Are Africa’s Wars Part of a Fourth Generation of Warfare?
by Paul Jackson This paper examines the relevance of the ideas encompassed by Fourth Generation Warfare (4GW) in the context of warfare in Africa. 4GW theorists have largely focused on contemporary conflicts where American or Nato forces are deployed, especially Afghanistan and Iraq. The exclusion of Africa from this debate represents a strategic danger, limiting the body of theory that American strategic planners can draw on when the United States and its allies become involved, as it currently is in Somalia, the Mahgreb, and elsewhere. This essay argues that whilst there are serious problems with the application of such a Western-centric approach to a linear, chronological development of warfare, there are a number of elements within the 4GW approach helpful in describing contemporary conflict in Africa. Application of 4GW to Africa shows that African patterns of warfare include both 4GW-type features and also pre-colonial patterns. The emphasis on decentralised, non-formal networked
