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Fourth Generation Warfare and the Russo-Ukrainian War
Swedish Defence University.
2024 (English)Independent thesis Basic level (professional degree), 10 credits / 15 HE creditsStudent thesis
Abstract [en]

In 2004 Hammes claimed that the world entered a new generation of war, fourth generation warfare. This type of warfare is different from earlier generations since the wars will not be conventional but irregular wars, an advance kind of insurgency. In 2022 the war between Russia and Ukraine suddenly escalates into an undeniable conventional war which puts the relevance of Hammes theory and claim into question. It raises the issue of whether this war disproves the claim and weakens his theory. Whether this war is the return of earlier generations where conventional wars existed or whether there is a possibility that even this war is inherently fourth generational. That the fourth generation generally describes characteristics of warfare today regardless of whether they be conventional or not. The study found that there is an overlap between the criteria Hammes use to define fourth generational conflicts and the war in Ukraine and Russia. This suggests that Hammes theory could still be relevant in this specific case. However, it is also discussed whether the claim can be made that fourth generational warfare truly has replaced its predecessor third generational warfare when there is no real point of comparison between the two generations. Lastly follows a shorter discussion of what this paper contributes with to the military profession and suggestions for further research within this field.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2024. , p. 30
Keywords [en]
Thomas X. Hammes, 4GW, Fourth Generation Warfare Theory, Russia, Ukraine
National Category
Other Social Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:fhs:diva-12465OAI: oai:DiVA.org:fhs-12465DiVA, id: diva2:1868202
Subject / course
War Studies, Thesis
Educational program
Officersprogrammet (OP)
Uppsok
Social and Behavioural Science, Law
Supervisors
Examiners
Available from: 2024-06-12 Created: 2024-06-11 Last updated: 2024-06-12Bibliographically approved

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CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • harvard-cite-them-right
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf