Air Power in the Age of Primacy : Air Warfare Since the Cold War

Since the end of the Cold War the United States and other major powers have wielded their air forces against much weaker state and non-state actors. In this age of primacy, air wars have been contests between unequals and characterized by asymmetries of power, interest, and technology.  This volume examines ten contemporary wars where air power played a major and at times decisive role. Its chapters explore the evolving use of unmanned aircraft against global terrorist organizations as well as more conventional air conflicts in Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Yemen, Syria, and against ISIS. Air superiority could be assumed in this unique and brief period where the international system was largely absent great power competition. However, the reliable and unchallenged employment of a spectrum of manned and unmanned technologies permitted in the age of primacy may not prove effective in future conflicts.

Phil Haun, PhD, is a retired US Air Force colonel and decorated A-10 pilot with combat tours over Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq. His previous books are Lectures of the Air Corps Tactical School (2019) and Coercion, Survival, & War: Why Weak States Resist the United States (2015). He is the Dean of Academics at the US Naval War College.

Colin Jackson, PhD, held the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia (2017–2019). He has published in International Security, Journal of Strategic Studies, and Political Science Quarterly. He is the Chair of the Strategic and Operational Research Department at the US Naval War College.

Tim Schultz, PhD, is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and formerly the Dean of the USAF's School of Advanced Air and Space Studies and a U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance pilot. He is also the author of The Problem with Pilots: How Physicians, Engineers, and Airpower Enthusiasts Redefined Flight (2018). He is the Associate Dean of Academics at the US Naval War College.