Fifth-Generation Warfare
Some futurists are anticipating the possibility of a “global civil war, with some referring to the presence of Fifth-Generation Warfare, which is defined by James Corbett as, “the war of every government against its own population, and every international institution against free humanity.” This is no typical war, of the sort nations have been engaging in on battlefields for centuries.
This is a war of information and perception, and Corbett points out, “The most incredible part of all of this is that so few know that the war is even taking place, let alone that they are a combatant in it.”
The previous generations of war have been documented by historians Lind et al, with the modern age of warfare starting with the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, which “gave the state a monopoly on war.” First-generation warfare included tactics of line and column, which were developed to optimize the efficacy of the smoothbore musket; Second-generation warfare included tactics of indirect fire and mass movement to work with rifled musket, breechloaders, barbed wire, and the machine gun; and Third-generation warfare featuring tactics of nonlinear movement including maneuver and infiltration, developed in response to WWI weaponry and tactics. Fourth-generation warfare is sometimes referred to as insurgency, which can be seen at the point where nation-states lose their monopoly on war, and there is a return to a world of clashing cultures.
Fifth Generation Warfare is defined as a global war of ideas and narratives. Some analysts of this topic point out that the crux of Fifth Generation Warfare is that it takes advantage of ambiguity. It thus includes characteristics such as: mass cyberattacks occurring that are not attributable to any specific nation-state; mass social engineering conducted on their own citizenry; an absence of us-versus-them with spontaneous conflict arising seemingly randomly; non-state actors becoming primary belligerents; and nation-states having the wrong tools for the job. There is a certain vulnerability in this generation of warfare, where people's access to true information is vulnerable to manipulation via social engineering and long-trusted sources of information. Essentially, layers upon layers of psy-ops can be running in ways designed to pit people against one another as a distraction, so they don't notice some unspoken truths by leaders who really do know what is going on.
Lessons from the Art of War
If we are indeed at a point where the real basis of war has so fundamentally changed that it now is being fought via ideas and narratives, fraught with ambiguity, how can we survive and thrive in such turbulence?
We can find a Win-Win tip in Sun-Tzu's The Art of War, stating:
“When you surround an army, leave an outlet free.
Do not press a desperate foe too hard…
Build your opponent a golden bridge to retreat across.”
I love the idea of visualizing ultimate success in attaining a smooth transition to the best possible Fifth World–I love the idea of picturing the outcome of identifying and surrounding those who would wage war on the citizens of all the nations in this world. By imagining not only that success is assured, but also that in this moment of victory, a path can be made clear for this new future to truly be optimal for everyone, we are helping to ensure that such a positive outcome can be experienced. This presents us with a wonderful area of positive focus for those of us adopting a “How good can it get” perspective. We can ask, and truly long to know, “How might we best plan to provide a path of retreat for those at war against us in this 5th generation war?”
Harness the Power of Radical Optimism
With awareness of all that is happening, it is still possible to maintain an optimistic attitude, which is actually the most radical, and possibly most catalytic thing any of us can do.
Optimism just might be the ultimate survival skill, as I stated in a post last year about the Revolutionary Power of Radical Optimism, and that sounds exactly like what we'll be needing in the years and decades ahead. I've been advocating this perspective every time I suggest we keep asking, “How good can it get?” which prompts the participatory universe to respond to us with answers to the questions that we truly would most love to live the answers to.
Just as we can sometimes harness mind-matter interaction to assist weather situations, such as bringing rain to the western states in the USA after years of drought, we can stay focused on expecting the best possible results even in what may seem like the darkest times. This matches the advice recommended by the Hopi when moving from this Fourth World to the anticipated Fifth World, whose words, “Tunatya” and “Tunatyava” mean “comes true, being hoped for.” This works best when keeping our hearts open to the Divine. We can thus restore trust in basic goodness, setting an example by our presence in the world of how to maintain optimal focus in any circumstance.
You can watch the companion video to this blog here:
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