The Nature of War: Conflicting Paradigms and Israeli Military Effectiveness

Any state at war attempts to steer the conflict to the point where it can demonstrate its relative advantage. Thus underlying each war is a struggle over its particular nature, and in a dynamic process each side attempts to shape a war paradigm that suits its own relative strengths, while the adversary attempts to impose its preferred paradigm on the conflict. Israel, for example, seemingly has an edge in military effectiveness, and has therefore always preferred short, decisive wars. Its enemies, however, have an overall advantage in stamina and ability to leverage the international system. They therefore strive to lengthen the war and bring Israel to the point of defeat through attrition of the Israeli political-civilian system. In this book Ron Tira examines the different aspects that characterize a war, from the center of gravity to be attacked to the elements constituting military decision, as they are manifested in “simple” symmetrical wars; asymmetrical wars versus a state opponent; guerilla warfare; parallel warfare; and next generation warfare.