ASYMMETRIC SHADOWS AND UMBRELLAS
ASYMMETRIC SHADOWS AND UMBRELLAS

Summary/Abstract: In a circumstance where, among others, the asymmetrical warfare was also discussed, somebody had a very sharp intervention: “What asymmetrical war? What’s this? How many types of war will you find in our world? Which is the meaning of asymmetrical?” Of course, nowadays, everything can be denied or affirmed. But this kind of question that, in fact, denies the asymmetrical war suggesting that it can’t be anything else but a violent armed confrontation which embodies a political decision, can’t get an equal trenchant answer as they are, firstly, because, in a way or another, almost all the world’s wars were asymmetrical or had profound asymmetrical stages. From ancient times, the asymmetry has been searched or even cultivated. The entire work “Art of War” of Sun Tzi, as well as “Arthashastra” of the Indian Kautylia, is nothing more than a coherent and convincing system to apply a principles’ philosophy or, more exactly, the asymmetry’s realities in the confrontations between the entities. These works, available and applicable even today, develop an intelligent and complex way to think and do war, to pull out the maximum advantages after it, with lesser damages and lower costs, to use war as an instrument and not as a goal and the latter as a goal in itself. There is very advantageous to find the suitable method to convince the enemy to leave without fi ght, to accept the done fact, to be put on the situation not to react or, more, to be convinced that war (even the defensive one) would be an error and that the crises could have other ways to solve them despite the opening of some hostilities with huge human lives and values wastages and except that, it will enter the collective memory as a fact necessary to be revenged in the future. Even today, for example, in the Chinese doctrine, the political solution is preferable to the military one, wisdom being considered more precious and efficient than force, the treaties are more important than the violent conflict. The dialogue costs lesser than the armed conflict and also offers more. Lately, the war is also ended by an agreement or a dialogue.

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