GMW
An acronym for Generations of Modern Warfare, a term given to the theory of warfare first introduced by William Lind, Colonel Keith Nightengale (USA), Captain John F. Schmitt (USMC), Colonel Joseph W. Sutton (USA), and Lieutenant Colonel Gary I. Wilson (USMCR) in 1989.
The theory posits a generational framework for understanding warfare. Within our modern era -- beginning circa the Peace of Westphalia -- warfare has evolved through three certain generations representing modes and methods of conducting warfare and, according to the aforementioned authors, may be moving into a 4th generation of warfare characterized by dispersed, non-state actors able to attack nation states on a shifting terrain while also using the media and other methods to attack the culture of an enemy. While the first three generations delineated by GMW may be isolated and described based upon observable past conditions, the authors' attempt to describe the fourth generation of warfare, while founded upon observation of new forces and terrains already existing, left the exact, full delineation of 4GW open to discovery.
Further reading: The Changing Face of War: Into the Fourth Generation.
See: xGW
The theory posits a generational framework for understanding warfare. Within our modern era -- beginning circa the Peace of Westphalia -- warfare has evolved through three certain generations representing modes and methods of conducting warfare and, according to the aforementioned authors, may be moving into a 4th generation of warfare characterized by dispersed, non-state actors able to attack nation states on a shifting terrain while also using the media and other methods to attack the culture of an enemy. While the first three generations delineated by GMW may be isolated and described based upon observable past conditions, the authors' attempt to describe the fourth generation of warfare, while founded upon observation of new forces and terrains already existing, left the exact, full delineation of 4GW open to discovery.
Further reading: The Changing Face of War: Into the Fourth Generation.
See: xGW
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