Heroism And The Changing Character Of War: Toward Post-Heroic Warfare?

Post-heroism is often perceived as one of the main aspects of change in the character of war. Large parts of the contemporary strategic discourse rest on the assumption that war today is no longer fuelled by heroic motivations, and does not produce any popular public heroes, particularly in western democracies. Willingness to kill or die for the cause of one's socio-political community appears to be either a phenomenon of an historical stage that western states have long left behind, or an indicator of nationalistic or religious fanaticism. This is what has been described as the 'post-heroic condition' of western societies. According to this view, demographic and cultural changes in the west have severely decreased the tolerance for casualties in war. This edited volume provides a critical examination of this idea.