Symmetry and Asymmetry in Colonial Warfare ca. 1400–2000

The Uses of a Concept

Why should we study colonial wars, and why specifically the usage of asymmetric warfare in colonial wars? Dierk Walter argues that the study of asymmetric colonial warfare will help us understand some of the present developments of warfare. He also convincingly argues that symmetric Clausewitzian warfare really is the exception in history, and that the asymmetric warfare is the normal.