[Opinion] Fourth-Generation War

The world was in a state of utter shock to see the terrorist attacks against the U.S., the world’s only superpower country, on September 11 2001. What happened at the political and economic center of the country on the day was unimaginable both in its magnitude and strategy. There was no warning beforehand and it was uncertain who launched the attacks. Therefore, it was impossible for the U.S. to take precautionary or deterrent measures. Some even say that the Sept. 11 incident heralded the emergence of the `fourth-generation war` at the dawn of the 21st Century.

▷War historians see the history of modern warfare since the 17th century, when nations first began to emerge, in three different phases. The first-generation war is represented by the Napoleon War, and the second-generation war by the American Civil War and the World War I, which mobilized large-scale forces and logistics through a long period of battles. The third-generation war is characterized by swift and surprise attacks, a strategy adopted by the German force during the WW II.

▷The fourth-generation war represented by the Sept. 11 attacks changed the conventional concept and ideas about the balance of military power, deterrence strategy, tactics, training and equipment. It is quite different from the warfare the world has experienced so far. There is no humanitarianism, no distinction between military and civilian targets and no warfronts. There is only the means and strategies aimed at causing damage, trauma and chaos in the society to maximum. In this respect, the fourth-generation war is called an `asymmetric` or a `dirty` war.

▷A number of countries in the world today, including the U.S, are exerting great effort to bracing for the new kind of a war. The U.S. attacks on Afghanistan and war plan against Iraq is seen as an attempt to stave off the threat of the fourth-generation war. The question is whether it will be able to attain its goal by resorting to the military means. Rather than blindly seeking to annihilate its enemies, the U.S. must make enemy soldiers realize life is worth living so that they will not blow themselves off with bombs installed in their bodies. It is time to prepare for the new challenge in the new era. And we wonder how our government is dealing with it.

Park Yong-ok, Guest Editorial Writer, Former Deputy Minister of Defense, yongokp@hanmail.net