{"id":253,"date":"2020-05-14T16:04:09","date_gmt":"2020-05-14T20:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cognitivewarriorproject.com\/?p=253"},"modified":"2020-05-14T16:04:09","modified_gmt":"2020-05-14T20:04:09","slug":"the-new-rules-of-war-a-speaker-series-discussion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cognitivewarriorproject.com\/?p=253","title":{"rendered":"The New Rules of War: A Speaker Series Discussion"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The genesis for this entire project was born out of the 2019 Cognitive Raider Symposium almost a year ago. The symposium had several presentations and guest speakers, one of which was Sean McFate<\/a>. McFate, a foreign policy expert, author and novelist had just written his latest book, The New Rules of War: Victory in the Age of Durable Disorder<\/a> and presented his thoughts on the topic. The book is described on Amazon as:<\/p>\n

an urgent, fascinating exploration of war\u2014past, present and future\u2014and what we must do if we want to win today from an 82nd Airborne veteran, former private military contractor, and professor of war studies at the National Defense University.<\/em><\/p>\n

War is timeless. Some things change\u2014weapons, tactics, technology, leadership, objectives\u2014but our desire to go into battle does not. We are living in the age of Durable Disorder\u2014a period of unrest created by numerous factors: China\u2019s rise, Russia\u2019s resurgence, America\u2019s 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\u2019s seen firsthand the horrors of battle and understands the depth and complexity of the current global military situation. <\/em><\/p>\n

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 \u2018nation states\u2019 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 \u2018shadow\u2019 warfare, and much more. McFate\u2019s 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. <\/em><\/p>\n

From everything that I heard (I could not go) the presentation was very good and inspired a book discussion between several of my coworkers. While compiling one of my Bullets Posts<\/a>, I came across McFate\u2019s presentation on the Modern War Institute\u2019s<\/a> website. Since this presentation was one of the founding concepts for The Cognitive Warrior Project<\/a>, I thought we should discuss it. You can watch the entire presentation here<\/a> and I could not more highly recommend giving a listen. Here is a portion of McFate\u2019s biography<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Dr. Sean McFate is a foreign policy expert, author and novelist. He is a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, a Washington DC think tank, and a professor of strategy at the National Defense University and Georgetown University\u2019s School of Foreign Service. Additionally, he serves as an Advisor to Oxford University\u2019s Centre for Technology and Global Affairs. <\/em><\/p>\n

 McFate\u2019s career began as a paratrooper and officer in the U.S. Army\u2019s 82nd Airborne Division. He served under Stan McChrystal and David Petraeus, and graduated from elite training programs, such as Jungle Warfare School in Panama. He was also a Jump Master.<\/em><\/p>\n

 McFate then became a private military contractor and paramilitary. Among his many experiences, he dealt with African warlords, raised armies for U.S. interest, rode with armed groups in the Sahara, conducted strategic reconnaissance for the extractive industry, transacted arms deals in Eastern Europe, and helped prevent an impending genocide in the Rwanda region.<\/em><\/p>\n

 In the world of international business, McFate was a Vice President at TD International, a boutique political risk consulting firm with offices in Washington, Houston, Singapore and Zurich. Additionally, he was a program manager at DynCorp International, a consultant at BearingPoint (now Deloitte Consulting), and an associate at Booz Allen Hamilton.<\/em><\/p>\n

McFate holds a BA from Brown University, MPP from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and a Ph.D. in international relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). He was also a Fellow at Oxford. McFate lives in Washington, DC.<\/em><\/p>\n

Again, you can watch \/ listen to the presentation here<\/a>. The following are my annotated notes and thoughts on the presentation:<\/p>\n