Conventional Interstate Warfare

This chapter details the challenge European states face in confronting conventional interstate warfare in the post-cold-war era. The European continent has been the site of several interstate conflicts featuring conventional operations since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and European militaries have fought in a number of similar wars waged outside the region. Conventional interstate wars are likely to manifest quite differently in the future from the way they did in the past, sometimes taking the form of ‘hybrid’ wars that involve irregular fighters and strategies alongside more traditional soldiers and efforts, but they will not disappear from the European security landscape in the near to medium term. Accordingly, while there is considerable room for improvement in the strategic allocation of resources, European states’ decisions to spend considerable sums on weaponry, equipment, and training programmes designed to maintain or improve their fighting capabilities in conventional operations are warranted.