Current and future adversaries will likely simultaneously employ a combination of different types of warfare. Non-state actors may mostly employ irregular forms of warfare, but will also clearly support, encourage, and participate in conventional conflicts if it serves their ends to do so. Similarly, nation-states may well engage in irregular conflicts in addition to conventional types of warfare to achieve their goals. The emerging theaters of hybrid and cyber-warfare reflect this changing nature of contemporary warfare. They transcend national boundaries, social and economic classes, and political ideologies. In these types of warfare there are no longer any clearly defined enemies, just as there are no longer any clearly defined allies. As a conceptual response to this kind of warfare, the "comprehensive approach" offers the best path forward, but must still be fully refined and analyzed before being applied effectively. This can only be accomplished through a coordinated and coherent strategy, along with regular consultations and interaction among all the actors involved. These factors will not only have enduring consequences for the future structure and training of most armed forces in the world, but they will also affect the politics of international security and defense policy while posing a challenge for theories of politics and international relations. This volume brings together leading international experts from different schools of thought to provide an overview of this topic.

The study of asymmetrical warfare extends from the earliest known writings of man to the present day. While the term «asymmetrical warfare may be unfamiliar to the lay person, the concept is by no means strange to any who have even minimal exposure to historical events. From the biblical story of David and Goliath to Herodotus' account of the Battle of Thermopylae to the American Revolution asymmetrical warfare has been recounted or documented throughout human history. Latest since 9/11 the phenomenon of asymmetric warfare has become a subject within the international relations. The essays in the book offer a detailed look at various aspects of asymmetrical warfare from the theoretical to the practical to manifestations of asymmetry in recent history. While not a comprehensive list of all the contemporary avenues of research on the subject, the authors provide a sample of the broad range of approaches to the study of asymmetrical warfare.

At the latest since 9/11 the phenomenon of the «asymmetry or, more common, the «asymmetric warfare has become a subject within International Relations. So, highly unequal parties face each other in asymmetric warfare, with one of them trying to inflict major damage on the other by making only a minor effort. Since the time when interstate wars started to disappear, the traditional ideas of wars have become useless and obsolete as a basis for political decision-making. For several years policy-makers, officials, and writers on defence and foreign policy have employed the terms «asymmetric or «asymmetry to characterize everything from the nature of the threats we face to the nature of war and beyond. Labelling current and future threats as «asymmetric diminishes our understanding of the threat environment. In the age of globalization, of new threats, new and even revolutionary technologies, and new forms of military operations, the requirement for clear thinking increases commensurately. Authors from four continents will follow this new way of thinking.