The Art of War in the Network Age

6Waging War in Network-centric Conditions

Since the appearance of the RMA/Transformation – or, more precisely, its portents – impacted the way in which war is waged by applying rationalities initially linked to fluid spaces to solid spaces, was the grammar of strategy also affected? It could be estimated that if the nature of war is invariable, its conceptual mechanics is equally invariable, but this would deny the dynamism of the character of war. The conduct of military operations has continued to introduce conceptual categories that have become norms – such as the principles of war or the notions of deterrence and interdiction – but the relationship between these different categories has evolved. We will not examine all of them in detail in this chapter, but it should be noted that our relationship to war developed as a function of the consequences of the RMA/Transformation on the way in which war is conducted.

6.1. The kinematics of operations

This is especially the case concerning what is connected to the kinematics of operations, or the manner of understanding their proceedings in relation to time – which is the essential dimension of strategy, not geography¹ – or space. The RMA/Transformation focuses on the hope of operations carried out at a very quick pace, destabilizing the enemy by literally compressing the time available for decisions and actions; this is not without consequences for the manner of contemplating the relationship to victory, defeat or legitimacy. ...