Types of War
THE TYPES OF WARS
Introduction
1. War has numerous forms, faces, and shades. In today’s political environment, it is difficult to say, precisely, where peace ends and war begins. Classification of wars is discussed in the following paragraphs.
Classification of Wars
2. Coercion. It is the Active use of force in a measured way or threat of force to persuade an adversary to adopt a certain pattern of behaviour against his wishes. US air attack on Col Qaddafi’s residence in 1986 and American cruise missile attack against Afghanistan in 1998 are the examples of coercion by use of measured force. While, Indian “Operation Parakrama” in 2001-2 against Pakistan was coercion by threat of force.
3. Sub Conventional Wars. The conflicts waged by, or against, non-state organizations and ranging all the way from terrorism to clashes between armed militias fall in Sub-conventional wars. British Empire, France, America in Vietnam, and the Soviet in Afghanistan faced defeat in this kind of war. Sub-conventional wars include the followings:-
(a) Proxy war. It is a type of war in which one or both the adversaries use third party as a supplement or a substitute for fighting their war. Vietnam, Angola and many other states became the battle grounds for proxies during Cold War. Pakistan fought a proxy war against Soviet in Afghanistan.
(b) Insurgency. It includes all forms of organized and politically-motivated armed violence within a state. It can be in the form of Civil Disturbance which includes group acts of violence and disorder which are prejudicial to public law and order or it can be Revolutionary War aimed to overthrow the state and its social system through guerilla tactics and near-conventional war. Unrest in Sudan, Philippines and Chechnya are the example of insurgent warfare.
(c) Terrorism. It can be defined as premeditated violence perpetrate by groups or individuals with the aim of influencing an audience wider than that of its immediate
Introduction
1. War has numerous forms, faces, and shades. In today’s political environment, it is difficult to say, precisely, where peace ends and war begins. Classification of wars is discussed in the following paragraphs.
Classification of Wars
2. Coercion. It is the Active use of force in a measured way or threat of force to persuade an adversary to adopt a certain pattern of behaviour against his wishes. US air attack on Col Qaddafi’s residence in 1986 and American cruise missile attack against Afghanistan in 1998 are the examples of coercion by use of measured force. While, Indian “Operation Parakrama” in 2001-2 against Pakistan was coercion by threat of force.
3. Sub Conventional Wars. The conflicts waged by, or against, non-state organizations and ranging all the way from terrorism to clashes between armed militias fall in Sub-conventional wars. British Empire, France, America in Vietnam, and the Soviet in Afghanistan faced defeat in this kind of war. Sub-conventional wars include the followings:-
(a) Proxy war. It is a type of war in which one or both the adversaries use third party as a supplement or a substitute for fighting their war. Vietnam, Angola and many other states became the battle grounds for proxies during Cold War. Pakistan fought a proxy war against Soviet in Afghanistan.
(b) Insurgency. It includes all forms of organized and politically-motivated armed violence within a state. It can be in the form of Civil Disturbance which includes group acts of violence and disorder which are prejudicial to public law and order or it can be Revolutionary War aimed to overthrow the state and its social system through guerilla tactics and near-conventional war. Unrest in Sudan, Philippines and Chechnya are the example of insurgent warfare.
(c) Terrorism. It can be defined as premeditated violence perpetrate by groups or individuals with the aim of influencing an audience wider than that of its immediate