Sociology Compass, 2008

This article observes high levels of anxiety about war in the present era, although wars are in decline. It addresses this paradox by distinguishing ideal-typical features of Industrial and Information War. Industrial War is fought predominantly between states over territory, harnesses industry and the military, and requires mass mobilisation of people as well as resources. Information War is the prerogative of a few advanced societies and has emerged in a context that has enabled the extension of market practices on a global scale (with America as a unipolar power). Information War transcends frontiers, is asymmetrical, and its hard side is manifest in digitalised technologies and small professional forces. However, its soft side evokes the expanded and fast-changing information environment of globalised media, trans-national networks and the Internet. Through these, media wars can be experienced intensely by civilians who are otherwise untouched: at once close up and far away. This contributes to heightened consciousness of war, although such spectators are removed from danger. Although interests try to control information flows from and about war, the information environment is huge, shifting and unpredictable. As such, it is impossible to control fully, thereby presenting opportunities for vigorous symbolic struggles involving anti-war campaigners and others.

Parameters, 2016

ABSTRACT: The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has sophisticated propaganda capabilities and expertise that can be turned against it. The United States should draw upon its expertise in political communication and psychological operations as well as adapt Russian precepts of operational shock and reflexive control to complement traditional military approaches. ********** The requirements for defeating the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have many facets: a coherent policy, a confluent political strategy, traditional military and kinetic operations, and effective information warfare (TW) strategies. Despite their dominant role in ISIL's playbook, IW strategies are too often ignored. The group has used information warfare to expand its battlespace beyond the borders of Syria and Iraq to every television set on the planet--reaching anyone with Internet access. (1) American IW response must be as aggressive and strategic as kinetic military operations. Congres...

Journal of War and Culture Studies

2004

Pacific Focus, 2006

The proponents of Information War (IW) have mesmerized the public during recent years on the effectiveness and utility of this new style of warfare that 'system of systems', the network of sensors, cornmunication and precision weapons, will bring power to achieve dominant battlespace knowledge, near-perfect mission assignment, and immediate battlespace assessment which will lift the fog of war and bring victory home. However, the War in Iraq since April 2003 has delivered a sobering and salutary reminder that this is a seductive illusion. The actual practice of IW is tricky to pull ofSat the operational-tactical level; there have been some real achievements nonetheless. On the Strategic level, however, the results are bad. Judging from the state of the current War on Terror, the insurgents are as adept as the West in waging IW, as they methodically employ unconventional 'asymmetric ' tactics, manipulate media and make their opponent bleed. It is not only the West which can 197 198 /Pacific Focus that the West is actually much good at this aspect of warjiare in the strategic arena that really counts. While IW offers great advantages in information-driven battlefield, there should be a realization the actual victory cannot be achieved with information alone especially on the strategic level. This is the dilemma which West has to address, in particular, in future struggles against unconventional opponents.

Sait Yılmaz (editor), National Defense Debates at the threshold of the XXIth Century , 2009

https://ivorytower.hypotheses.org, 2018

This is the blog post from https://ivorytower.hypotheses.org/56#more-56 slightly reformatted for printing, "published" in this form here by request.

2020

Naval War College Review, 2022