What is 4th Generation Warfare (Please Explain)?

Question

I'm trying to explain fourth generation warfare to someone. I can't quite figure out how to put it in a nutshell with examples and comparisons. Please help.

Answer 1

The best way to describe it is any armed conflict in which one of the major participants is not a country but rather a aggressive ideological network.

I.E. post invasion Iraq war, Kosovo war, Lebanon Civil war, and the Israel-Lebanon conflict

1GW: tactics of line and column; which developed in the age of the smoothbore musket.
2GW: tactics of linear fire and movement, with reliance on indirect fire.
3GW: tactics of infiltration to bypass and collapse the enemy's combat forces rather than seeking to close with and destroy them; and defense in depth.

H. John Pooles book Militant Tricks: Battlefield Ruses of the Islamic Insurgent has an excellent breakdown of how 4GW is implemented in modern warfare, but you need to know a significant amount of background history to understand it.

Answer 2

I hope I'm getting this correct.
In the Army we call it non-linear warfare. Basically is where there is no "set" enemy. There are no uniforms, no battle lines, and no "good guy bad guy" tell tales. More often than not its in an urban enviroment. This is contrary to "linear warfare" such as the cold-war era and WWI and WWII. Where the battle lines were clearly drawn.