Beyond Ukraine: Debating the Future of War

by Tim Sweijs (Editor), Jeffrey H. Michaels (Editor), Christopher Coker (Afterword)

Overview

War in the 21st century will remain a chameleon that takes on different forms and guises. This book offers the first comprehensive update and revision of ideas about the future of war since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. It argues that the war has fundamentally shifted our perspective on the nature and character of future war, but also cautions against marginalizing many other parallel trends, types of war, and ways of waging them.

World-renowned international experts from the War Studies field consider the impact of the war in Ukraine on the broader social phenomenon of war: they analyze visions of future war; examine the impact of technological innovation on its conduct; assess our ability to anticipate its future; and consider lessons learned for leaders, soldiers, strategists, scholars and concerned citizens.

Beyond Ukraine features contributions from Azar Gat, Beatrice Heuser, Antulio Echevarria, Audrey Cronin, T.X. Hammes, Kenneth Payne, Frank Hoffman, David Betz, Jan Willem Honig, and many other pre-eminent thinkers on the past, present and future of war—including an afterword by the late Christopher Coker.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780197790243
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	08/01/2024
Pages:	432
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.75(h) x 1.55(d)

About the Author

Tim Sweijs, Director of Research, The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies
Jeffrey H. Michaels IEN Senior in Fellow, American Foreign Policy and International Security at the Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals.

Tim Sweijs PhD is the Director of Research at The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies, and a senior research fellow at the Netherlands' War Studies Research Centre. Jeffrey H. Michaels PhD is the IEN Senior Fellow in American Foreign Policy and International Security at the Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
List of Figures and Tables

Introduction
Tim Sweijs and Jeffrey H. Michaels

PART I
BOUNDING THE IMPACT OF THE WAR IN UKRAINE

1. Revisiting Putin's 2022 Invasion of Ukraine: Implications for Strategic and Security Studies
Antulio Echevarria
2. The Futures of War: A Recent Western History
Frans Osinga
3. After Russia's Invasion of Ukraine: Is the Decline of War a Delusion?
Azar Gat
4. The Next War Would Be a Cyberwar, Right? Lessons from the Russo-Ukraine War
Paul Ducheine, Peter Pijpers, and Kraesten Arnold

PART II
LANDSCAPES OF FUTURE WAR
5. Four Faces of War
Frank Hoffman
6. People's War vs Professional War: Which Has the Future in Europe?
Jan Willem Honig
7. Urbicide and the Future of Civil War
David Betz

8. Living with Denial? Great Power Competition Over Economic and Military Access
Paul van Hooft

PART III
MILITARY INNOVATION AND THE FUTURE OF WAR
9. Military Technological Innovation in the Digital Age
Audrey Cronin
10. The Rising Dominance of the Tactical Defense?
T.X. Hammes
11. Artificial Intelligence and the Nature of War
Kenneth Payne
12. Assembling the Future of Warfare: Innovating Swarm Technology within the Dutch Military-Industrial-Commercial Complex
Lauren Gould, Linde Arentze, and Marijn Hoijtink

PART IV
ANTICIPATING THE FUTURE OF WAR
13. The Past as Guide to the Future
Beatrice Heuser
14. Forecasting the Future of War
Collin J. Meisel
15. The War in Ukraine and the Apocalyptic Imaginary
Jeni Mitchell
16. War as Becoming
Antoine Bousquet

Notes
Index

Editorial Reviews

"The best edited volume on war and warfare to appear in this century." — Lt. Gen. (Retd) H. R. McMaster, former US National Security Advisor

"One of the most detailed and forensic explorations of the war in Ukraine and its implications for the future of conflict. Drawing together a superb array of experts, this book links the strategic, technological and human experience of war in Ukraine with the wars that are an unwelcome but inevitable part of our collective future." — Maj. Gen. (Retd) Mick Ryan, Australian Army

"Sweijs and Michaels have done a remarkable job pulling together a stellar collection of contributors who use the experience of the Russian-Ukraine war to illuminate all aspects of the future of warfare." — Sir Lawrence Freedman, Emeritus Professor of War Studies, King's College London

"Of all futures to anticipate, those of war are the trickiest. An existential endeavour in which technology and human values meet under high pressure requires ingenuity, creativity and intellectual honesty to outline and frame. This book, written by the best in the field, has all of the above." — Florence Gaub, Director of the Research Division, NATO Defense College

"A timely, thoughtful analysis. Leading scholars delve into theoretical and empirical questions about great power war, technological innovation, people's war and other pressing issues." — Jacqueline L. Hazelton, Executive Editor of International Security, Harvard Kennedy School

"Given the infrequency of war as well as its changing character, soldiers and scholars must rely upon theory and history to guide them towards an uncertain future. These essays offer useful aids to navigating through the fog of peace." — Thomas G. Mahnken, Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies, Johns Hopkins University

"Beyond Ukraine is a welcome antidote to [the] myopia [of U.S. security discourse]." — Joint Force Quarterly

"A broad and in-depth approach."—Clingendael Spectator

"A remarkable achievement ... Beyond Ukraine provides sound perspectives, solid insights, and credible scenarios in the much broader field of security and strategic studies." — European Review of International Studies

From the Publisher