War: Will, Action, and Resources

Abstract

While substantial effort has been and continues to be expended in developing the theories governing the conduct of war, not as much comparative effort has been given to addressing the means by which various levels of conflict can be anticipated and averted. What is required is a unifying theory of war AND that of 'conflicted peace' that addresses the conditions and preventive activities associated with the transition from each. This paper better defines and expands the traditional theory of war. In so doing it proposes a larger application of "conflict" to describe a spectrum ranging from competition through conventional war. It then postulates a definition of conflict that addresses the sub-elements of will, resources, capabilities and action to describe the conditions under which conflict occurs and is adjudicated. Finally it uses six case studies to illustrate the application of the theory and concludes with a description of how the theory can assist in identifying incidents occurring in seams within the spectrum of conflict, impel analysis, and spur mitigation and deterrent measures to prevent the incidents' reoccurrences or escalation.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 01, 2010
Accession Number
ADA519864

Entities

People

  • John R. Chavez

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Case Studies
  • Commerce
  • Criminals
  • Education
  • Employment
  • Governments
  • Judiciary
  • National Security
  • Personnel Management
  • Political Movements
  • Security
  • Students
  • Terrorism
  • Terrorists
  • United States
  • Ussr
  • War Colleges

Readers

  • Strategic Security Studies
  • Systems Analysis and Design