New Books in Science, Technology, and Society

Paddy Walker and Peter Roberts, "War's Changed Landscape?: A Primer on Conflict's Forms and Norms" (Howgate, 2023)

Jan 27, 2024

Military pundit Paddy Walker and military analyst Peter Roberts discuss the paradoxical continuities in warfare despite technological advancements. They emphasize the slow evolution of norms and the exaggerated role of technology in war. The podcast explores topics like changing norms and forms of warfare, the importance of context and history, hybrid warfare, and the need for human oversight in military operations.

01:30:24

Episode guests

Peter Roberts

Paddy Walker

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Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Norms in warfare are subject to slow evolution and are influenced by context and history.

Hybrid warfare, although overused, remains an important consideration in conflict.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have reshaped the character of war and bring new challenges for defense strategies.

Deep dives

Understanding Norms and Forms in Warfare

Norms in warfare refer to patterns of behavior that govern the conduct of actors, while forms pertain to how parties fight and the means employed in battle. Enduring norms are long-standing and relatively stable, while emerging norms are influenced by recent advances and are still in flux. New norms represent significant and cemented changes in behavior. The study of norms faces challenges such as presentism and the disconnect between theory and practice on the ground. Additionally, context and history play crucial roles in understanding norms. Norms in warfare are not easily defined and are subject to slow evolution. Technology, while important, faces practical challenges in integration and the reliance on well-trained soldiers remains essential.

Introduction

3min

Exploring the Changing Norms and Forms of Warfare

20min

Understanding the Complexity of War and the Importance of Context and History

3min

Understanding the Evolving Forms and Norms of War

4min

The Importance of Context in the Study of Norms in Warfare

28min

Hybrid Warfare: Rise, Decline, and Challenges

29min

Understanding War's Changed Landscape and the Need for Human Oversight

2min

Throughout much of the 21st century thus far, the common argument among military pundits was that war has or will soon be radically changed in manners that exist beyond imagination. The main catalyst for such extraordinary changes would be new advancements in technology and weaponry. With the on-going war in Ukraine, one fundamental surprise that has stunned many military analysts is that in spite of major technological advancements such as drones and open-source intelligence (OSINT) via social media, the main character of the conflict seems more akin to World War I (1914-1918) style trench warfare. What can explain this perplexing paradox?

Peter Roberts and Paddy Walker explain in their co-authored book War's Changed Landscape?: A Primer on Conflict's Forms and Norms (Howgate Publishing Limited, 2023) that all change in war is often outweighed by continuity in military history. Even when change does occur, it is often a slow evolution of norms rather than a sudden rupture. The role of technology in such is often grossly exaggerated in the popular media.

Peter Roberts is a Senior Associate Fellow for the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), having been Director of Military Sciences there between January 2014 and November 2021.

Paddy Walker is Managing Director of the Leon Group, a senior research Fellow in Modern War Studies at The University of Buckingham, an Associate Fellow at RUSI and previously London chair of NGO Human Rights Watch.

Stephen Satkiewicz is an independent scholar whose research areas are related to Civilizational Analysis, Social Complexity, Big History, Historical Sociology, military history, War studies, International Relations, Geopolitics, as well as Russian and East European history.

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