ATYPICAL CONFLICTS OF THE 21ST CENTURY: SIGNIFICANT DIFFICULTIES IN REACHING VICTORY BY USING TRADITIONAL MEANS AND METHODS
ATYPICAL CONFLICTS OF THE 21ST CENTURY: SIGNIFICANT DIFFICULTIES IN REACHING VICTORY BY USING TRADITIONAL MEANS AND METHODS
Author(s): Florin DiaconuSubject(s): Security and defense, Military policy, Peace and Conflict Studies
Published by: Carol I National Defence University Publishing House
Keywords: ISIL (Islamic State); air bombing; the U.S.; France; Britain; Syria; Iraq; effectiveness of military action;
Summary/Abstract: This article focuses on the limited effectiveness of airstrikes launched until the end of 2015 against the Islamic State (ISIL) targets in Syria and Iraq, and against ISIL forces operating in these two countries in the Middle East. We think insufficient forces used to hit ISIL, the diffuse and sometimes uncertain character of targets worth hitting, and also in the context of significant constraints exerted by the rules defining political correctness today, it’s unlikely air bombing – a method which has produced important results in several previous large scale and high intensity wars – can rapidly lead to really decisive results against ISIL. To substantiate even more this conclusion, we will briefly present some important elements in the history of strategic theory and practice directly connected to strategic bombing, along the past nine decades, starting from the 1920s.
Journal: Strategic Impact
- Issue Year: 2016
- Issue No: 59
- Page Range: 23-31
- Page Count: 9
- Language: English