New Book - New & Old Wars

Mary Kaldor
New & Old Wars: Organized Violence in a Global Era
Polity Press, 2006, 303.66 KAL

Tony Blair's recent visit to Washington DC and the increased pressure placed on George W. Bush by the publishing of the findings of the Iraq Study Group, has sharpened the focus of the world's attention to the question of 'ending' the war in Iraq.

From this timely new edition of LSE professor Mary Kaldor's book New & old wars: organized violence in a global era, we can see how the continued and intensifying violence in Iraq constitutes a new war in witch 'the actors are both global and local, public and private. The wars are fought for particularistic political goals using tactics of terror and destabilization that are theoretically outlawed by the rules of modern warfare".

Fully updated and containing a brand new chapter unpacking this issue of war in the post 9/11 world, Kaldor argues that the US-British understanding of a war as being between two nation states (what she calls an 'old war') is not appropriate for addressing the complex nature of 'new war'. New & old wars is a bold re-conceptualization of war in the globalized world. Understanding Kaldor's message and addressing the issues she identifies will be crucial in determining the future direction of global conflict and conflict resolution.

Mary Kaldor presented an RSA lecture in October 2006 entitled 'New & Old Wars'; click the links to listen to it or view it in PDF format.

Read a concise response to the Iraq war from Mary Kaldor in the independent global current affairs website - OpenDemocracy.