Abstract In the 21st century, warfare has evolved into a challenge that many countries are ill prepared to face. In contrast to the warfare of yesterday, victory is not defined by defeating an opposing military force, but rather defeating their ability to pursue political objectives by violent, often unconventional, means. Increasingly, these unconventional means are based on asymmetries between the two opposing forces. A plethora of definitions for the term ‘asymmetric conflict’ exist, but they can largely be summarized by a general idea that one side in a conflict, due to its own failings or its opponents’ strength, is unable to achieve its political aims through conventional (i.e. symmetric) military means. Because of this, the weaker side uses new ideas, weapons and tactics in a manner that is not expected, exploiting surprise to undermine the relative strength(s) of their opponent (Lele, 2014). The character of contemporary asymmetric threats can be analyzed through a framework of several key characteristics, which will be described in this paper. Understanding this framework, particularly in light of the horizontal transfer of technology, tactics, organization structure and procedures between emerging asymmetric threats may contribute to better understanding of such threats.

中文翻译：

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了解当代不对称威胁

摘要在21世纪，战争已演变成许多国家准备不足的挑战。与昨天的战争相反，胜利不是通过击败一支敌对的军队来定义的，而是通过暴力（通常是非常规的）手段击败他们追求政治目标的能力。这些非常规手段越来越多地基于两个相反力量之间的不对称性。对于“非对称冲突”一词有很多定义，但是它们可以概括为一个普遍的思想，即冲突中的一方由于自身的失败或反对者的力量而无法通过常规手段实现其政治目标。 （即对称）军事手段。因此，实力较弱的一方会以意想不到的方式使用新的思想，武器和战术，利用突击破坏对手的相对实力（Lele，2014）。可以通过几个关键特征的框架来分析当代不对称威胁的特征，本文将对此进行描述。了解此框架，尤其是根据新出现的不对称威胁之间的技术，策略，组织结构和程序的横向转移，可能有助于更好地理解此类威胁。