Military Implications of Societal Vulnerabilities
Abstract
Is there a role for military power as we know it in a dramatically changing world? All around us revolutions of the most fundamental kind are taking place in man's existence patterns. In the course of the greatest migration in history the world is becoming urbanized; natural support structures are being replaced with synthetic environments; and political consciousness and activism are moving from the inner councils to the streets. Changes so drastic would seem to require an institutional response; but the military -- here and in other nations -- has noticed them only to the extent that they play havoc with internal management and troop morale. The young recruits from the new societies -- urbanized, technologically oriented, and politically knowledgeable -- have proved singularly unwilling to accept traditional beliefs about training, discipline, and the treatment of soldiers. A number of mutual accommodations had to take place and an endless literature, in many languages, has come into being to chronicle military adjustments to societal change. But for military leaders to conceive of the societal revolutions only in internal terms is a classic example of myopia. The more important issue -- and the concern of this paper -- goes far beyond the impact of recruits on the military. It is the impact of the military on the societies that produced these youngsters that is really important. How will these societies respond to force when under attack? Are they as vulnerable to applications of military power as their predecessors? If not, must we change our notion of what is included under military capabilities? Must we rethink the nature of force, its components, and methods of application? Must we redefine objectives and learn to attack them from new directions, in new ways, and on a new scale? And, in support of these revisions, must we invent new weapons, new techniques, and new procedures?
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1973
- Accession Number
- ADA511032
Entities
People
- Charles Bunnell Jr.
- Robert Leider
Organizations
- United States Army War College