Asymmetric Warfare Two Can Play The Game

India is in the unique and unfortunate position of being targeted by a large number of terrorist movements with ample foreign backing. The country’s political and military leadership must employ innovative ways to meet and combat the newly evolving patterns involving non-state actors and asymmetric warfare.

- Rakesh Krishnan Simha

Around 512 BCE, Darius the king of Persia advanced with a massive army to subdue the Scythian tribesmen who were raiding his empire. Hundreds of thousands of Persian soldiers chased the Scythians through Central Asia, the Balkans and into Ukraine, but to Darius’ frustration the Scythians refused to stand and fight. Knowing they were too weak to counter the Persians in open battle, the tribesmen chose to retreat.

Herodotus wrote in his Histories that Darius became so frustrated that he sent a plaintive message to Idanthyrsus, the king of the Scythians, demanding, “You strange man, why do you keep on flying before me. Come, let us engage in battle.”

Idanthyrsus sent back a disdainful reply: “That is my way, Persian. We Scythians have neither towns nor cultivated lands, which might induce us, through fear of their being taken or ravaged, to be in any hurry to fight with you. We shall not join battle, unless it pleases us.”

The exchange between the two rulers illustrates the wide chasm that separates regular armies from their irregular foes who pursue asymmetric warfare. Darius, who had a large empire to administer back home, decided to turn back his armies rather than waste time and energy chasing the Scythians. Meanwhile, the tribesmen continued to raid the extremities of the Persian Empire.

Asymmetry in the modern era