In Athena's Camp

In Athena's Camp PDF Author: John Arquilla
Publisher: Rand Corporation
ISBN: 0833048589
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 529

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Book Description
The information revolution--which is as much an organizational as a technological revolution--is transforming the nature of conflict across the spectrum: from open warfare, to terrorism, crime, and even radical social activism. The era of massed field armies is passing, because the new information and communications systems are increasing the lethality of quite small units that can call in deadly, precise missile fire almost anywhere, anytime. In social conflicts, the Internet and other media are greatly empowering individuals and small groups to influence the behavior of states. Whether in military or social conflicts, all protagonists will soon be developing new doctrines, strategies, and tactics for swarming their opponents--with weapons or words, as circumstances require. Preparing for conflict in such a world will require shifting to new forms of organization, particularly the versatile, hardy, all-channel network. This shift will prove difficult for states and professional militaries that remain bastions of hierarchy, bound to resist institutional redesign. They will make the shift as they realize that information and knowledge are becoming the key elements of power. This implies, among other things, that Mars, the old brute-force god of war, must give way to Athena, the well-armed goddess of wisdom. Accepting Athena as the patroness of this information age represents a first step not only for preparing for future conflicts, but also for preventing them.

In Athena's Camp

In Athena's Camp PDF Author: John Arquilla
Publisher: Rand Corporation
ISBN: 0833048589
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 529

Get Book

Book Description
The information revolution--which is as much an organizational as a technological revolution--is transforming the nature of conflict across the spectrum: from open warfare, to terrorism, crime, and even radical social activism. The era of massed field armies is passing, because the new information and communications systems are increasing the lethality of quite small units that can call in deadly, precise missile fire almost anywhere, anytime. In social conflicts, the Internet and other media are greatly empowering individuals and small groups to influence the behavior of states. Whether in military or social conflicts, all protagonists will soon be developing new doctrines, strategies, and tactics for swarming their opponents--with weapons or words, as circumstances require. Preparing for conflict in such a world will require shifting to new forms of organization, particularly the versatile, hardy, all-channel network. This shift will prove difficult for states and professional militaries that remain bastions of hierarchy, bound to resist institutional redesign. They will make the shift as they realize that information and knowledge are becoming the key elements of power. This implies, among other things, that Mars, the old brute-force god of war, must give way to Athena, the well-armed goddess of wisdom. Accepting Athena as the patroness of this information age represents a first step not only for preparing for future conflicts, but also for preventing them.

In Athena's Camp; Preparing for a Conflict in the Information Age

In Athena's Camp; Preparing for a Conflict in the Information Age PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
We have been posing our ideas about conflict in the information age for some years now, beginning in 1991 with our original ruminations about cyberwar, then about netwar, and lately about 'information strategy.' With each step, we have kept returning to a favorite set of themes; organization is as crucial as technology in understanding the information revolution; this revolution is giving rise to network forms of organization; and the rise of networks will continue to accrue power to nonstate actors, more than to states, until states adapt by learning to remold their hierarchies into hybrids that incorporate network design elements. Meanwhile, we have kept our eyes on emerging trends in conflict from the end of the Persian Gulf War, through recent developments in places like Chechnya and Chiapas to further our understanding that the context and conduct of conflict is changing from one end of the spectrum to the other. New modes of war, terrorism, crime, and even radical activism are all these emerging from similar information age dynamics? If so, what is the best preparation for responding to such modes? When the subject is warfare, for example, it is common wisdom that militaries tend to prepare for the last war, and there is much historical evidence to support this notion. Today, however, it is clear that defense establishments around the world, and especially in the United States, are thinking about how war will change, how the 'revolution in military affairs' (RMA) will unfold, and how the next war may well be quite different from the last. Whether the focus is warfare, terrorism, crime, or social conflict, we have striven to anticipate what the spectrum of future wars and other types of conflicts will look like. If our approach proves correct, then perhaps this volume can help defense planners prepare for the next war instead of the last.

In Athena's Camp; Preparing for a Conflict in the Information Age

In Athena's Camp; Preparing for a Conflict in the Information Age PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 516

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Book Description
We have been posing our ideas about conflict in the information age for some years now, beginning in 1991 with our original ruminations about cyberwar, then about netwar, and lately about 'information strategy.' With each step, we have kept returning to a favorite set of themes; organization is as crucial as technology in understanding the information revolution; this revolution is giving rise to network forms of organization; and the rise of networks will continue to accrue power to nonstate actors, more than to states, until states adapt by learning to remold their hierarchies into hybrids that incorporate network design elements. Meanwhile, we have kept our eyes on emerging trends in conflict from the end of the Persian Gulf War, through recent developments in places like Chechnya and Chiapas to further our understanding that the context and conduct of conflict is changing from one end of the spectrum to the other. New modes of war, terrorism, crime, and even radical activism are all these emerging from similar information age dynamics? If so, what is the best preparation for responding to such modes? When the subject is warfare, for example, it is common wisdom that militaries tend to prepare for the last war, and there is much historical evidence to support this notion. Today, however, it is clear that defense establishments around the world, and especially in the United States, are thinking about how war will change, how the 'revolution in military affairs' (RMA) will unfold, and how the next war may well be quite different from the last. Whether the focus is warfare, terrorism, crime, or social conflict, we have striven to anticipate what the spectrum of future wars and other types of conflicts will look like. If our approach proves correct, then perhaps this volume can help defense planners prepare for the next war instead of the last.

The Nature of War in the Information Age

The Nature of War in the Information Age PDF Author: David J. Lonsdale
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135757216
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 285

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Book Description
There has been a great deal of speculation recently concerning the likely impact of the 'Information Age' on warfare. In this vein, much of the Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) literature subscribes to the idea that the Information Age will witness a transformation in the very nature of war. In this book, David Lonsdale puts that notion to the test. Using a range of contexts, the book sets out to look at whether the classical Clausewitzian theory of the nature of war will retain its validity in this new age. The analysis covers the character of the future battlespace, the function of command, and the much-hyped concept of Strategic Information Warfare. Finally, the book broadens its perspective to examine the nature of 'Information Power' and its implications for geopolitics. Through an assessment of both historical and contemporary case studies (including the events following September 11 and the recent war in Iraq), the author concludes that although the future will see many changes to the conduct of warfare, the nature of war, as given theoretical form by Clausewitz, will remain essentially unchanged.

Information Warfare in Business

Information Warfare in Business PDF Author: Iain Munro
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134299850
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description
This book illustrates the relations between information technology and organization, and in particular, between business organizations and the recent revolution in military affairs that has been called 'information warfare'.

Conflict in Cyber Space

Conflict in Cyber Space PDF Author: Karsten Friis
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317365429
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 204

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Book Description
Adopting a multidisciplinary perspective, this book explores the key challenges associated with the proliferation of cyber capabilities. Over the past two decades, a new man-made domain of conflict has materialized. Alongside armed conflict in the domains of land, sea, air, and space, hostilities between different types of political actors are now taking place in cyberspace. This volume addresses the challenges posed by cyberspace hostility from theoretical, political, strategic and legal perspectives. In doing so, and in contrast to current literature, cyber-security is analysed through a multidimensional lens, as opposed to being treated solely as a military or criminal issues, for example. The individual chapters map out the different scholarly and political positions associated with various key aspects of cyber conflict and seek to answer the following questions: do existing theories provide sufficient answers to the current challenges posed by conflict in cyberspace, and, if not, could alternative approaches be developed?; how do states and non-state actors make use of cyber-weapons when pursuing strategic and political aims?; and, how does the advent of conflict in cyberspace challenge our established legal framework? By asking important strategic questions on the theoretical, strategic, ethical and legal implications and challenges of the proliferation of cyber warfare capabilities, the book seeks to stimulate research into an area that has hitherto been neglected. This book will be of much interest to students of cyber-conflict and cyber-warfare, war and conflict studies, international relations, and security studies.

New Political Religions, Or an Analysis of Modern Terrorism

New Political Religions, Or an Analysis of Modern Terrorism PDF Author: Barry Cooper
Publisher: University of Missouri Press
ISBN: 9780826216212
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
While terrorism has been used throughout the ages as a weapon in political struggles, there is an essential difference between groups who use these tactics for more or less rational political goals and those seeking more apocalyptic ends. Cooper argues that today's terrorists have a spiritual perversity that causes them to place greater significance on killing than on exploiting political grievances. He supports his assertion with an analysis of two groups that share the characteristics of a pneumopathological consciousness - Anum Shinrikyo, the terrorist organization that poisoned thousands of Tokyo subway riders in 1995, and Al-Qaeda, the group behind the infamous 9/11 killings.

Human Rights in an Information Age

Human Rights in an Information Age PDF Author: Gregory J. Walters
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
ISBN: 9780802085504
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 364

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Book Description
CONTENTS.

Nuclear Weapons in the Information Age

Nuclear Weapons in the Information Age PDF Author: Stephen J. Cimbala
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1441126848
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
In today's information age, the coexistence of nuclear weapons with advanced conventional weapons and information-based concepts of warfare is a military contradiction. Nuclear deterrence was initially predicated on geopolitical, military, and technical assumptions. These were based on Cold War politics, rational deterrence theory, the concept of mutual vulnerability, and the fact that information and technology diffusion were limited. Today, however, far from being obsolete, nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction have not only survived, but have become weapons for states that face security threats, including perceived threats of nuclear blackmail, or expectation of conflicts. This study focuses on this unplanned coexistence of two distinct arts of war, including the possibility that states like the U.S. may be held hostage to nuclear blackmail by “outlier” regimes or terrorists, such as North Korea. It shows that restricting nuclear proliferation should still be on the agenda of policymakers, and calls for a revitalized global nonproliferation regime. This unique survey by a leading expert will appeal to anyone interested in arms control, nuclear proliferation, and defense policy.

International Relations and Security in the Digital Age

International Relations and Security in the Digital Age PDF Author: Johan Eriksson
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134143826
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 251

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Book Description
This book examines the impact of the information revolution on international and domestic security, attempting to remedy both the lack of theoretically informed analysis of information security and the US-centric tendency in the existing literature. International Relations and Security in the Digital Age covers a range of topics, including: critical infrastructure protection, privacy issues, international cooperation, cyber terrorism, and security policy. It aims to analyze the impact of the information revolution on international and domestic security; examine what existing international relations theories can say about this challenge; and discuss how international relations theory can be developed to better meet this challenge. The analysis suggests that Liberalism’s focus on pluralism, interdependence and globalization, Constructivism’s emphasis on language, symbols and images (including ‘virtuality’), and some elements of Realist strategic studies (on the specific topic of information warfare) contribute to a better understanding of digital age security. This book will be of interest to students of security studies, globalization, international relations, and politics and technology.