Great Powers and War in the 21st Century: Blast from the Past

This chapter compares the US and Russian experience of war in the first two decades of the 21st century as a lens through which to explore what has changed in war and what has remained the same. The chapter examines four key themes. The first concerns the relationship between technology and warfare. The conventional view is that technology has and continues to transform the conduct of war, but we offer a more balanced view. A second theme concerns the impact of strategic culture on style of war making. In both cases, we find that the military campaigns wage US and Russia, for example in the approach to civilian casualties, conform to national ways of war. A third theme concerns the impact of information technology on mobilization for war. Where in the past, states were able to dominate the battle of the narrative, new information technologies have distributed the means of narrative production to non-state actors, and social media have amplified and globalized narrative competition. A final theme concerns the challenges of preparing for and adapting in war, raising broader questions about pre-war defence spending and the required flexibility to adjust tactics and doctrines while fighting.