The military profession and asymmetric warfare / Giuseppe Caforio -- Ideology and the changing shape of conflict in South Asia : an analysis of the Mumbai attacks / Riaz Ahmed Shaikh -- Prolonged, frozen, and new conflicts : a view from Russia / Vladimir Rukavishnikov -- Are covert operations the only effective (military) answer to asymmetric warriors? / Uros Svete -- Organizational effectiveness of coalition operations' headquarters : a theoretical model / Esther Vogler-Bisig ... [et al.] -- Inside UNIFIL's headquarters in Lebanon / Delphine Resteigne, Joseph Soeters -- National crisis response networks (NCRN) and military organizations : revisiting the Katrina case / Paul C. van Fenema -- Between formal and informal organization : traditions in Saint-Cyr and elected representatives of a class / Claude Weber -- Living traditions in the Swiss armed forces / Tibor Szvircsev Tresch, Natalie Schwarz, Markus Williner -- Informerphobia : understanding the 'fear factor' in crime- and terrorism-related information disclosure in Afghanistan / Joseph Soeters, Hume N. Johnson -- Recruitment and retention strategy : endogenous constraints, exogenous imperatives / Christian Leuprecht -- Recruitment and retention of military personnel in Argentina : on quantity and quality / Sabina Frederic, Agustina Ugolini -- Socialization of conscripts from a symbolic interactionist perspective / Anna Kuchenkova -- Recruitment to international military service : the officers' view / Johan Österberg, Emma Jonsson -- Conclusions and prospects : the military on their way to the future / Joseph Soeters, Gerhard Kümmel.

This collection of sociological studies on the armed forces and conflict resolution deals with three types of developments the military is facing. First, the types of conflicts in which the military finds itself have become less predictable and more erratic, and hence, ways to respond are not easy to plan and organize. Apart from regular interstate warfare, the military nowadays is increasingly prepared to cope with irregular conflicts, such as terrorist threats and attacks, peacekeeping operations and indeed - warlike missions. Second, the economic conditions of many states are weakening. Citizens demand collective resources to be spent on care and cure, not conflict, therefore the way the military organizes and uses its resources to cope with the tasks they are set becomes increasingly important. Third, in most nations the conscript system has become history, and this creates new challenges in terms of recruiting volunteer soldiers. What becomes clear from the contributions to this volume is that the armed forces have to change their view of the world, the nature of conflicts and their profession greatly. Volume 19 of Contributions to Conflict Management, Peace Economic and Development presents the argument that the armed forces face a choice that will determine their position in society in times to come.