The Art of War and Peace 
The Changing Face of 21st Century Warfare
by David Kilcullen, Greg Mills
Published by Bonnier Books; Dist. by Allen & Unwin
RRP $55.00 in paperback
ISBN 9781785126857

How have the character and technology of war changed in recent times? Why does battlefield victory often fail to result in a sustainable peace? What is the best way to prevent, fight and resolve future conflict? 

Two leading international experts – David Kilcullen and Greg Mills – attempt to predict the future of modern warfare, based on their analysis of current conflicts. 

Since the fall of Kabul and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the US-led liberal international order is giving way to a more chaotic and contested world system. 

Western credibility and deterrence are diminishing in the face of wars in Europe and the Middle East, tensions across the Taiwan Strait, and rising populism and terrorism around the world. 

Using decades of experience as policy advisors in conflicts in Iraq and across Africa, and on recent fieldwork in Israel and Taiwan, the authors analyse the nature of modern war, considering state-on-state and intra-state conflicts. 

They investigate how technology can be a leveller for small powers against larger aggressors and the role of leadership, diplomacy and economic assistance. 

The authors make a telling, if uncomfortable, point: the values the West is fighting for in Ukraine (for European lives) should be the very values that matter equally for African lives. African democrats and citizens, they write, are fighting for the same freedoms and values of the Ukrainians. A point well-made. 

Former UK Chief of the Defence Staff is warm in his praise of the book. ‘Ukraine’s struggle,’ he writes, ‘should remind us of what is at stake if we do not act with courage and do so collectively. … We must help Ukraine succeed. Anything less will fatally undermine deterrence.’ 

VERDICT
This is a deeply thought-provoking and deeply researched book that should become essential reading for those whose job it is to guide a nation’s defence and geopolitical responses. At the very least, it will inform. It may even change minds.

BBC Interview HARD TALK