Time to invent a new definition to war

Asoke K Laha, President & MD, Interra Information Technologies

Is the word “war” assuming different connotations? There are reasons to believe so. Let me attempt to  prove my hypothesis. In the past- I am referring to the early 20th century- we heard only about one type of war being fought using weapons that can inflict pain or death or destruction of properties.  As technology advanced, the type of fighting changed. The weapons provided the leeway to fight from positions and directions. Modern weapons helped warring groups to fight from distance and at times from several hundred miles away and still can cause devastation. People used all theatres for fighting -air, sea and land. All major wars of 19th and 20thcentury including the two world wars were fought in that way. Still such warfare is continuing in isolated pockets. But wars have become tech savvy. More than that, the definition of war also has undergone a transformation. The term war got expanded in its scope and range. World had invented a term called cold war, the coinage  is essentially different from conventional warfare.  A simplistic explanation of the cold war can be attempted as a state when there was no physical war but an apparent undercurrent of mistrust and non-cooperation. We were talking about the type of wars that are being fought. We explained two types of wars-conventional and cold wars. The next in importance is the trade war, though it may have some resemblance to cold war, the concept, which is of recent origin, differs in many elements from the cold war. It is mostly to do with imposition of additional import duties and even banning imports of certain goods, which can distort trade. Yes, such suspicions arise from mistrust. The trade war between the US and China is an example. The US imposed higher duties on some countries mainly targeted at China, though it spilled over to other countries including India also. The crux of such sanctions has been that trade emerged as a cognizable weapon to fight against nations. 

There are various other clones of wars that we are experiencing now, such as digital war, chip war, cyber war, technology war, and a lot more, which have different context and connotations. Does it mean in the coming years and times, we will have only such wars fought and future generations may have to look at the dictionary to understand the nuances of Crimean war, Anglo-Saxon war, and many such incidents? I feel the upside of such wars is that it avoids blood sheds and human sufferings as had been chronicled in world history as an excruciating side effects of major wars, particularly the two World Wars. There is every possibility of future wars being called us chip war, electronics war, mobile war, electron war, so go the predictions. 

One can easily disprove my hypothesis that the  conventional wars have been eclipsed. They can legitimately point out why hundreds of people are being killed in the Russian-Ukraine war, loss of lives and properties caused by the war, rigours of the war in terms of food crisis, oil blockade, inflation, disruptions of ordinary lives and the like. They are right. It is happening in the same way  they had happened earlier. But let us look at the difference, which may be a bit difficult to comprehend. The perpetrators of war (I am not taking any side and  not judging  who is right and wrong) are using digital tools to counter the enemies. That explains why the US  ICT companies have announced that they would wind up their operations in Russia as a retaliation to Russia’s unilateral declaration of war on Ukraine, as they claim. That also explains why some of the big corporations based in the Western bloc are threatening to withdraw or hold on to their investments in Russia in high tech areas. That is also the reason why some ICT giants relocated from China in the aftermath of the trade war.  More important is the retaliation from Russia by blocking the energy supply from its territory through pipes to the western countries. Russians feel that pressure tactics would help at least some of the Western corporations to lobby with their respective governments to adopt a more lenient approach towards them to eschew the pernicious effect of sanctions. What  Ukraine is  asking from the West in the fight against Russia. They want sophisticated and technologically superior armaments to counter Russian aggression. That is how technology and digitization are impacting geopolitics. Same analogy may hold good in the case of chips also. There are speculations that the digitally advanced west, particularly the US may deny the sophisticated technologies to both Russia and China. One among them is chips. China produces chips in large quantities. But the chip technology is undergoing tectonic shifts. Thinner chips are in demand now, since there is a craze for making everything tiny and small. Size of equipment and devices are becoming smaller, impacted by people’s preference for such mini things. China has capacities for chip making. But they mostly make chips of larger size. But the west, including the US, is investing for making thinner chips to capture the world market. A small country like the Netherlands has a superior technology for making chips below the size of 5mm.  Assuming that they deny supply of such fine chips to China or Russia, can these countries continue with their progress in the digital world? 

I feel defence is the segment where technology leadership will be tested in the coming days. 

In the case of defence, countries are becoming cagey to supply their state -of -the -art  products to their competitors. The US has several legislations that deny access of technology to enemy countries. There are policy frameworks in other countries as well to deny access to the latest technology to other countries. Some countries follow a discrete policy, while others follow an open policy. The advancement of technology brings technological warfare into focus. Warfare is a physical military force's activity to fight for a motive; but technology plays a key role in the transformation of warfare. What one has to understand is that acquisition of technology for warfare is not for fighting wars but to amplify the strength and capabilities of the armoury to gain acceptance and recognition. The missiles, tanks, drones, satellites, airplanes, and GPS are examples of new warfare technology. Let us look at some of the latest technology based equipment that are used to strengthen the defence systems. The most common among them is laser weapons, which are mounted on planes and ships and a sure shot to kill enemies.  The other set of modern weapons is electromagnetic weapons, which emit energy to set points resulting in physical harm, pain and electronic damage.  Autonomous lethal or robot weapons target the enemy and have constant timing to shoot the enemy. These types of weapons are some of the best technological warfare examples.  Latest technologies like cyber weapons, aerial vehicles, and lethal robots updated the fundamentals they confronted the laws of warfare. 

Most of the countries are unable to build these new warfare technology weapons because of their costs.  Not only the expense but innovations in technological warfare need human time and effort. Countries, which can afford acquisition of weapons on their own or by sourcing from other points can command respect from others. For that the armaments need not be put to test. A mere possession of armaments is a clear advantage. That is why countries, which are finding it difficult to meet the basic needs of its citizens, are keen to spend millions of dollars to acquire new arms. 

In October 2018, India had signed a $5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems. Russia recently said it had begun the delivery of the surface-to-air missile systems. The point that I am making is that war is a constant factor in human history whether one likes it or not. I am not a votary of any type of war. My wish is that the world should strive towards peace and tranquillity. If war is unavoidable, let’s fight wars in the trade front, technology space, digital domain, where there will not be any casualties or human sufferings; but where there are more innovation and technological breakthroughs. Let’s give a new definition to war, which purges out its ghastly consequences.