Exploring changes in the practice of war while the fundamental nature and principles of war are unchanging. Includes mercenaries, PMSC, Hybrid Warfare, revolution in military affairs. For in-depth information see my blog at blog.ctmayer.net
With the current war in Ukraine, it may seem obvious that conventional war is still important. But less than a year ago, many prominent military experts said otherwise. Some writers and opinion leaders still maintain that the current conflict is an exception, an aberration, and focusing on conventional war, or traditional warfare does not prepare us for future conflict. They are wrong.
Twitter and You Tube can present an inaccurate picture of modern warfare. In the previous Podcast, I described how the tank continues to be relevant on the modern battlefield, despite social media images. This same social media depicts Combat aviation of all varieties falling from the sky on a daily basis, without apparent battlefield effect. Col. Jayson Altieri, US Army Retired, and instructor at the US Air War College joins me for an open discussion on the use and misuse of combat aviation in modern warfare.
Video clips show Russian tanks in Ukraine blowing up after being hit by various anti-tank guided missiles. Moscow has lost so many tanks that some reports say they are forced to pull obsolete models from reserve stocks or even museums. The conclusion in popular media is that the tank is dead, obsolete as a weapon of modern combat. I think that the tank is as important today as any time in history. Like all previous times in history, it is a matter of how it is used -- or misused.
Also please check out "No the Tank is Not Dead" by "The Chieftan: at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI7T650RTT8
Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine disproves many recent predictions about the future of war. This includes the predictions about the death of the law of war. The perception of the legitimacy of war depends in large part on seemingly ancient notions of Jus Ad Bellum and Jus in Bello. The war in Ukraine shows that legitimacy, or loss of legitimacy, has serious consequences.
For more information on the material in this podcast see:
“The End of History”: https://www.c-span.org/video/?24282-1/the-end-history-man
“The Laws of War on Land”: https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/Article.xsp?action=openDocument&documentId=B06FB334DC14CBD1C12563CD00515767
“Should the Laws of War Apply to Terrorists?” https://www.jstor.org/stable/25658249
“On the Nature of War”: Helmuth von Moltke: http://www.gwpda.org/1914m/moltke.html
Defense Department Law of War Manual: https://dod.defense.gov/Portals/1/Documents/pubs/DoD Law of War Manual - June 2015 Updated Dec 2016.pdf?ver=2016-12-13-172036-190
"Russia’s military is incompetent. That makes it more dangerous." https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/03/17/russia-military-failing-dangerous/
Col. Christopher T. Mayer, US Army Retired, is a former instructor of the US Army Command and General Staff College and the Naval War College, guest lecturer on national security at academic institutions in the United States and Europe, and developed operational and organizational concepts for future warfare. He is a veteran of combat operations in Iraq and peacekeeping operations in Africa and the Balkans.
The primary purpose of any nation’s military force is to fight and win its wars. However, the military instrument of national power does much more than that. Most of those things keep the nation from having to fight wars. US and NATO support to Ukraine provides examples of the non-conflict roles of the military instrument.
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For more information about the role of Mercenaries in war and non-conflict situations please listen to these podcasts in the Ancient Art of Modern Warfare:
Episode 2: Who are these Russian quasi-mercenaries? https://mayhemxpc.podbean.com/e/who-are-these-russian-quasi-mercenaries/
Episode 3: The role of mercenaries in hybrid warfare
https://mayhemxpc.podbean.com/e/the-role-of-mercenaries-in-hybrid-warfare/
Episode 4: Why are Russian PMCs different from Western PMSCs?
Episode 6: Meeting the Challenge of Russian Private Military Companies
https://mayhemxpc.podbean.com/e/meeting-the-challenge-of-russian-private-military-companies/
Episode 12: Mercenary: What is in a name?
https://mayhemxpc.podbean.com/e/e12-mercenary-whats-in-a-name/
Episode 19: The rise of Quasi-Mercenary Organizations
https://mayhemxpc.podbean.com/e/e19-the-rise-of-quasi-mercenary-organizations/
Since 2014, Moscow has used mercenaries in Ukraine, Syria, Africa, and other places to exert military power without accountability. Although these mercenaries, commonly referred to as the Wagner Group, never left Eastern Ukraine, they are now active again with the Russian invasion. Why? What is their value in a conventional war? What dangers do they present? That is the subject of this episode.
If you find this information useful, please his LIKE or send a comment!
For more information about the role of Mercenaries in war and non-conflict situations please listen to these podcasts in the Ancient Art of Modern Warfare.
Episode 2: Who are these Russian quasi-mercenaries? https://mayhemxpc.podbean.com/e/who-are-these-russian-quasi-mercenaries/
Episode 3: The role of mercenaries in hybrid warfare
https://mayhemxpc.podbean.com/e/the-role-of-mercenaries-in-hybrid-warfare/
Episode 4: Why are Russian PMCs different from Western PMSCs?
Episode 6: Meeting the Challenge of Russian Private Military Companies
https://mayhemxpc.podbean.com/e/meeting-the-challenge-of-russian-private-military-companies/
Episode 12: Mercenary: What is in a name?
https://mayhemxpc.podbean.com/e/e12-mercenary-whats-in-a-name/
Episode 19: The rise of Quasi-Mercenary Organizations
https://mayhemxpc.podbean.com/e/e19-the-rise-of-quasi-mercenary-organizations/
Russia's use of Militias in the ongoing war has been very different than Ukraine's. The way these militias and auxiliaries act as an element of a nation’s military power will reflect the goals, objectives, and strategic vision of the nation that is using them. The danger is that forces that do not fulfill the criteria of a legitimate belligerent under the law of war undermines disciplined and efficient use of military force and threaten the restoration of a just and lasting peace.
The military element of national power is not just regular armed forces fighting on the battlefield. This episode begins to look at the varied means and methods of using military power, once again drawing observations from the current war in Ukraine. I begin with the use of militias and mercenaries.
We live in an information age. How can the use of information, in all its forms, be a decisive tool in warfare? I look at the war in Ukraine to describe how the West is being influenced by Information as a tool of national power.
If war is a continuation of political intercourse with the addition of other means, what are those other means? How do we apply them for success in war and operations short of war? What does that mean for Ukraine? This podcast begins to answer those questions by looking at Economic Warfare.
