Cyber Warfare: New Character with Strategic Results
Abstract
The advent of cyber warfare has sparked a debate amongst theorists as to whether timeless Clausewitzian principles remain true in the 21st century. Violence, uncertainty, and rationality still accurately depict the nature of cyber warfare, however, its many defining attributes and means by which this style of warfare is conducted has definitively changed the character of war. Although cyber warfare is contested in the cyber domain, it often creates kinetic effects of strategic value. This statement is especially true as societies become more and more dependent on the integration of cyberspace in governance, economies, and critical services. While the strategic effectiveness of cyber warfare is untested, computer network attack is capable of attacking enemy centers of gravity through critical vulnerabilities. In conflicts with limited strategic end-states, cyber warfare has the potential to bend the will of an enemy and create decisive strategic effects within the confines of the cyber domain.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA589312
Entities
People
- James B. Dermer
Organizations
- United States Army War College