Introduction to the Spring/Summer 2010 Issue, Strategic Insights, v. 9, issue 1; Strategic Insights, v. 9, issue 1 (Spring/Summer 2010) ; pp. 1-2

Abstract

This issue of Strategic Insights, explores the complex realm of asymmetric warfare, specifically the role it plays in a variety of weak and developing states. Its articles focus on how states can understand, approach, and defend against the many manifestations and evolving nature of asymmetric warfare in an age where globalization increases the interconnectivity of state and non-state actors alike. In its simplest form, asymmetric warfare is characterized as two belligerents with differing military capabilities where each side attempts to exploit the weaknesses of the other with conventional and unconventional strategies and tactics. The 2010 U.S. National Security Strategy warns that, ﾓWars over ideology have given way to wars over religious, ethnic, and tribal identity; nuclear dangers have proliferated; inequality and economic instability have intensified; damage to our environment, food insecurity, and dangers to public health are increasingly shared; and the same tools that empower individuals to build enable them to destroy.