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Land warfare in the 21st century will be shaped by the cumulative
effects of many revolutionary changes that have yet to merge in a
clear or predictable pattern. This paper identifies three elements
of change that are likely to have the greatest impact on the Army
and the joint conduct of land warfare. First, the international
system is undergoing its third major transition of the 20th century
in response to the end of the cold war. Second, changes in military
technology are culminating in what many believe will be a
"military-technical revolution" that brings unprecedented depth and
transparency to the battlefield. Finally, this paper cautions that
change will inevitably coexist with at least three constants--the
root causes of war, the nature of war, and the essence of fighting
power. Preparation includes traditional non-quantifiable factors as
much as technology. Leadership, courage, self-sacrifice,
initiative, and comradeship under extreme conditions of ambiguity,
fog, friction, danger, stark fear, anxiety, death, and
destruction--all remain the coins of war's realm and no amount of
technological advance will degrade their value. A central message
of this paper is for strategists to carry the best of the present
forward as we adapt to the revolutionary changes on the horizon.
Land warfare will remain a vital component in the national military
strategy, but only if we understand and respond to the forces that
are shaping the battlefields of the 21st century.
In the seminal Just and Unjust Wars, Michael Walzer famously
considered the ethics of modern warfare, examining the moral issues
that arise before, during, and after conflict. However, Walzer and
subsequent scholars have often limited their analyses of the ethics
of combat to soldiers on the ground and failed to recognize the
moral responsibilities of senior political and military leaders. In
Just War Reconsidered: Strategy, Ethics, and Theory, James M. Dubik
draws on years of research as well as his own experiences as a
soldier and teacher to fill the gaps left by other theorists. He
applies moral philosophy, political philosophy, and strategic
studies to historical and contemporary case studies to reveal the
inaccuracies and moral bankruptcy that inform some of the
literature on military ethics. Conventional just war theory adopts
a binary approach, wherein political leaders have moral
accountability for the decision to go to war and soldiers have
accountability for fighting the war ethically. Dubik argues,
however, that political and military leadership should be held
accountable for the planning and execution of war in addition to
the decision to initiate conflict. Dubik bases his sober
reassessment on the fundamental truth that war risks the lives of
soldiers and innocents as well as the political and social health
of communities. He offers new standards to evaluate the ethics of
warfare in the hope of increasing the probability that the lives of
soldiers will not be used in vain and the innocent not put at risk
unnecessarily.
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