Aufstandsbekämpfung und Besatzungskrieg. Die Entwicklung asymmetrischer Kriegführung durch den Westen

Abstract

Abstract

Counterinsurgency and occupation wars. The development of asymmetric warfare by Western states. In spite of contradicting the concept „low intensity confl icts“, the military occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan are strongly infl uenced by the older concepts „small wars“ and „low footprint interventions“. In this article the author outlines the development of the concept „asymmetric war“. It is argued that asymmetric warfare has been an element of Western military strategies throughout the 20th century – long before the end of the block confrontation of the Cold War and the emergence of so called „new wars“. In the context of asymmetric conflicts, the author identifies three tendencies of state warfare: 1. A reorientation from military issues to a focus on controlling the population; 2. The irregularization of state violence, implying a rupture of laws and international conventions; and, 3. The outsourcing of warfare to irregular, but allied, forces, such as: private military companies, militias, paramilitary groups, warlords and even organized crime.