Ares Collection N.º 35 - After the New Wars: Rethinking Violence in International Relations

At the end of the last century and with a much greater impact on the beginning of this Millennium, new theoretical approaches to war and conflicts began to become increasingly frequent, calling into question a consolidated and accepted paradigm since the 18th century, starting with the works of the Count Karl Von Clausewitz. However, this “novelty” in a new way of exercising organized violence can - and should - be the subject of a careful analysis. This is what this chapter proposes, clarifying whether we are facing an innovation or not. It is argued that in fact there is a set of new characteristics, within the scope of the Polemology, which may be due to recent globalization dynamics. In other words, the way of waging war has changed, indeed. But are these changes enough to be claimed that the paradigm of organized violence has changed, and that we are now witnessing a deep change into “New Wars”?

The jus ad bellum is the area of contemporary international law that establishes the terms and conditions for the use of force by states with a view to maintaining the stability of the international order. This chapter starts with the debate around the “new wars” and discusses a possible reconfiguration of the regime that prohibits the use of force in the international system. In this context, controversial topics are explored, such as the idea of developing new legal categories appropriate to the reality of these conflicts and the legality of humanitarian interventions armed under the doctrine of the Responsibility to Protect. These debates suggest contradictory views on the limits of the regulation of the use of force. On the one hand, we suggest the need for an expansion of the regime that currently regulates only relations between States. On the other hand, there are scholars who seek to reduce the role of the armed force by defending the doctrine of Responsibility to Protect and the idea that armed aggression must now be understood as a violation of human rights.

With the beginning of the twenty-first century, the conflicts seem to no longer correspond to the classically accepted models projected in the traditional "war spectrum". The "new wars" involve state and non-state actors, supranational organizations, private security agencies, private military companies and nongovernmental organizations, as well as criminal and terrorist organizations. Moreover, there are phenomena of hybrid violence that liberal peace does not consider in its analysis. The general objective of this text is to demonstrate that there are new ways to guarantee the success of the States' intervention in the new terrain where insecurity is directly related to development problems, that is, in the areas where conflicts exist, and to identify the adaptation needs of the mechanisms used by the international community and other relevant actors in the international system, such as the States, to deal with the "new wars" and "new transnational threats".

The defeat of John McCain in the 2008 US presidential elections was interpreted as a rebuff not only from George W. Bush´s economic policy, but also, and more importantly, from the way he conducted the country's foreign policy after the terrorist attacks of 2001. According to most critics, American voters were unwilling to validate a foreign policy seen as aggressive - particularly after the US military intervention in Iraq, in 2003 - based on military power and unilateralism, which had as its top priority democratic globalism. Particularly, since W. Bush´s administrations would associate the promotion of democracy with the security and national interest of the country, in a broader framework aimed at fighting international terrorism. Therefore, our main goal in this paper is to clarify this argument. That is, to determine what was the impact of international terrorism on the formulation of US foreign policy after 9/11.

Piracy is again a critical threat to maritime security. We witnessed a rise and fall of the piracy menace in the Gulf of Aden; nowadays we witnessed a rise of that menace in the Gulf of Guinea. Are both situations comparable? We will try to explore and explain the differences, namely the legal and political aspects, which arise from those situations and the importance of the commitment of the international community, trying to tackle that menace to the international peace and security.

With the end of the Cold War, a new kind of organized violence developed that Mary Kaldor (2012) called “new Wars”, as opposed to the “old Wars” traditionally centered on states and the monopoly of legitimate organized violence. These “new wars” involve state and non-state actors, public and private, acting formally or informally, with political or economic motivations, which usually arise in a context of erosion of state autonomy or disintegration. The phenomenon of contemporary Somali piracy is one of these “new wars”, as the actors involved are mostly organized criminal groups, who use violence privately for private purposes, usually financial gain, undermining the safety of the international shipping lanes linking Africa, America, Asia and Europe. This article aims to analyse the action of the United Nations against maritime insecurity in the Horn of Africa at the beginning of this century. The conclusions reached show that the Security Council has taken a key role in this process, as from the four resolutions issued in 2008 it was possible to intervene with various actors from the International Community, which led to the control of the Somali piracy.

This article identifies and analyzes the problem of maritime insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea in light of several destabilizing factors that contribute to the amplification of instability and the degradation of the maritime environment in the region. Particular attention is given to piracy and illicit activities that undermine the economic and social development of the countries in the region, including overfishing, organized crime, drug trafficking, illegal migration, and environmental degradation. Some ways of mitigating the regional problems of the African Atlantic coast are revealed, as well as ways in which partner countries or countries with interests in the region can act to help minimize the problems identified. The action of Portugal, through its diplomacy, with its presence in international forums, and its Armed Forces, particularly the Navy, in the amplification of this support and the development of mechanisms for maritime capacity building of the countries in the region and the strengthening of legislative structures of the States, including coastguards and navies of these countries, has proven to be extremely successful, and is already identified as a mode of action to be pursued which, with the support of new partners, is another step towards building security and peace in the region.

Artificial Intelligence is a top product of technological evolution, of computer science. It allows the building of machines capable of analysis and decision making, autonomously and independently of the human mind. This product already has application in the field of Security and Defence. The number of States that are installing or have projects within this technology, for civil or military applications, has been increasing. The greater presence of intelligent machines reduces human exposure to risk; however, it marks a trend towards dehumanizing the decision. This product is not, however, a mere tool of war. It allowed to change the nature of the war, marking a trend centred on technology. The latest innovations in Artificial Intelligence bring new possibilities of use, which are already beginning to change the objectives and strategies of future military operations, demarcated by theatres that start to flow as a global network of diffuse battlefields, dispersed and with highly mobile firepower. It is proposed a reflection on Artificial Intelligence, integrated in the field of Security and Defence, in a perspective of analysis as a dissymmetric advantage and how it has participated in the Revolution of Military Affairs.