War in the Information Age
Abstract
We are beginning to realize the emergence of a new age--the information age. The full dimensions of this new age are unknown. The authors argue that enough is known to conclude that the conduct of war in the future will be profoundly different. Paradoxically, however, they claim that the nature of war will remain basically the same. When societies and states changed from an agrarian base to an industrial base, the way they made war also changed. Industrial nations furnished their armies with tools very different from those produced by agrarian nations: the machine gun, steam and petroleum powered engines, the railroad, telegraph, radios, aircraft, and much more. Furthermore, industrial armies changed in organization. Their leadership requirements were different and they developed new operational concepts. The nature of war, however, did not change. In spite of the 'new' industrial technology, war remained a human endeavor and very much as Carl von Clausewitz described it in the early 18th century. The root causes of war also stayed the same. People, whether heads of states or leaders of other kinds of groups, still started wars as a result of 'nonrational' considerations. The authors of this study suggest that today we stand at what many consider the threshold of the information age, an age that has already begun to transform the conduct of warfare just as the industrial age did earlier. New weapons systems, organizations, and operational concepts will emerge, just as they did in response to industrialism. No one knows the full details of what the information age will bring, but the authors demonstrate that the future is sufficiently clear to move the Army in the right direction.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 06, 1994
- Accession Number
- ADA281097
Entities
People
- Gordon R. Sullivan
- James M. Dubik
Organizations
- United States Army War College