By Dr. Vakhtang Maisaia, Military Analyst, “New Eastern Europe”

The modern security environment and one of its components – the course of military conflicts – have changed dramatically in the modern era. The development of such conflicts has been greatly influenced by military-technical revolutions, which in the 21st century have radically changed the dynamics of their production, operational management, and the scale of involvement of new technologies. Especially this factor increases significantly in conditions of war or war. Today, when the so-called factor of the “fourth generation” strategy in the conditions of the international security system, which includes its constituent elements, such as the so-called doctrine of “asymmetric warfare” (hybrid warfare, cyber warfare, contactless warfare, high-maneuver warfare, low-intensity warfare, jihadist warfare, information-warfare war) when the phase of hostilities, even at the level of grand strategy, does not coincide with the conditions of conventional or “symmetrical” warfare, and as it did in the context of limited military conflict with orientation on “Air-to-Air” and “Air-to-Land” combat operations in aegis of 12^th day military confrontation between Iran and Israel on 13-25 June 2025. If considering in proper manner, the military confrontation at the stage it was not a war, which by military strategy standards did not match the classic war scenario. At present, taking into consideration specifics of combat operation zone and armed conflicts specifics, there are to indicate the following type of military conflicts that are:

• Low-intensity military conflict
• Hybrid warfare
• Local war
• Full-pledge conventional war
• Coalition war
• Strategic Instability military confrontation (nuclear triad threat perception)

Hence, the modern military conflicts, one example of which is the military aggression of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, which began on February 24 of 2022, are a clear example of how they affect the vulnerability of world stability and the resilience of the international security system.

The above-mentioned military conflicts are characterized by a combination of asymmetric combat operations, gross violations of international humanitarian law (this issue concerns the mercenaries fighting with them – the so-called “Wagner” group), and the intensity of the use of high technocratic military elements used by both warring parties.

One of the main events in modern international political developments is the military dimension of global security. Any state has at least two obligations towards its citizens: to ensure their security and create conditions for any citizen to increase their well-being (both material and spiritual). Security covers many aspects of public life and implies the neutralization of completely different types of dangers. This may refer to the physical rescue of a citizen and the protection of their life from a bandit attack or, say, protection from the encroachment of their life by the military force of another country. At the same time, the state must be able to protect its own institutions and the inviolability of the borders of the country, which is primarily carried out by using the military forces and capabilities of the country. In this regard, it is important to discuss a phenomenon in this context, which is an essential component of the security of a country, that is – military security. The term military security itself means the ability of a state to defend or prevent military aggression from another country (or countries) .

One of the important new dimensions of military security, which determines global and regional security conditions in the military-political context, is the term: “Geostrategic environment”. Under the auspices of the mentioned term, it is meant the combination of political, economic, socio-technological, and military factors that have a negative impact on the military security of the country. The components of the geostrategic environment are represented by three important things:

1)       Geopolitical transformation – the end of US hegemony and the development of a multipolar world order and the emergence of non-state actors or new centers of influence in it;

2)       Military-technical confrontation – considerable lag in the military potential of the Georgian Defense Forces in the field of offensive weapons and conventional weapons compared to neighboring countries;

3)       The new wave of military confrontation between the states, “arms race” – the development of the new “Cold War” and its epicenter in the Black Sea area.

It is also worth noting the fact that the modern geostrategic environment at the global level, which clearly experiences high turbulence, was formed after passing through certain evolutionary phases, within which the modern military strategic culture and art were formed. It is within the framework of this art that modern warfare is taking place between actors, where more and more place is occupied by non-state actors. That is why it is possible to consider how the modern military-strategic and military-technical conditions were formed, as a result of certain phases:

•           The first industrial revolution in the 18th century – At this time, land communication – railway and road communication systems were developed and the factor of sea power was abolished. This contributed to the geopolitical growth of such empires as Russia, Germany, USA;

•           Discoveries of the 19th century – The telephone, the electrical telegraph, and radio communication were invented, which led to the “compression” of geospace;

•           First half of the 20th century: development of aviation – fundamentally changed the two-pole geopolitical module (land-sea) into a three-pole module (land-sea-air);

•           Second half of the 20th century: the advent of the nuclear triad and missile technology – The exploitation of outer space has completely changed the balance of geostrategic forces in planetary space and introduced a new way of thinking in the international community.

It should also be determined here that in the conditions of the current international security system when the format of the international order created according to the theory of the balance of power was introduced again, the essence of the military conflict too took on a new dimension. From a certain point of view, in such a geostrategic environment, even at the regional level, a Low Intensity Military Conflict can be defined as an instigated and developed confrontation between actors that is characterized by the full use of military potential and where a certain limited type of geostrategic and geopolitical goals is being achieved, although it may not have the form of a full-scale war. Based on the general approaches, the Iran-Israel military conflict of June 2025 is a representation of such kind of phenomenon. Based on the dynamics of modern international security, the course and development of military conflicts are based on the following factors:

1.         Geographical factors determine the tactical position of the armed forces of any actor;

2.         In the course of military conflicts, the development of battles and hostilities at high rates is carried out;

3.         Interconnection of all types of military actions;

4.         Military conflicts take place in different physical environments.

The main expressive factors of the current international security system are being formed considering how and in what form military conflicts are taking place at the modern stage. For example, the direct military aggression of the armed forces of the Russian Federation in Ukraine and the occupation of certain territories, which has already turned into a specific type of military conflict – from a limited military conflict to the level of a local war, simultaneously led to the start of a hybrid war between the Russian Federation and the NATO (meaning collective) alliance, and it continues to this day, including almost all of its components.

There is quite new approach what are to be formulating in waging a war and what kind of criteria for the Fourth Generation Warfare are to be considering. How far the Military Strategy has been shifting since classical period of its origination since 18th century till 21st century. In that regard, it is interesting to stress that inside of the Fourth Generation Warfare includes elements of Asymmetric Warfare doctrine that is very plausible for wedging wars in 21st century. According to some academic sources, there are many different definitions of the doctrine, but one of them: Asymmetric Warfare – is war between belligerents whose relative military power differs significantly from or whose strategy or tactics differ significantly. Namely the Asymmetric warfare is seen clearly between armed conflict of Israeli Armed Forces and “Hamas” Jihadist fighters.