Introduction

OODA loops are seen as paradigm for all aspects of life, where people have conceptual frameworks that shape and are shaped by the external environment.

The embrace of uncertainty and the power of adaptation also make intuition (‘the ability to perceive patterns in an otherwise patternless process’) more important, or what Clausewitz called military genius.

The model of the network has been adopted by Al Qaeda, having a widely dispersed and decentralized organization, in which the leadership is an emergent phenomenon. It has also been used by guerrillas and insurgents from Chechnya to Lebanon and Iraq. The Russian mafia similarly moved to a more decentralized model, but also the drugs cartels of Columbia. The move of the drug trade from the Sicilian Cosa Nostra to the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta is a move to a more horizontal model.

In military tactics, new concepts have surfaced like ‘swarming’(modelled on insects), NCW (Network-Centric Warfare), and self-synchronization.

In our own studies, we have often seen how the military has played a role in the development of technology. This study paints a broad picture of developments of the military and places it in a larger developments that resemble the way we’ve looked at phenomena, but also diverges from it.