Vietnam, Algeria, Cuba, and China: These countries were mentioned in the preface upon the first publication of the essay. They are examples of the confusing new war, the difficulty of categorizing and naming the (un)affected parties. Rwanda, Bosnia, and Chechnya are just the more prominent examples that can continue this list today. Haffner engages with the historical emergence and theory of this new type of war, guerrilla warfare, from a military-philosophical perspective: "One cannot suppress a popular resistance, where soldier and civilian, friend and foe can no longer be distinguished, with carpet bombings; rather, one fuels it.".