We still have all kinds of rivalries, and in some ways, they have been liberated by the end of the cold we think of the cold war as a period of relative peace. The cold war was not a time of peace if you were in afghanistan or angola,. nicaragua or venam. We have so many more rivalries. And actually, now we absolutely can engage in rivalries with other countries around the world but that goes in different directions. If we'r not to be fighting wars with them, if we're not obe sending the gunboats, how else can we prosecute those conflicts? So i think that's really wt what's changing is that
Traditional conflict – fought with guns, bombs, and drones – has become almost too expensive to wage, too unpopular at home, and too difficult to manage. So nations have innovated. Russia wages hybrid warfare on Ukraine. The US threatens Iran with further sanctions. China spends billions buying political influence abroad. The world seems to be heading for a new era of permanent low-level conflict, often unnoticed, undeclared and unending. Mark Galeotti is Honorary Professor at UCL and a specialist in politics, criminology, security studies, international relations and anthropology. His recent book, The Weaponisation of Everything, is a ground-breaking survey of this new way of war. Joining Mark to discuss the book and his work is Carl Miller, Research Director of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media at Demos.
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