Asymmetries of Conflict

For more than ten years the intelligence community has warned of the risk of terrorist attacks. The West's concern with its own affluence and dominion has created disparities and resentments. But military establishments have continued to be transfixed by weapons systems with ever greater firepower, and politicians by the size of defence budgets.
Territorial defence, including protection from terrorism, must remain paramount. Yet most of today's challenges come from those unwilling to adjust to a global society. Though small groups of men have shown themselves capable of unleashing huge destructive forces, future threats to Western security are likely to concern not our immediate safety but proper relationships with the world in which we have an interest.
Warfare has become the most costly and least sustainable means to achieve security. Real security depends on expanding the zone of peace and co-operation, using soft power but with a hard edge. This book welds current practices in diplomacy, conflict prevention and non-lethal weaponry into a powerful doctrine for achieving that.
Taken together, Europe and America represent a powerful combination of diplomacy and might, psy-war and techno-war, soft and hard power. But they still have fully to comprehend their complementary roles to ensure global security. The NATO alliance should recognise a sensible rebalancing of functions, acknowledging the investment each partner is already making in the common security of the whole.
Decisions about defence and security are becoming increasingly open to public influence. This book therefore aims to give both the voter and the decision maker a new vision of how to manage crises and avert hostilities with non-traditional means.