5th Generation Warfare (GW)

Generation Warfare in its 5th Stage

[restpackpdfbutton]

What is the fifth generation warfare, how it is different from conventional

wars and why it is resorted to? To answer these, we need to first understand
the previous concepts of war like first, second, third and fourth generation
warfare.

First generation warfare depended on manpower: a large number of muscular

and strong men fighting physically. Second generation war depended on
artillery and superior firepower – epitomized by World War I. World War II
marked the third generation warfare that was characterized by synchronized
air, sea and ground operations. The evolved form of insurgency warfare
witnessed during the Chinese Revolution and later in wars in Vietnam and
Afghanistan has been termed as the fourth generation warfare. This kind of
war is waged by non-state actors and asymmetric warriors employing
terrorism as a tool to achieve their political objectives. Fifth generation
warfare is the latest in this series and it is entirely different from all other
previously practiced forms of war. This technique of propaganda warfare is
employed to spread anarchy, chaos and desperation. Resultantly, the unity of
the nation is shattered and the people are divided into different small
factions, establishing, thereby, parallel governments; writ of the state no
longer exists and the law of the land is breached with impunity.

————————————————————————————

For the present, we are at war and do not grasp the dimensions of
the conflict. (Ralph Peters)

Causing war is a natural instinct. It is always controlled by society and

civilization. Power to rule is what drives this insatiable desire to create
warfare. To play God is the ultimate desire of the powerful. The outcome,
however, is always never long lasting. This is a game two or more can play and
eventually lose. And this is what has been happening since the rise of
mankind.

A lot has been and is being printed and aired about generations of warfare. It
is a fact that with every few generations of humans, the trend and the lust of
power pushes the minds to create ways of generating wars and conflicts.

The Traditional Wars and Battles

A war in the traditional sense was typified by numbers in an army or force. In

Download from here www.CSSExamPoint.com | 1

 5th Generation Warfare (GW)

other words a battlefield was one that was on ground, visible, physical and
predictable. It was also bound by territory and borders defined. From bows to
arrows to the advent of the Musket and the Winchester, we saw the advent of
heavy artillery and fighter jets. These defined the norms of the traditional
warfare. The race was in numbers of these arms and armaments, not to
mention in the infantry as well. It does not necessarily mean that the one
having a higher number may win. This is a debatable point. It also depends on
the devotion to a cause that is real in its nature with a background of
centuries.

The Economic Warfare

As the name suggests, it pertains to the economics of the world. The shuffling
and rehashing of figures in the financial markets and the major players
creating the ripples that brings about financial instabilities in countries
dependent on foreign loans. Not only does this affect loan dependent
countries it is used as a tool to break the economy of a country itself only later
to lift it up when other countries have invested in that region. There are many
other ways the economic warfare is employed to bring about changes in a
given region.

The sublime approach

In conjunction with the above, sublime is where there is a lot in between the
lines to read. Indirect approaches via many venues that can bring to forefront,
material that would capture the subconscious, making it react to the message
planted in the mind. Sublime approach makes us automatically react to a
given situation according to the message planted in our subconscious.

Terror

Who is not afraid of fear itself? Instill it in anyway possible and the reaction of
a human is to protect oneself, either in a defensive or an offensive mode.
Terror is one of the most apparent mind games deployed since World War II.
Combine sublime with propaganda and there is the perfect mix for terror.

5th Generation Warfare (GW) has been given many names and innumerable
subheads are attached to it. Some call it an idea, a myth, a concept and so on.
Others prefer taking it on its face value i.e. considering it is there and needs
to be addressed. The 5th GW is very much a reality, reality with many facades,
each spiraling into the other, very similar to the human DNA itself. Call it the
DNA of a warfare whose chromosomes are yet to be discovered fully.

But 5th GW should not be confused with just arms and armaments race
combined with high-end technology alone. That race is to keep many
economies afloat. The traditional warfare was about taking over a country in
terms of conquering it geographically. The physical invasion was one of the

Download from here www.CSSExamPoint.com | 2

 5th Generation Warfare (GW)

th
principal aims of wars in the past. A clear example of the 5 GW is of random
shooting at schools and in public by some disturbed teenager. They just do not
do it for the kicks. Something propels from the subconscious that provokes
the subject to act accordingly. Lot of experiments have been conducted on how
and what the subconscious mind does. There is no cause attached to that
particular action. This is where the 5th GW comes in.

Factually, every move towards harming someone on a larger geographical

scale is considered a form of war. Let us take the psychedelic revolution as an
example for starters. The psychedelic revolution was not in fact a revolution. It
was developed to ‘invade’ cultures. Primarily it did so in the countries that
developed it. The objective at core was to distort the cultural conformity of
many nations. Rooted deep in the visions of the masterminds, the revolution
was to take the free culture ‘whose base was the cult of Crowley and mix it
with a ‘love and let live approach’ (this was psychedelic). It did its job to a
major extent. Pakistan, however, got only a slight dent because of the war in
1971. A whole lot of other countries took the influence. It is not about being
liberal or conservative as both can dwell harmoniously in same social
structure. It is about instilling a sense of insecurity.

Pakistan was the target of hybrid or indirect ‘war’ in 1971. New

Delhi’s hybrid strategy (promotion of Mujib’s six-point plan, the
genocide and refugees narrative, training the Mukti Bahini, the
Indo-Soviet ‘Friendship Treaty’) all laid the ground for the coup de
grâce of Indian military intervention in East Pakistan. Since then,
Pakistan has been the target of multiple ‘hybrid’ campaigns.
Exaggerated proliferation concerns and coercive diplomacy were
utilised to hold back Pakistan’s nuclear and missile programmes.
The legitimacy of the Kashmiri freedom struggle was eroded by its
projection as terrorism including through false-flag operations,
infiltration of militant Kashmiri groups and concerted propaganda.
The onus for America’s colossal military and political failure in
Afghanistan was ascribed to alleged Afghan Taliban ‘safe havens’ in
Pakistan. The Pakistan Army and the ISI remain a special focus of
propaganda and fake news. (Munir Akram, Dawn Newspaper)

So What is New? What Changed?

5GW is not anything new. It was already thought about in the 70s. As the 60s
era was declining and the electronic, pharmaceutical, oil and chemical market
were reaching a peak, along with transforming mechanisms of information
dissemination into a mammoth market, the need for such kind of warfare was
felt. Japan got involved into it first. Followed by Hong Kong. Then came
Taiwan. Today, countries from the Far East, EU, USA and Russia, all are

Download from here www.CSSExamPoint.com | 3

 5th Generation Warfare (GW)

th
engulfed in the onslaught of the 5 GW-proxy-hybrid warfare. The United
States’ race towards technology competing both with itself and with rival
countries saw advancements in every field of technology inducted in them
every few years. The Far Eastern countries developed it further as they had the
chance to. Labor in the East was cheaper at that time and to assemble goods
in demand was economically viable. That very technology mushroomed into
Medusa itself. The former generations were Pandora boxes.
th
Elements of 5 GW

The 5th GW is not something that can be fully described as the concept itself is
still evolving. It is hybrid. It uses proxies literally and electronically.

At one level threats are identified in the cyber domain and attacks have come
in shape of security breaches, cybercrimes threatening cyber-security. Others
include a blend of traditional battlefield tactics supplemented with superior
Artificial Intelligence. 5th GW is a contortion of ideas itself. Before the world’s
tangible cash or money bottlenecks, a confusion of ideologies will play the
most important role in the 5th GW towards a totally cashless society rendering
reserves of not much significant value.
th
5 GW is not a myth. It is the implementation of myth into the sublime mind.

The first 4 GW’s unfolded without the myriads of satellites orbiting the earth,
moon and other planets. This time the GW is about the technology rooted in
the early 1980s. It has almost reached fruition. We are constantly informed of
how insecure we are. The constant hammering makes the mind believe so and
the ‘pseudo’ need to create our own little segments and taking care of them
becomes natural. Call them cults, faiths, beliefs or religions. The point is to
make everyone insecure. For instance, is anyone on the internet really safe
from hacking? Be mindful that all the information flows to a group of server
stations lying even deeper than the corporations and military tiers. The dark
web. What exactly is it? Simple answer is what cannot be seen is dark. And the
latent high-end tech of today has its feet planted where it is not visible.

The old formula of creating a need and then filling the gap is also at work
here. Today we need our devices and gadgets attached with IOT more dearly
than anything. Information, information and more information is what
inundates our devices. Can any security measures be guaranteed globally? The
EU formed a commission that is at work to a certain level. But is it good
enough? The US is following suit after the many leaks it suffered at the hands
of the ‘non-linear’ concept allegedly from Russia. Notice how our terms of
everyday usage got gelled with those of the computer technology? Even as you
read this piece you may have noticed the number of technology terms used in
the article itself. It is not the terms of technology to begin with. Tech world
development took the keywords to benefit by making the archaic terms

Download from here www.CSSExamPoint.com | 4

 5th Generation Warfare (GW)

th
modern. Simply put our 5 GW is a war of identities. We do mistake it for
security because it directs itself towards it. As they say ‘the mind believes
what the eye sees’. The mind registers what the ears hear. Conspiracy
theorists globally have been assassinated or mysteriously vanished.
Researches on the internet are controlled by regions through algorithms.
Pattern prints of human mind into synthetic platform defining pathways
predicting human nature and behavior at an individual level. What you see is
what you are directed to see.

The subject of the 5th GW is such a vast one that it cannot be summed up
easily. 5th GW at its heart has an overlap between the two schools of thought;
one who believe in raging a traditional style warfare and the other who
advocate the hybrid and sublime approach. Elements like China’s deployment
of the world’s largest telescope were not only to monitor sources of energy but
also to monitor interstellar goals of other nations. Same goes for US and
Russia and their designs in space.

5th GW will change ideologies, create causes that attract adherents without
any real value to the cause. Like every generation gone by, it will create a
hybrid generation that can be controlled. There are many who are exposed to
this warfare. There are still more who are working on its full implementation.
th
Combine all of the above elements and we have some sense of what the 5 GW
might entail.

Edited and Compiled by Aamir Mahar. The article is written by Ramiz Ayaz
Malik, published in Pakistan Politico on January 15th, 2019.

Download from here www.CSSExamPoint.com | 5