ABSTRACT
The first chapter seeks to accomplish three main objectives: (1) Trace the development of fourth generation warfare (4GW) from the late 1980s to the early 2000s, (2) explain the major characteristics of 4GW, and (3) discuss the main criticism that this school of thought has received. It will be shown that the major 4GW theorists have argued that 4GW is an evolved insurgency and its rise is connected to the decline or decay of the Western nation state and the international system. It is argued that, despite some obvious shortcomings of the 4GW school, it still provides many valid insights into what characterizes contemporary warfare.
