It's the Message, Stupid: The Rise, Power and Implication of Information and Technology in 21st Century Warfare
Abstract
Some theorists claim that technology has so altered the levels of war -- the strategic, the operational, and the tactical -- to the point that the differences between them are no longer significant. As numerous observers have pointed out, long-held principles on the formulation and conduct of war, almost all of which are grounded in the Industrial or pre-Industrial Age, chafe against new realities attendant to the Information Age and the current operational environment. During another era in the evolution of warfare, Clausewitz observed that "very few of the new manifestations in war can be attributed to new inventions or departures in ideas...they result mainly from the transformation of society and new social conditions." What is interesting about his 19th century formulation is that now, at the cusp of the Information Age, we arguably find ourselves at a point that Clausewitz could scarcely have imagined. That is a point at which both the impact of new technology (i.e., the Internet, modern communications, precision weaponry, and WMD) and societal transformation (i.e., globalization and the rise of nonstate transnational actors) are simultaneously driving changes in the conceptualization of warfare. Clausewitz did not have it wrong. What he could not have foreseen in the early 19th century was the unique historical intersection of epic technological change and societal transformation away from the nation-state as a defining construct, both as a means of political identity and as the principal protagonist on both sides of conflict. As part of that epic technological change, he further could not have foreseen the near-instantaneous movement of information across traditional national boundaries as well as the proliferation of that information such that it has a profound political effect. The impacts of technological innovation have reduced, but not eliminated or forced change to, the distinctions between the tactical, operational, or strategic levels of war.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 23, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA463639
Entities
People
- Keith B. Hauk
Organizations
- Naval War College