Does the theory of “new wars” provide new insights into the nature of contemporary

warfare? Discuss. (May 2022)

I agree to a large extent that the theory provides new insights on the nature of contemporary
war, by acknowledging aspects that are different to traditional wars. There’s an emphasis in
the scale of war (intrastate instead of interstate), the role of non-state actors, and the goal of
war (identity politics). However, I also acknowledge that state actors still play a prominent
role in contemporary war. Likewise, the goals may be more than just identity politics, as it
can be geopolitical related.

Firstly, the theory of New wars by Mary Kaldor suggests that there are different aspects in
contemporary wars compared to those of traditional wars. he actors involved are non-state
actors and network of states e.g., mercenaries. This is different to traditional wars which
involve state actors e.g., armed forces of the state, thus non-state actors are key players of
contemporary conflict.

The actors of contemporary conflict may also be involved in drug trafficking and illegal
resource extractions to fund and sustain the conflict. This is caused by globalisation, which is
the interconnectedness of social, political and economic aspects of the world today, thus
plays its part on linking economic processes e.g., trade. However, non- state actors has also
played a part in transnational criminal activities. As the world is connected, committing
transnational crime becomes something that can be easily done e.g., drug trafficking through
networks, communication technologies and ease of transportation methods.

Furthermore, the goals of contemporary conflict actors are related to identity politics (e.g.,
involved ethnicity or religion) of a certain tribe instead of a nation. Ethnicity, for example,
gives a sense of identification within a group, therefore important in shaping someone’s or a
group’s identity. In turn, this has made conflict mediation hard, especially if the conflict is
fought between two or more ethnic or religion or racial groups. Negotiation then requires
groups to exist and have autonomy over themselves.

Moreover, the method used to reach its goal are through political means. Different to
traditional wars which focuses on geopolitical goals through military means, contemporary
wars are unorganised, competing for resources wherever they are by whatever means
necessary. As a result, civilians are usually the victim as they are more vulnerable. This has
made humanitarian crises to be more prevalent. Displacement, death and malnutrition are
outcomes suffered by civilians as a result of contemporary conflict.

However, we need to acknowledge that state still plays a crucial role despite the growing on
non-state actors involvement on contemporary conflicts. State’s action and decision can be a
key driver to stir or to resolve conflict. They still hold a powerful position in contemporary
warfare, especially as they have sovereignty and legal jurisdiction over their territory.

Secondly, in the Syrian civil conflict, which is an example of contemporary warfare, state
still has great role and power. Syria is dominated by the Alawites, (Assad as one of the
members). Alawites are member of a minority sect of Shia, with privatised practice. It was
once marginalised and discriminated in Syria, until the Assad family rose to power. In turn, it
creates sectarian tension between Alawites and the Sunni. Furthermore, the state, which is
ruled by Assad, still deploy military personnel to deal with the uprising rebel groups. This
shows that state still plays an involvement in conflict.
The civil war in Syria, initially broke out after the detainment and killing of teenagers over a
graffiti in support of Arab Spring. In 2011, defectors from Syrian military formed the free
Syrian army to overthrow the government, current regime of Bashar Al-Assad. Syria’s civil
conflict is a complicated one, with other states involvement such as Russia being the ally of
Assad’s government, and Iran with majority of Shia Muslim backs up Assad’s government.
Whilst, states like Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia with majority of Sunni Muslims, backs up
the rebel groups that opposed Assad’s regime. The involvement of many non-state actors like
ISIS (previously ISIL), Hezbollah backed by Iran, and YPG as a group of Kurds backed by
US also complicates matters at hand (Al Jazeera, 2018).

Furthermore, one also need to recognise that there are still conflicts between states and their
goals might be more than just identity politics. Identity politics are one of the major reason
why tension rises, but other reasons like geopolitical interest also needs to be included in. The
goal and reasons why conflict even started in the first place may be more complicated than it
seems.

In conflicts like Russo-Ukrainian war, it is more than just fighting shared identity and history.
There’s also involvement of (NATO), and other states like the US and EU member states
which sides with Ukraine, condemning Russian illegal annexation in 2014. Not to mention,
members of Wagner’s group which are a mercenary group lead by Yevgeny Prigozhin, an
ally of Vladimir Putin. It was first involved in 2014, when Russia illegally annexed the
Crimean Peninsula (Berger, 2023).

Russia and Ukraine has a shared history, being part of the Russian Empire and the former
USSR. After the fall of USSR, 15 post-soviets sovereign states were born. With that, the
influence of NATO grew, with most of the post-soviet states joining in becoming the member
of NATO. Ukraine is one of the state that became the prime target of Russia, due to the
increasing influence and expansion of NATO. As NATO are a collective defence, Russia
may feel threaten if Ukraine, a state that shares history with Russia, joined NATO. Likewise,
Putin also believe than Ukraine does not have a separate state nor identity, they are an
integral part of Russian’s patrimony.

In conclusion, new wars provide new insights to our understanding of contemporary warfare,
whereby there’s an increase in the involvement of non-state actors, and its goals of waging
the conflict. However, there are also wars where states still have a prominent role, and the
goal is not necessarily identity politics only.

(words: 979)
Bibliography

Al Jazeera. (2018, April 14). Syria’s war explained from the beginning.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/4/14/syrias-war-explained-from-the-beginning

Berger, M. (2023, June 26). What Russia’s Wagner Group has done in Ukraine, Africa and
the ... https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/06/26/wagner-group-russia-
mercenary-ukraine-africa/

Coyle, J. (2022, March 16). In Russian invasion of Ukraine, Cold War echoes reverberate.
AP News. https://apnews.com/article/cold-war-echoes-russia-us-ukraine-
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