Seely: The New Total War 2025

Bob Seely: The New Total War 2025
“Russian warfare has become the global discussion point in recent years, sparked by the devastating scale of the fighting in Ukraine and the Kremlin’s threats of conflict, including nuclear conflict. Bob Seely’s book, The New Total War, tells the story of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s Russia’s war against Ukraine and Western states, from child abduction to cyberattacks and drones to disinformation and total media saturation with propaganda, lies and mis-information".
“BOB SEELY - The New Total War  2025
In his talk, Bob will explain the three stages of Russian war, its key characteristics and what Putin thinks is the founding principle of modern conflict. He will show why Russia’s new way of way is a guide as to how authoritarian states the world over will challenge the West for global supremacy using both military and non-military methods. This book is, therefore, a warning of the style of conflict that will be waged against the West to undermine our beliefs, our power and our influence.
The New Total War is the essential guide to how Russia fights against not only Ukraine but the West as well. It is for anyone who wants to understand how conflict in our world is evolving.”
https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/isle-of-wight-literary-festival/bob-seely-the-new-total-war/2025-10-11/d-zvqmoysygvlwq

Bob Seely’s book is a very thorough, very readable, analysis of the Russian invasion and war in Ukraine - it covers psychological, religious and cultural warfare, as well as digital or cyber-warfare, new weaponry, new tactics, political strategies, demoralisation, sabotage, child-capture and all the other international war crimes Russia is committing against Ukraine and by extension threatening Europe with too.
I kept thinking, leafing through (scoping) this book, of the last time the UK was engaged in Total War - back in World War Two - and of all the unconventional ways we invented and responded with back then - think of the SOE (Special Operations Executive), Bouncing Bombs, Cockleshell Heroes, Commandos, LRDG (Long Range Desert Group), Popski’s private Army, SBS (Special Boat Service), SAS (Special Air Service), Combined Operations, Sefton Delmer’s ingenious antiNazi radio propaganda (Soldatensender Calais), Q Ships, LayForce, - and many others - the Chindits, the Telemark commandos, Operation Mincemeat…etc. Would we be as enterprising now? I wonder. I hope so.

Your task here is to illustrate the variety of possible Total War Now - What does it mean? What does it mean in UK Defence-planning - how do you illustrate this in performance?