Changing Nature of Global Armed Conflict

Introduction

The nature of global armed conflict has been undergone tremendous change in the past three decades. Especially after the demise of the Soviet Union, the world entered into a new era. In this new era where the United States has remained only superpower in the globe, the unipolar trend was only challenged by emerging new threats such as global terrorism (Ferguson and Mansbach 2004). The transition period was not a peaceful one since the newly established states in Eastern Europe and some failed states in Africa and the Middle East have seriously challenged security of the developed countries both in Europe and the Americas. On the other hand, some states in Africa and elsewhere had long lacked the colonial backing as a result of the decolonization process starting in the 1960s. After the end of the Cold War, some of these states were further left without support from either bloc. In this situation, many states have failed because of lacking political, economic, and...