Almost-War
We know what a hot war is, and a cold war, a guerrilla war, an on-again off-again war (almost-decided). When weapons became too powerful, all-out war became "mutually assured destruction" (or MAD), and we had to learn to fight the "almost-way." Almost-war has become the norm now, so much so that we have clear and distinct types or categories of almost-war.
Types/Categories
1. Cold: Little or no actual fighting or bloodshed. Characterized by secrecy, mistrust, and sleuthing. (The Cold War, for example. But there are actually many cold wars going on constantly, even between members of the same household.)
2. Guerrilla: Sporadic asymmetric warfare. (Vietnam. Iraq.)
3. Economic: Trying to out-compete. (Using one's resources and skill.)
4. Sanctions: Punishing economically and politically. (A method of dissuading from certain behaviors.)
5. Self-flagellation: Punishing oneself. (Sanctions on companies within one's own borders for what they have done, or even for what they might do.)
6. Overly fierce internal competition: Self-destructive behavior. (Caused by unresolved competing internal values.)
Examples
North Korea vs. South Korea
Microsoft vs. Apple
Microsoft vs. Google
Microsoft vs. Sun Microsystems
Microsoft vs. The Linux world
Islam vs. "The West" (Roughly speaking: Christianity and Judaism)
Teenager vs. Parents
The Poor and the Rich vs. The Middle Class
The Democrats and the Republicans vs. the Libertarian in all of us
More
As is the case in all-out-war, in an almost-war it is primarily competing values, value systems, ideas, and ideologies that are at play. When people get involved, these ideas manifest themselves psychologically by creating internal conflict.
Who Can Play?
Nations, industries, companies, clubs, families, individuals. If you sat down and tried to name all of the almost-wars you were involved in, you would probably give up before you named them all.
Almost-Anything As a Weapon
The extremes are almost-unthinkable. One characteristic of almost-wars is that any kind of real (even traditional or weak) weaponry is used as a last resort, and almost everything else is tried first: movies, music, books, ideas, toys, food, beverages, banana peels, email, gossip, expectations, propaganda, advertising.
Almost-war is, then, defined as a war where all possible resources are not brought to bear on the enemy. The idea is that every dispute does not need to result in a death. Rather than just your way or my way, maybe there is a third way. People are considered to be too valuable to be wasted in the decision-making process every time there is a decision to be made. There are just too many decisions to make. Instead the rule of law, and ethics, and fairness and justice are held in high regard.
In almost-war, the side with the most lawyers (all other things being equal) will usually win.
In almost-war, perception is reality.
More Examples
An almost-good defense.
Much in demand.
Another weapon of choice.
Links
| Almost-War | Comment |
| www.paulasays.com | Diary of an Almost War |
| www.nuclearfreenz.org.nz | Almost War with China |
| www.tni.org | Lessons from the Almost-war |
| video.aol.com | The Almost War of the Worlds |
