A Vicarious Instinct

This chapter explores the concept of vicarious warfare in terms of its deeper historical background in socio political forms, material-technological developments and opportunities, as well as its basis in the evolution of military and strategic thought. It identifies broader patterns and conditions that might assist our appreciation of the vicarious military approaches and provide a rough framework for our analysis of contemporary US strategic practice. The chapter also argues that the conduct of vicarious warfare in a holistic sense only becomes meaningful in certain historical conditions. In exploring these issues, the chapter presents a necessarily impressionistic historical analysis centred around broad recurring patterns apparent at different times in different periods; it utilizes representative cases, drawn mainly from European history, to tease out dynamics that have been apparent across other cultures and periods. Ultimately, the chapter offers some initial clues as to those deep underlying factors that might predispose and permit societies, including contemporary America, to wage the vicarious warfare. It also shows how states that had begun to amass significant power often took advantage of opportunities to adopt forms of vicarious warfare and to evade, minimize or limit the costs and requirements of war.