Reorienting the GWOT to Win the Moral Level of War

This paper seeks to examine the changing nature of war and the environment in which it is fought. That America is not applauding its successes at the physical level of war in waging the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), and does not perceive the threat to be significantly diminished, implies that ther...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Reardon, David M
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
ADAPTATION
ASYMMETRIC WARFARE
CARL VON CLAUSEWITZ
COE(CONTEMPORARY OPERATING ENVIRONMENT)
COLONEL HAMMES
CONFLICT
COUNTERINSURGENCY
COUNTERTERRORISM
ETHICS
ETHICS OF WAR
EVOLUTION OF WAR
EVOLUTION(GENERAL)
FOURTH GENERATION WARFARE
GWOT(GLOBAL WAR ON TERRORISM)
HUGO GROTIUS
INTIFADA
IRREGULAR WARFARE
JUS AD BELLUM
JUS IN BELLO
JUST CAUSE
LESSONS LEARNED
MAO TSE TUNG
MILITARY COMMANDERS
MILITARY HISTORY
MILITARY STRATEGY
MORAL LEVEL OF WAR
MORALITY OF WAR
NATURE OF WAR
NONSTATE ACTORS
SANDINISTAS
STATE ACTORS
TERRORISM
THEORY
THREATS
TRANSFORMATIONS
Unconventional Warfare
WARFARE
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Description
Summary:This paper seeks to examine the changing nature of war and the environment in which it is fought. That America is not applauding its successes at the physical level of war in waging the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), and does not perceive the threat to be significantly diminished, implies that there are other factors that are keeping America from the victory it seeks. This paper will identify two of these factors as the mental and moral levels of war and show how the changing nature of war and the environment in which it is fought also has changed the function of these levels when it comes to achieving victory. The decline of the role of the state and subsequent rise of non-state actors employing asymmetric tactics against states has made the moral level of war dominant over all others. The author seeks to propose a strategy for America to achieve dominance over its enemies at this level of war. The objective will be to expand the box that military thinkers rely on for solutions based on their experience, knowledge, and study of environmental factors. In doing so, it is hoped that they will come to see that the GWOT lacks moral legitimacy and that America is losing the GWOT at the moral level of war. The goal is to convince military leaders of the moral shortcomings of the current GWOT, convince them of the need to reorient their approach to this war, and provide them with the tools they need to reorient themselves to the constantly changing environment America faces in its unconventional conflicts. The original document contains color images.