Energizing the Trinity: Operational Implications of Warfare in the Age of Information Technology
Abstract
This monograph examines the cumulative effect which improvements in information technology have had at the operational level of war. Specifically, it uses the Clausewitzian theory of war to analyze how modern methods of information processing and communication increase the influence of national policy in military operations. The monograph is introduced with a brief survey of the ways in which both the international political economy and military operations have changed as a result of the Third Industrial Revolution of high technology. It goes on to show that innovations in military and information technology have dramatically changed the manifestations of modem war. The question of whether the doctrine of extremes is flexible enough to accommodate these changes in information technology is then posed. A thorough review of the trinity of war follows the introduction and establishes the theoretical foundation for the argument. A brief examination of the convergence of weapons and information technology shows that war has adapted to the dominant features of the Information Age, creating a technological trinity of post-industrial warfare. Chaos theory is then introduced as a means to provide insight into the transformed manifestations of modem war. Information technology, Clausewitz, Communications technology, Chaos theory.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 14, 1993
- Accession Number
- ADA274442
Entities
People
- John K. Stoner
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College