a full-scale war. 

Another historic example that highlights this shift is the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. World War 2 started when German politician and leader of the Nazi Party Adolf Hitler invaded Poland in 1939. Poland was an ally to France and Great Britain, so naturally, they followed suit in assisting Poland in defeating Germany. Japan entered world war 2 in 1940 and allied with Germany shortly after. America entered World War 2 in 1941 and allied with Great Britain and the Soviet Union. Word War 2 spanned from 1939 to 1945. Japan attacked nearly all of its neighboring countries, allied itself with Nazi Germany, and launched an assault on a U.S. naval base. This surprise attack pushed the U.S. to launch its newly made nuclear weapon on Japan. America’s objective was to demonstrate this new weapon of mass destruction to the U.S.S.R. Hiroshima and Nagasaki are both geographically close to one another in Japan. On August 6th, 1945 the U.S bombed Hiroshima first and Nagasaki three days later. This was the first time the United States used atomic weapons. Previously, the U.S. had used their creation of nuclear weapons as a way to deter the U.S.S.R. from acting against them, but when it came to Japan, they used it to harm. There are so many lessons we can draw from the United States’ first use of their atomic weapons during World War 2. One major one being the dangers of them and unconscious bias those who possess the weapons to have. From this bombing and multiple others, there have been more measures put in place that mitigate the process states go through before launching nuclear weapons. Many political scientists have condemned the bombings, expressing that the U.S. acted with eagerness and impulse. 

Following the events above, the United States shifted focus to more digital means of combating adversaries in the 21st century.

Works referenced:

Cold War History. (2009, October 27). Retrieved from https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/cold-war-history

Elias, Barbara. “Week 9 – Lecture.” International Security. October 29th, 2020. 

Griffith, Samuel B. Mao Tse-Tung. “Strategy, Tactics and Logistics in Revolutionary War.” Praeger, 1961, pp. 21