Global Issues: Conflict - ‘New’ Warfare - Hybrid Conflict and the ‘Comprehensive Approach’

The Global Issues paper has a topic on ‘New’ Warfare, which is the idea that war is as much about social and political relations as it is about technological developments. This is actually old wine in a new bottle. All conflict has this – taking all forms and is like a spectrum. To tackle the nature of current conflicts NATO is adopting what is calls the ‘Comprehensive Approach’ in dealing with ‘stability operations’. NATO’s website states: “Experience from NATO operations, including Afghanistan, has demonstrated that coordination with a wide spectrum of actors from the international community, both military and civilian, is essential to achieving key objectives of lasting stability and security… NATO therefore needs to ensure that it cooperates with a range of partners, including non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and local actors, in the planning and conduct of operations.”

In fact NATO has already been doing this – a prime example being the anti-corruption project in Afghanistan, which involves NGOs (e.g. Transparency International) and a raft of experts from civilian life as well as police.

Lieutenant General Sir Richard Shirreff, Commander of NATO’s Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC)’ gave a talk on the 23rd March at Chatham House entitled: “Unity of Purpose in Hybrid Conflict: Managing the Civilian/Military Disconnect and ‘Operationalizing’ the Comprehensive Approach”.

“Gen. Shirreff discussed how what we see in armed conflict today, and will continue to see in the future, is a kaleidoscope in which conventional and irregular war fighting, together with terrorism, insurgency and criminal activity, are all part of a dynamic and hybrid combination. Gen. Shirreff argued that to succeed in hybrid conflict, NATO must retain the ability to fight, but must also recognize that the nature of such operations is both multi-agency and multinational. Twenty-first-century warfare demands fluid command and control capabilities to manage ‘the disconnect between civilians and the military’ in order to ‘operationalize’ the Comprehensive Approach.” [Chatham House]

The Chatham House website has a transcript and recording of the talk available.
Click here.

The MOD’s website has a document which outlines the doctrine of the ‘Comprehensive Approach’