ABSTRACT
It is useful to start by briefly looking at some of the general trends of conflict and intervention patterns today, as this will help contextualize our later discussions on the revolution in military affairs, the requirements of modern armed forces and the place of non-lethal weapons technologies in meeting these challenges. In 1999 there were 27 major armed conflicts in 25 countries; of these only two were inter-state (Ethiopia-Eritrea and IndiaPakistan over Kashmir), the rest being intra-state (including Algeria, Colombia, Chechnya, Indonesia-East Timor, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Kosovo). A major armed conflict is one which results in battle-related deaths of over 1,000 people in a year, where the conflict is about government and/or territory.2 There is no reason to believe that this trend in intra-state conflicts will not continue for some time. Five intra-state conflicts attracted foreign military intervention:
Country Intervenors
East Timor United Nations led by Australia. Democratic Republic of the Congo Government side supported by
troops from Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
