War Since 1945 (review)

In this book, Jeremy Black makes a plausible case for a wider conception of war and hence of military history. He identifies a tendency for the discipline to focus on inter-state warfare, the Cold War, the capabilities of specific weapons, and Western ideas. While he accepts the importance of all of these, Black believes that the result is too narrow a view of warfare. Thus, whilst there have indeed been conflicts on the World War II model—that is, state-against-state wars involving the use of air power and armour—the great majority of wars have taken such forms as insurgency, rebellions, and intra-state conflict. Issues such as asymmetric warfare and counter-insurgency have hardly been neglected in recent years, yet there is undoubtedly something in Black's criticism. This reminder that the striking breadth of the spectrum of conflict does not date from 1990, but can rather be seen throughout the Cold War period, is useful. The book also suggests that many in the West, particularly the U.S., tend to overstate the utility of technology in military operations and the wider utility of military power in achieving not only battlefield victory but the more elusive longer-term political success.

Essentially, the book is a plea for greater awareness of the diversity of warfare. Black suggests that there is more variety than is usually appreciated in military force structures, methods, goals, and cultures. He urges greater consideration be given to cultural factors (for example, how different societies—or even the same society at different periods—can have such varying attitudes to weaponry), organisational issues that reflect societal factors, as well as differences in the objectives and "tasking" of militaries.

A brief introduction is followed by a series of chapters organised on thematic lines. Chapter 2 covers "Aftermath Conflicts" that occurred in the wake of the Second World War, such as the Chinese Civil War; chapter 3 explores wars of decolonisation; chapter 4 describes Cold War conflicts, with Cold War confrontations—war by other means—examined in chapter 5; chapter 6 assesses wars between nonwestern powers, including those involving India or China, and also rebellions within states; and chapter 7 is entitled "Searching for a New World Order since 1990." Each of these chapters is, perforce, short and the reader will inevitably find some sections of the book to be a canter through well-trodden material: the aim of the author was always going to be ambitious in such a short book, which has just 193 pages of text and a further 14 of references. However, the number and range of examples mentioned, and the thematic way in which they are grouped, means that the whole is more than the sum of the parts, while most readers should find plenty of material that is less familiar.

This book is not intended to provide detailed accounts of any single conflict. Its aim is to argue for a broader view of warfare and to back this with examples from throughout the postwar era. It will mainly be useful as a broad introduction to or overview of the full range of post-1945 warfare. Alternatively, it will be read with interest by those engaged in military history or strategic studies who might relish a fresh approach to their subject.