Words mean things. Socrates and Confucius both maintained that is was important to use the right words to discuss the reality behind those words This basic tenet of logical thought is rarely practiced today. Instead of Socrates and Aristotle, we seem to taking our cue from Lewis Carrol, whose character, Humpty Dumpty, said that words mean precisely what he wants them to mean. Even that is being over generous. If you ask people involved in making or applying policy they would probably not be able to articulate what they mean by any of the words they use. The most recent podcast described Hybrid War. Other words or phrases that seem to be used without a firm definition include,
Drone
Mercenary
Private Military Company
Private Military and Security Company
Cyberwarfare
Law of War/Law of Armed Conflict/International Humanitarian Law
Rules of Engagement
and, the definition of WAR, itself
and probably other words and phrase that don’t immediately come to mind. Future podcasts and blog posts will address these topics. This will include why there is confusion, the resistance to definition, and — of course, my proposal for working definitions. I would like to start with “war” but given recents events I will have to address “drone” quite quickly.