The Warfighter's Application of Social Psychology in Future Conflict
Abstract
The debate on the character of future warfare oftentimes becomes mired as groups tend to categorize warfare by the type of tactics that the belligerents use. Will the conflict of tomorrow be a conventional style of warfare between regional hegemons, or will distributed forces be needed to conduct full-spectrum operations against dispersed adversaries that operate from complex political and physical terrain? While the character of future warfare is important to properly man, train, and equip tomorrow's armed forces to conduct operations within this wide spectrum of human interaction, predictions on the character of future war will only be as valid as the accuracy of the predictions of future technology and political will. This paper argues that the key to successfully preparing for future warfare is not in accurately predicting the changing character of warfare, but in understanding how to resolve the conflicts that have and always will exist between the human wills. In analyzing this premise, one assumption will be made. That assumption is that the desire of the United States Government is to conclude conflict with the peaceful resumption of politics. The paper begins with an introduction to the current theories of conflict resolution within the science of social psychology. It then examines the current U.S. Marine Corps mindset towards conflict resolution. The author contends that the Marine Corps' doctrinal mindset that "the object of war is to impose our will on our enemy" is detrimental to the goal of returning an escalated situation to a peaceful end-state. Instead of "imposing our will," the Marine Corps' doctrinal mindset should be adjusted so that "the object of war is to de-escalate the conflict and reestablish the political process in order that political objectives are obtained." By changing the mindset of the warfighter, Marines will be much better prepared to take a situation of conflict and shape it towards resolution.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA515583
Entities
People
- Eric W. Schaefer
Organizations
- Marine Corps University