Patrick Lang smacks generation warfare theory
From this post about the French experience in Vietnam
There is a lot of talk these days about "generations" of warfare. Pay it no mind. The concept of "4th Generation Warfare" is a fraud perpetrated as a marketing device by scholars of warfare for the purpose of assuring senior officers that they are not to blame for their ignorance of military history. The various kinds of warfare (generations) have always existed on a contemporaneous basis (at the same time).
Labels: Fifth Gen Warfare, Patrick Lang
posted by Steve at 9:08 AM
3 Comments:
Heh. He's certainly a man of conviction but he's painting only half the picture.
How so? The half the picture that is?
While I agree that the various generations of war transcend the history of conflict the Colonel seems to believe that all who utilize it buy it hook line and sinker. As often as not these "warfare scholars" vary in their use of the framework with few (that I've read) parroting William Lind. A read of DNI's contributors will reveal a rather dynamic approach rather than some sort of homogenous intellectual orbit that Lang refers to. Of course I'm taking license to "define" for him the term "warfare scholar" and maybe I'm way off.
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