Understanding Warfare

An accessible discussion of the nature of armed conflict as a transformational force in world history, exploring examples from conventional, guerrilla and terrorist warfare.

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This book discusses the nature of armed conflict – mostly between nations, but also as civil wars – as a transformational force in world history. It examines the causes of armed conflict, the different types of military warfare, how wars are waged at the strategic, operational and tactical levels, and the evolution of weaponry throughout the centuries. These issues are applied to examples of significant conventional wars throughout history, showing how they have played out.



Understanding Warfare also explores the end-game of conflicts: how they terminate through victory, defeat, negotiated settlement, or protracted stalemate. This is an important issue in a world where numerous wars – such as in Afghanistan, or between Israel and the Lebanese Hizballah and Palestinian Hamas – remain unresolved militarily. Written by an expert in counterterrorism and international security, it spans conventional, guerrilla and terrorist approaches, offering readers a wide-ranging and authoritative understanding of warfare.