Economics: The Better Bullet for Grey War
Economics: The Better Bullet for Grey War
by Colonel Gregory A. Grimes
Download the full article: Economics: The Better Bullet for Grey War
What do quantum physics and American foreign policy have in common? Both are still searching for a unifying theory. Albert Einstein spent the latter decades of his life searching for a theory that unifies all the forces of nature. The United States lacks a unifying theme for its foreign engagement efforts in combating terrorism and insurgency. Mischaracterization of the problems, competition among implementing agencies and a reluctance to jettison entrenched legacy programs are all obstacles to developing a single, unifying underpinning to American foreign engagement policy in counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency. The U.S. needs a theme that underlies and unifies our efforts at winning over susceptible populations.
America finds herself embroiled in a tar baby of a war unlike any previously fought. This “grey war,” likely to be the definitive style of warfare for this and the next military generation, will simmer as a low-grade, continuous engagement alternating between diplomacy and violence. The United States and assorted extremist groups will jockey for position in a war the U.S. can neither definitively win (a la World War II) nor disengage from. Like the tar baby, grey war will be a sticky mess we cannot easily rid ourselves of. Commonly thought to be a concerted global effort the various terror groups, even those operating under the banner of Islamic jihad, are in reality a hundred different groups with a hundred different grievances. Many of these grievances are catastrophic, some are legitimate and all are meaningful to the people suffering them…
Download the full article: Economics: The Better Bullet for Grey War
Colonel Gregory Grimes, US Army, is a Civil Affairs officer currently assigned to the Standing Joint Force Headquarters at US Africa Command.
