While nuclear stalemate has prevented the outbreak of a new effectively world war and provides a tacit consent for limited conventional wars launched by the most modern and well trained armed forces, neverthleless a series of new, desperate, and suicidal tactics of fanatical insurgents, equipped with modern technology, have neutralized the effectiveness of limited conventional wars, and opened a new era of a more sophisticated non conventional warfare. Lessons learnt from the successes and failures of various conventional and non conventional warfare all over the world undeniably reaffirm the crucial and decisive role of the People and the civil population. Those parties who succeeded in securing their confidence and support will in the end win, and those who fail will be defeated. Those confidence and support can never be taken for granted. Albeit unintendedly activities of all parties intended to win such confidence and support either in war or in peace will help further the role of nation-states, good governance, democracy and human rights. In the meantime, new forms of informal yet highly effective network of profit- oriented and well-funded international non-state actors using the so-called soft-power not only undermined the role of nation-states but also put the People and the civil population at their mercy Both governments and armed orces are helpless against the activities of these international non-state actors Therefore there is an urgent need for a fresh and more comprehensive interpreta tion on the correlation between various forms of warfare, the nation-state, and the position of the People and the civil population, both in war and in peace. |