The future of war will be dictated by the civil-military integration. The core instrumentality of threat and use of force to achieve political outcomes have changed since the end of the Cold War, and the difference between war and conflict is changing the way the confrontations and crisis are being engineered and handled. Emerging threats are exploiting new technologies and finding new uses for the old one. Similarly, the practitioners of defence are finding new methods to engage in sub-threshold warfare using non-contact warfare. Thus, a much wider array of agencies are now involved in the development and implementation of national security policy; a whole-of-government effort might better define the instruments of power.

Non-Contact Warfare tries to demystify the titular term, and explores the labyrinth of development post-World War II. The COVID-19 pandemic has precipitated a crisis where immediate confrontations may not happen. Disruption, denial, distortion, disempowerment, destabilisation and destruction are few themes that the world is likely to witness as the dominance strategy using non-contact warfare gets unfolded.