There are few fields of human endeavor that have evolved more dramatically and consistently over the course of history than the conduct of war. It is a pursuit in which ‘high-tech’ is repeatedly redefined and applied to produce new equipment of often unimaginable technological complexity, yet which also sometimes rewards those who look to simplify their approach by employing the most basic of modern weapons to frustrate or defeat an adversary. Hence, to divine the future of warfare in the remaining decades of the 21st century is to make brave pronouncements on an evolution that has never failed to surprise those who seek to map its course. Nonetheless, in the short- to medium-term, it is prudent to envisage a world of drone operations, cyber conflict, and asymmetric warfare between established states and non-state actors.

To paraphrase Alan Ryan in his contribution to this volume, it seems clear that armed conflict is today more diffuse; more non-state actors will likely resort to the methods of armed warfare to further their objectives, and this development has considerable implications for civil–military relations in the context of conflict. Widespread weapons proliferation, the existence of fragile and failed states, and the emergence (or re-emergence) of ever more ideologies have provided fertile ground for complex emergencies that might not qualify as traditional warfare, but nonetheless require diplomatic, economic, military and governmental responses.