The theory of "new wars" - achievements and limitations

The subject of the research is the theory of "new wars," proposed in the late 1990s by British conflictologist Mary Kaldor. This concept represented a significant step in changing the paradigm of thinking about war within the social and political sciences. Despite criticism, the theory has gained a considerable number of supporters in many countries and has inspired numerous related concepts. However, it is essential to remember that any theory can lose its relevance over time. In this regard, we formulate the purpose of this article as an exploration of the achievements and possible limitations of the theory of "new wars." To achieve this, an analysis of the most important points of this theory has been conducted, such as the changing role of states in military conflicts and the transition of many wars into a habitual social condition of societies. The primary methodology of the research is conceptual analysis of the works of theorists from the "new wars" tradition and a systematic approach that allows for the comparison of the results of conceptual analysis with the changing specific-historical context of the 21st century. Notably, we include theorists such as Herfried Münkler and Martin van Creveld in the "new wars" framework. The main conclusions of our study identify the most significant achievements and potential limits of the "new wars theory," such as the departure from understanding wars through the lens of the state and the shift towards "thinking about war" through a broad context of social sciences. War has come to be understood as a specific social condition of society, where many actors may not have any direct connection to the state. Therefore, a wide range of social sciences must be utilized for a genuine understanding of military conflicts in the 21st century. However, this analysis leads us to the main limitation of the explanatory potential of the "new wars theory" – the specific-historical conditions that generated such wars. This is where the scientific novelty of this work lies – "new wars" should be regarded as an inevitably temporary phenomenon, with transformations that are bound to occur in the coming decades. Thus, for a proper understanding of the world around us, we must view the currently prevailing theories as something transient.

war, new wars, thinking about war, Mary Kaldor, Herfried Münkler, Martin van Creveld, Clausewitz, conflictology, state, social philosophy