SMALL WAR: SOCIAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL ANALYSIS OF THE CONCEPT

Abstract

Purpose. Modern war is undergoing essential changes. The transformation of war is a phenomenon that arouses genuine interest among researchers. Methodology and Approach. The main method of research is comparative based on the study and comparison of the conceptual positions of famous military philosophers and theorists, from which the author's understanding of the concept of "small war" is derived. Results. War in modern society takes different forms: theorists write about information war, cyber war, network war, hybrid war. Hybrid war is a special phenomenon of contemporary society, its feature is a combination of classical tactics of warfare and tactics of sabotage, guerrilla. The expansion of the scale of local wars, which express the essence of modern hybrid wars, makes the issue of “small war” topical. “Small war” is a concept that was actively used before World War II, but since then it has not been often used in military and philosophical literature. Theoretical and / or Practical Value. Based on the study of the works of famous military philosophers and historians, the article consistently analyzes the concept of “small war”, reveals its differences and similarities with a guerrilla war, with which this concept is often combined, shows the possibility of using the concept of "small war" in social and philosophical studies of war as a complex social phenomenon.