Contours of Conflict in the 21st Century

RUSSIAN LANGUAGE PERSPECTIVES: RESURGENT AND DIVERSIFIEDLengthFIGURE 41. RUSSIAN LANGUAGE PARAMETERS: LENGTHRussian studies also pay little attention to how long conflicts might last.Those that do focus on this aspect tend see future conflicts as lastingmostly for months and (less) days.‘Wars of the future can begin andconclude with an almost continuous air-space offensive operation inconjunction with the operation (actions) strike capabilities of navalforces and operations of electronic warfare. The duration of such a jointoperation will be in the order 60-90 days or more, which surpasses allcurrent standards’. 140The following study sees the duration of future conflict rather in terms ofminutes: ‘The most important feature of the future of NATO’s war with anuclear power (Russia) will seemingly be its speed. If it proves impossibleto trigger a ‘disarming strike’ – i.e. to neutralize the nuclear deterrent140 Vladimir Slipchenko, ‘Vojna budushhego (prognosticheskij analiz)’ [War of the Future(Prognostic Analysis)], 2001, http://bookap.info/psywar/slipchenco/load/doc.shtm.106 Contours of Conflict in the 21 st Century