China’s New Military Era on a Superdimensional Scale. The Crucial Role of Theory: A Tool of Competition and Deterrence for the Strategic Game Among Global Powers

President Xi Jinping has issued a clear directive: in this "new era and new journey," with the world changing at a dizzying pace and a military revolution in full swing, China must strengthen its military theory. The goal is ambitious: to build a powerful, cutting-edge army and gain a competitive edge on the complex global stage. To achieve this, it's essential to broaden intellectual horizons, push for innovation, and aim for the highest peaks of military theory, thereby seizing the initiative in the great strategic game among major powers.

by Gabriele and Nicola Iuvinale

Redefining Warfare: A New Cognitive Framework

Since the beginning of the 21st century, modern warfare has undergone profound transformations, influenced by global political, economic, cultural, scientific, and technological dynamics. We are increasingly witnessing system confrontations, spatial overlap, and multi-domain mixing in high-level wargames. Forms of warfare are rapidly evolving towards highly dispersed forces, widely disseminated information, and highly coordinated actions. It's therefore fundamental to understand the forces driving this innovation in military theory.

Looking at the historical evolution from traditional to modern warfare, it's clear how primitive forms of conflict have evolved into advanced types like multi-domain warfare and hybrid warfare. This process is driven by a dynamic "coupling": the technical background determines tactical quality, and tactical innovation in turn drives technological innovation. Future wars, in this framework, will be characterized by "full-domain connectivity, intelligent dominance, and unmanned confrontation." In essence, this is a break from linearity, an update to the philosophy of war, and a super-dimensional power game, fueled by a continuous flow of new combat concepts. Innovation in military theory must, therefore, address the complex challenges of multi-domain confrontation, hybrid competitiveness, and technological progress. The crucial point is to develop a new concept of war that can overcome old mindsets and ensure a "cross-cutting" victory.

Military Theory: A Tool for Competition and Deterrence

Competition among major powers isn't limited to the arms race; a new and crucial arena of competition is military theory.

Firstly, military theory represents the high-level logic in these games among great powers. The alternation of "guiding," "accompanying," and "follow-up" military theories offers a model for resource integration, training, and force optimization. It also provides methods and strategies to limit and neutralize the adversary's capabilities, accelerating the path to final victory. Secondly, continuous changes in the international situation and scientific and technological development constantly generate new challenges and threats. Those who can clearly identify future forms and patterns of warfare and possess in-depth operational concepts will have the ability to seize the initiative on the international stage.

Advanced military theories are not just tools for winning wars; they also possess a powerful deterrent effect. Scientific theoretical design allows for the best coordination of existing war resources, transforming potential into real combat power. "People's war," for example, is cited as a "magic weapon" that enabled China to defeat enemies and deterred imperialism and hegemonism for a long time after the founding of New China, precisely because of its inherent power. Faced with the accelerating evolution of warfare towards intelligence and the continuous emergence of new combat concepts from other armies, China must have a comprehensive understanding of the new developments in intelligent combat theory. It's essential to examine the changes in intelligent combat styles and adhere to the principle of "you fight yours, I fight mine." This means being adept at creating advanced combat methods to defeat the superior with the superior, but also knowing how to avoid direct confrontation when disadvantageous, attacking weaknesses, and using one's capabilities to defeat the incapable, innovating and developing theoretical deterrence with unique characteristics.

Multi-dimensional Innovation: Integration and Deconstruction

Modern warfare has transcended traditional boundaries (land, sea, air, space, cyberspace), necessitating multi-domain and multi-dimensional connections. Innovation in military theory requires the integration of scientific and technological channels and the construction of strategic and tactical research and training platforms.

The reconstruction of the battlefield space is a technological innovation that transcends physical boundaries, transforming traditional physical space into an integrated and unlimited multi-domain hyper-space. This leads to the birth of omnipresent combat domains, elements, and forces, requiring a military theory that reconstructs the three-dimensionality, multi-dimensionality, and connections of modern warfare. In the future, the interaction between political, economic, military, and public opinion factors will create multiple sources of conflict and broad battlefields. Innovation in military theory must understand the intrinsic development of this battlefield space to reconstruct an autonomous, flexible, and resilient combat environment.

The remodeling of the multi-layered technological structure is also fundamental. Modern warfare demands the integration of technical systems at different levels to form a highly coordinated and adaptable combat system. The goal is to overcome the boundaries of traditional military services and technologies, creating a multi-dimensional interactive technological ecosystem. For example, a strategic early warning system requires a three-dimensional network of satellites, radars, and sonars. Technological innovation, in this sense, stimulates tactical breakthroughs and the reorganization of military theory.

Finally, the integration of interdisciplinary knowledge and cognitive reconstruction are crucial. Modern warfare has surpassed the Clausewitzian model, manifesting as an all-encompassing conflict, similar to quantum entanglement. This requires that military theory have the ability to deconstruct and reconstruct cognition across all sectors. This is not a simple superposition of knowledge, but the generation of new dimensions of understanding war through the "emergence effect." This implies breaking down disciplinary barriers and integrating advanced technologies (communications, navigation, sensing, quantum) based on cybernetics, information theory, and systems theory, to create a coherent knowledge ecosystem.

An Open-Source Theoretical Ecosystem and a Distributed Innovation Model

With the development of revolutionary technologies like artificial intelligence and brain-computer interfaces, military theory is showing a trend towards diversified innovation. Activating the innovative potential through an open-source ecosystem could lead to a unique innovation model that blends military tradition with the technological acumen of the intelligent era. The main goal is to stimulate innovation through an open ecosystem, diversified cooperation, and localized paths.

Traditional military theoretical research is often confidential and exclusive, with inevitable information barriers. The open-source military theory ecosystem, supported by blockchain technology and collaborative systems, can build an advanced theoretical foundation through the open and controllable sharing of theoretical frameworks and technical solutions. This environment would integrate military units, research institutes, universities, and social think tanks, creating a "closed-loop feedback environment of crowd theoretical creation" with multi-party participation. This distributed innovation model will accelerate iterative synergy and achieve sustainable development advantages in a complex environment.

The fusion of military democracy in the process of military theoretical innovation, through a professional and efficient collective collaboration mechanism, transforms dispersed cognitive resources into collective combat effectiveness. This model is based on an open resource organizational structure, efficient knowledge management, and deep integration between science and technology. It has redefined the production process of modern military theory, moving beyond vertical and closed participation in favor of a collaborative paradigm that embraces sharing and competitive participation. Innovation in military theory has entered a new phase of "collective wisdom + knowledge transfer," aiming for a theoretical system that not only guides military practice but also contributes to human understanding of war.

Finally, it's crucial to emphasize one's own characteristics. Innovation in Chinese military theory must continue to combine the fundamental principles of Marxism with the practice of building the people's army and draw upon the essence of China's excellent traditional military culture. The goal is to use the "arrow" of truth to hit the "target" of military practice in the new era, innovating and developing military theory through the creative application of Marxism to analyze and address contemporary Chinese military issues. This includes extracting war concepts, military wisdom, and strategies from Chinese culture, imbuing the theory with distinctive Chinese characteristics and style. The deep integration of the laws of modern warfare, the guidance of warfare, the essence of refined traditional Chinese military culture, and China's national and military conditions is fundamental to forming an autonomous, adaptable, and forward-looking military theory generation system, constantly opening new horizons for the development of the Chinese army.

Source: People's Liberation Army