Fifth generation wars and their impact on social security Written by: Dr. Rania Al-Kilani

The entire world is witnessing many rapid changes and transformations, which have been reflected in our various Arab societies, through different types of political conflicts, which have led to the emergence of new methods and innovative tools as means of achieving the goals of the conflict. Among the most prominent new forms of these were the so-called soft wars under several names, Successive generations have taken to express their developments, the most important of which are the fourth and fifth generation wars, to indicate the attempts of Western countries, especially the United States of America, to manipulate the countries of the Middle East, and to achieve their plan to change its map to a “new Middle East,” using new methods that do not include the actual occupation of lands and confrontations. Direct operations with regular armies, but mainly rely on information wars and the spread of rumours, in addition to the use of paid groups to carry out specific operations on the ground. In an article by the American writer William Land, published in 2004, he mentioned that he was among the military experts who developed the theory of fourth generation warfare. He added that the cultural invasion of a country at one stage is more difficult than the military invasion of the same country.

Although the term fifth generation warfare has appeared in the West since the beginning of the twenty-first century, the term has not been circulated in Egypt, and has only emerged clearly during the past few years, as a number of countries have attempted to use social media and media propaganda to spread false news about the Egyptian state. With the aim of overthrowing it through their use of modern and advanced technological tools characterized by artificial intelligence, which threatens the security and stability of society, due to its negative effects at all levels in general.

American military analyst Ray Al-Berman believes that fifth-generation warfare depends primarily on attacking the enemy from the sky, without engaging on the ground, using plans to manipulate time and space, and making the enemy believe that any resistance is futile, and thus the enemy surrenders without a fight. While investigator Thomas Brent stated in his report, published in the American Times magazine, that the most important characteristic of fifth generation wars is the ability to disrupt the enemy’s defenses and his awareness of danger, and that during those wars, biological warfare can also be used to weaken the enemy and prevent it from producing its own food. .

There is no doubt that the mutual social interaction between the system of cultural values ​​and the security situation in societies represents a necessary integration to create security and stability in society, as security is closely linked to the various institutions of society because of the role of these institutions in building and stabilizing society, and at a time when security efforts are directed towards... Combating undesirable behavior among members of society, social institutions start from the axis of diminishing the criminal will of individuals to engage in criminal behavior, which makes them unwilling to practice it.

Hence, we seek to learn about social security and the role of modern electronic warfare represented by fifth generation warfare in disrupting the social security system.

* Professor of Cultural Sociology at the Faculty of Arts, Tanta University