CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY DAREN BOWYER JUST WAR DOCTRINE

problems of mobilization and inflexibility, and the risks of attrition, have been
magnified in the post war period, making it almost prohibitive to mount a major
operation except against a clearly inferior enemy, as in the Falklands/Malvinas war of
1982 or the Gulf operation of 1991’ 2 Yet, in fact, in neither of these cases was the
enemy obviously or demonstrably inferior at the outset of the campaign. Kaldor aims to
describe contemporary conflict in terms of ‘New Wars’ characterised by goals of
‘identity politics in contrast to the geo-political or ideological goals of earlier wars.’ 3
Moreover, in their conduct, they are characterised by an attempt to destabilize through
fear and hatred:
The aim is to control the population by getting rid of everyone of a different
identity (and indeed a different opinion). Hence the strategic goal of these wars
is population expulsion through various means such as mass killing, forcible
resettlement, as well as a range of political, psychological and economic
techniques of intimidation. 4
There are important aspects in the picture painted by Kaldor for our consideration of the
challenges presented to just war, but it is equally important to recognise that, like
Turner’s, Kaldor’s description of contemporary warfare is not a complete picture of
what has come to pass or is likely to in the immediate future: ‘New Wars’ are but part
of the landscape.
What is clear, though, is that there can be little expectation of an end to conflict.
Picking up on Sir Henry Maine’s mid-nineteenth century observation that ‘War appears
to be as old as mankind, but peace is a modern invention’ 5 Sir Michael Howard notes
that:
In the last decade of the twentieth century the liberal inheritors of the
Enlightenment seemed once again poised to establish peace. … … No
alternative model for a world order was on offer: that of Kant and his disciples
seemed to have triumphed over all its competitors. … … The consensus seemed
cemented by the challenge from Saddam Hussein, …, against whom the United
Nations came together under US leadership to show a collective security
considerably more credible than that evoked by the Korean challenge in 1950. 6
Against this background Francis Fukayama made his famously premature
announcement of ‘the end of history.’ 7 Yet, as Sir Michael continues ‘(w)ithin a
decade, the general mood had turned sour, and the new millennium was to be greeted
with apprehension rather than hope.’ 8 If this study is to proceed, then, it must make
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