According to sun tzu 1971, the ancient chinese military theorist and philosopher. The parade illustrated chinas prioritization of hightechnology systems like electronic warfare, unmanned systems, and precision guided munitions. Strategic information warfare siw clearly falls within the scope of such systems. The very nature of the actor and target, as well as the degree of asymmetry between them, is important. When chinas enemies mainly use their air forces and navies to conduct strategic information warfare, china will be in the strategic position of engaging in defensive warfare along interior lines. Office of the secretary of defense national defense research institute u. Jun 19, 2017 although strategic competition is not a new phenomenon, planning and resource processes and current u. Strategic studies quarterly spring 2017 49 the convergence of information warfare martin c. Modern warfare has been deemed war in the age of intelligent machines. The technological capacity of the information age, a more liquid use of ideology by authoritarian regimes, and the wests own difficulties in projecting democratic values have redefined the threat of propaganda. Strategic spiritual warfare by ray beeson and patricia hulsey the noise of a multitude in the mountains, like that of many people.
Sep 26, 2018 download the report information technology has reshaped international conflict. Strategic targets in the united states may be just as vulnerable to attack as intheater command, control, communications, and intelligence c3i targets. The united states needs an information warfare command. The challenge of information warfare major general wang pufeng. The rand team was joined in this study effort by senior exercise participants from the national security community and the information system and telecommunications industries. Asymmetric warfare or asymmetric engagement is war between belligerents whose relative military power differs significantly, or whose strategy or tactics differ significantly. Using this same methodology, the authors identify the defining features of strategic information warfare, discuss the implications for strategic defense, and recommend a set of potential initiatives to minimize the likelihood of a cyberspace warfare crisis. Information warfare and related ethical issues sam nitzberg. Print the changing face of warfare i nformation is altering the character of international conflict in an era of strategic competition, and the u. Strategic information warfare and postcold war strategy our exercise scenario highlighted from the start a fundamental aspect of strategic information warfare. Oct 16, 2019 many of these new systems are designed to degrade u.
The strategic goal of information warfare is then to destroy or defend the reliability honesty of communication networks. Is it a new form of conflict that owes its existence. Information warfare an overview sciencedirect topics. The strategic theory of john boyd project white horse. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, aggression, destruction, and mortality, using regular or irregular military forces. You must consciously wage war against the past and force yourself to react to the present moment. Cognitive effect and state conflict in cyberspace center. During the war in afghanistan a variety of new weapons technologies have been implemented. Information warfare and deterrence at the abstract level, the interface between these two concepts is dependent on setting the context clearly. Strategic information warfare is a very new concept. The handicap principle that governs the reliability of animal communication networks can be considered as natures version of an information warfare strategy because it is a product of natural selection.
Even before the end of the cold war there were claims that the established ways of making war were becoming obsolete. Information warfare military history oxford bibliographies. Molander download book respecting the intellectual property of others is utmost important to us, we make every effort to make sure we only link to legitimate sites, such as those sites owned by authors and publishers. The rapid expansion and integration of telecommunications technologies, computer systems and information processes has deepened and broadened the information infrastructure ii at every level of society and, in particular, in western industrialized countries. General strategic theory educates politicians and commanders broadly as to the nature, structure, and dynamic workings of the instrument to which they might have to resort. Incorporated as a notforprofit foundation in 1971, and headquartered in geneva, switzerland, the forum is tied to no political, partisan or national interests. A new face of war senior members of the national security community as well as representatives from national securityrelated telecommunications and information systems industries, the exercises led participants through a challenging hypothetical iw crisis involving a major regional politicalmilitary contingency. Information warfare is the manipulation of information trusted by a target without the targets awareness so that the target will make decisions against their interest but in the interest of the one. Strategic information warfare and defense the rma debate. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. In this paper, the eegt is introduced to the modelling of siw from a threelayer tactical, strategic and operational levels perspective. Chinas three warfares addressed by chief of naval operations greenert on the 10 th of january 2012, the center for a new american security cnas released a report examining the future of u. Strategic information warfare journal of information warfare. Is strategic information warfare really asymmetric a new.
Russian information war is not information warfare as the u. It includes multiple types of operations and has been pursued in radically different ways during different eras. Information warfare also referred to as information operations is the term used to define the concepts of 21stcentury warfare, which will be electronic and information systems driven. The conduct of war is among the most important acts of the state.
A major new factor in information war is the worldwide infosphere of television and broadcast news. The work focuses on the use of digital means and the cyberspace. Information warfare iw is a concept involving the battlespace use and management of information and communication technology ict in pursuit of a competitive advantage over an opponent. Domains of potential conflict such as outer space, the deep oceans, and the arctic all perceived as gateways to economic and strategic advantage are expanding via new technologies and materials that can overcome inhospitable conditions. In this paper, the eegt is introduced to the modelling of siw from a threelayer tactical, strategic and. The analysis covers the character of the future battlespace, the function of command, and the muchhyped concept of strategic information warfare. Pdf the nature of war in the information age download full. Although the media have paid a good deal of attention to information. Several powerful trends, including the reaction to u. Information warfare at the strategic level is the battle off the battlefield to shape the political context of the conflict. While the flaws in the new field manual would not be apparent until a decade later, the perception of a new era of warfare also motivated the adoption of field manual 1006, information operations, in 1996. Aug 08, 2016 the strategic support force will form the core of chinas information warfare force, which is central to chinas strategy of preemptive attack and asymmetric warfare. Pdf the nature of war in the information age download. The dynamism of russias information warfare is best illustrated by the fact that over the last decade it underwent at least two strategic shiftsafter the russiangeorgian war in 2008 and in 2014 when russia went from being riskaverse and stealthy to increasingly aggressive and risktaking.
A new face of war senior members of the national security community as well as representatives from national securityrelated telecommunications and information systems industries, the exercises led participants through a challenging hypothetical iw crisis involving a. Many of these new systems are designed to degrade u. Strategic information warfare reports on the findings of an exercisebased analysis of the information warfare problem. Types of information warfare the form of information warfare is the way of its exposure and it is. Relatively low entry costs mean that the diffusion of information technologies is likely to accelerate far more quickly than did nuclear or aerospace weapons. Strategic information warfare consists of attacks against, and the defense of. Old concept, new technology given the wide realm of activities that might be included under the heading of information warfare, one might conclude that it is not a new concept but rather one that can be more aggressively employed today with new technology. Chinas new military reforms seek to synthesize military preparations into a combined wartime and peacetime military footing. Information warfare is also known as cyberwarfare, electronic warfare and cyberattack. We face an integrated battlefield, not in the usual sense of having a global. Warfare refers to the common activities and characteristics of types of war, or of wars in general. The guerrillawarofthemind strategy what most often weighs you down and brings you misery is the past. The concept of four generations in the history of modern warfare was created by a team of united states analysts, including william s.
Advancing weapons technology and the future of warfare. This chapter steps back and pictorially and analytically takes a broad look at information warfare, quickly closing in on the particular dimension of strategic information warfare, explaining in greater depth why we concluded that it was both necessary and desirable to identify and analyze this new face of warfare. The progress and outcome of the war will be determined by the state of chinas advance preparations and defensive situation during the war. The trojan horse of homers the iliad is one the most well known examples of classical information warfare in literature, but military history is filled with nonfictional examples. The 1990s vision that the end of the cold war was a triumph for market democracy has proven to be an illusion. Libicki, senior fellow discussion is information war iw a nascent, perhaps embryonic art, or simply the newest version of a timehonored feature of warfare. Many military scholars have identified operation desert storm as the first information war. In the last century alone, failure in this undertaking has toppled governments and imposed hostile occupation under a conquerors rule for hundreds of millions from paris to warsaw and tokyo to jakarta. The guerrilla war of themind strategy what most often weighs you down and brings you misery is the past. Information warfare remains a nebulous subject, but this monograph offers one of the most interesting and revealing ways of thinking about it, at least in an unclassified venue. Information warfare is the tactical and strategic use of information to gain an advantage.
In the information age, information systems may serve as both weapons and targets. This is typically a war between a standing, professional army and an insurgency or resistance movement militias who often have status of unlawful combatants. However, unlike io, iw is not defined in any contemporary u. Libicki abstract if information technology trends continue and, more importantly, if other countries begin to exploit these trends, the us focus on defeating a cyberwar threat will have to evolve into a focus on defeating a broader information. A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms, of nations gathered together. This barcode number lets you verify that youre getting exactly the right version or edition of a book.
First, deterrence is always from an actor toward a target. Lind, for the purpose of an argument for the changing face of war entering into a fourth generation. Wilson and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Your enemies can fill you with purpose and direction. This is a fact first understood by computer hackers, many of whom are currently serving longterm prison sentences, precisely because of attempts to alienate confidential information. It is, rather, part of russias method of conducting hybrid warfare, which consists of a deliberate disinformation campaign supported by actions of the intelligence organs. Students will learn from major strategic thinkers to build an analytical framework that can be used to understand the interrelationship between the realms of policy, strategy, and operations. Download the report information technology has reshaped international conflict. The 21st century is seeing a new scale of media manipulation, psychological war and disinformation.
Like cyberspace, these are less wellgoverned than the familiar. These weapons technologies have created new and unique challenges to those who work in the fields of strategy, law and ethics. A short but comprehensive discussion of the central issues in information warfare, particularly defense against attacks on the myriad information systems that keep american society running, is followed by an ingenious. It is, rather, part of russias method of conducting hybrid warfare, which consists of a deliberate disinformation campaign supported by. Information warfare, while a relatively new doctrinal term in the military lexicon, is as old as warfare itself. Understanding military strategy and the four levels of war. This was the armys first attempt to address information warfare holistically and in doctrine, and, as first editions of field manuals. The challenge of information warfare major general. The world economic forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. Jun 07, 2019 the report says that information warfare takes place at the strategic level, while information operations io involve using various informationrelated capabilities to implement the strategy. Pdf with the development of the information technologies, computers and the internet have played crucial role in our life in the last decades.
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