The new rules of war : victory in the age of durable disorder / Sean McFate ; foreword by Gen. Stanley McChrystal (Ret.).

Includes bibliographical references (pages 297-305) and index.

Strategic atrophy -- Why do we get war wrong? -- Rule 1: Conventional war is dead -- Rule 2: Technology will not save us -- Rule 3: There is no such thing as war or peace: both coexist, always -- Rule 4: Hearts and minds do not matter -- Rule 5: The best weapons do not fire bullets -- Rule 6: Mercenaries will return -- Rule 7: New types of world powers will rule -- Rule 8: There will be wars without states -- Rule 9: Shadow wars will dominate -- Rule 10: Victory is fungible -- Winning the future -- Annex: The thirty-six ancient Chinese stratagems for war.

"An urgent, fascinating exploration of warfare--past. present, and future--and what we must do if we want to win today, from an 82nd Airborne Division veteran, former private military contractor, and professor of war studies at the National Defense University. War is timeless. Some things change--weapons, tactics, technology, leadership, objectives--but our desire to go into battle does not. We are living in the age of 'durable disorder'--a period of unrest created by numerous factors: China's rise, Russia's resurgence, America's retreat, global terrorism, international criminal empires, climate change, dwindling natural resources, and bloody civil wars. Sean McFate has been on the front lines of deep state conflicts and has studied and taught the history and practice of war. He's seen firsthand the horrors of battle and understands the depth and complexity of the current global military situation. This devastating turmoil has given rise to difficult questions. What is the future of war? How can we survive? If Americans are drawn into major armed conflict, can we win? McFate calls upon the legends of military study--Carl von Clausewitz, Sun Tzu, and others, as well as his own experience--and carefully constructs the new rules for the future of military engagement, the ways we can fight and win in an age of entropy: one where corporations, mercenaries, and rogue states have more power and nation-states have less. With examples from the Roman conquest, World War II, Vietnam, Afghanistan and others, he tackles the differences between conventional and future war, the danger in believing that technology will save us, the genuine leverage of psychological and 'shadow' warfare, and much more. McFate's new rules distill the essence of war today, describing what it is in the real world, not what we believe or wish it to be. Some of these principles are ancient, others are new, but all will permanently shape war now and in the future. By following them, he argues, we can prevail. But if we do not, terrorists, rogue states, and others who do not fight conventionally will succeed--and rule the world."--Dust jacket.

War is timeless. Some things change-- weapons, tactics, technology, leadership, objectives-- but the propensity for humans to do battle does not. We are living in an age of Durable Disorder-- a period of unrest created by numerous factors; the armed conflicts being waged has doubled since World War II, and nearly half of the world's countries are involved in some form of armed conflict. McFate constructs ten rules for the future of military engagement, and explains how to fight and win in an age of entropy and a global system very different from the past. -- adapted from publisher info