The Warfighter in the Twenty-First Century

Much of the discussion over military matters, including future warfare, revolves around equipment, with some attention being paid to the concept of fighting – particularly in non-Western states. In much of the West, relatively little attention is paid to those who fight and their part in force design.

To highlight this facet of future warfare, RUSI convened a conference on 23 November 2017 that sought to examine three factors that affect the human dimension of those in uniform over the coming decades: 

• How future conflicts might shape the requirement of the constituency of armed forces personnel.
• The measures needed to recruit such people.
• What measures might be necessary to successfully retain such people, or indeed if retaining skills will be essential.

The conference took place under non-attribution rules.