VNSAs — The rapid rise of VNSAs as a threat to world peace. Impact of Global Terrorist

Every one of the deadliest conflicts of this century has involved a group that no state officially commands — a militant network, an insurgency, a militia running its own territory in all but name. States built their armies to fight other states. They are still adjusting to enemies that hold no territory of their own, answer to no government, and can outlast a conventional military campaign simply by refusing to fight it on the terms a state expects. This topic is about why that kind of actor has grown so fast, and so dangerous, in the last few decades.

In two minutes

Violent non-state actors (VNSAs) — terrorist organisations, insurgencies, criminal networks and warlords — have risen rapidly as a threat to world peace because weak and failed states, the spread of small arms, and above all globalisation and modern technology have given them the reach, funding and mobility that once belonged only to states.

The rest of this chapter

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