Evaluate the implications for the maritime component of the likely characteristics of future conflict - Essay Example

The Cold War was precipitated by the bipolarity that prevailed during the rivalry of the United States and the Soviet Union for influence and power. In studying the causes for these major conflicts, one will see their marked differences. Chester Crocker, Fen Osler Hampson and Pamela Aall have argued that any theories about war must reject that it is constant or at least must be modified to include many variables that explain observed variation.1 In talking about future war, it is, hence, difficult to predict.

But history, after numerous wars, and the current military, political and economic trends have equipped us with enough knowledge to understand what will characterize the future conflicts and how they will affect the their components today onwards. The significance of this kind of analysis and discourse is that, as we sufficiently understand the political, economic and social circumstances that lie behind the decisions for violent actions, we are in a better position not just to be ready but also to utilize the knowledge for use in conflict prevention.

More importantly, it underscores the reality that war remains primarily a tool of politics in the hands of willful leaders. For this paper, I will explore several variables of future conflict that is affecting and will affect the maritime forces including: the actors in conflict both state and non-state entities; the nature of future war; inter-state warfare; the changing nature of future threat; the changing roles and missions that future conflict may require of maritime forces; the effect of the new roles and responsibilities that are required by future conflict on maritime forces; and, how the asymmetric warfare looks like at sea.

The numerous wars that the world has seen have different characteristics in regard to scale, period, casualties, among other characteristics. It varies in form (interstate, intrastate), regional concentration, frequency, intensity, and other