Essays about conflict in the information age that show how the information revolution is altering the nature of conflict.

In Athena's Camp: Preparing for Conflict in the Information Age

John Arquilla

David Ronfeldt

Reference

RAND Corporation

Traces the recent evolution of international terrorism against civilian and U.S. military targets, looks ahead to where terrorism is going, and assesses how it might be contained. The authors consider the threat of information-based terrorism and of weapons of mass destruction, with an emphasis on how changes in the sources and nature of terrorism may affect the use of unconventional terror. The authors propose counterterrorism strategies that address the growing problem of homeland defense.

Countering the New Terrorism

Engineering & Transportation

Lesser, Ian O.

Brian Michael Jenkins

Bruce Hoffman

Michele Zanini

Engineering

This study discusses the opportunities that may be raised by the emergence of noopolitik ranging from construction of noosphere to recommendations.

The Emergence of Noopolitik: Toward an American Information Strategy (1999) (Rand Monograph Report)

History

Military

Swarming is a seemingly amorphous, but deliberately structured, coordinated, strategic way to perform military strikes from all directions. It employs a sustainable pulsing of force and/or fire that is directed from both close-in and stand-off positions. It will work best—perhaps it will only work—if it is designed mainly around the deployment of myriad, small, dispersed, networked maneuver units. This calls for an organizational redesign—involving the creation of platoon-like pods joined in company-like clusters—that would keep but retool the most basic military unit structures. It is similar to the corporate redesign principle of flattening, which often removes or redesigns middle layers of management. This has proven successful in the ongoing revolution in business affairs and may prove equally useful in the military realm.

Swarming and the Future of Conflict

Netwar―like cyberwar―describes a new spectrum of conflict that is emerging in the wake of the information revolution. What distinguished netwar is the networked organizational structure of its practitioners and their quickness in coming together in swarming attacks. To confront this new type of conflict, it is crucial for governments, military, and law enforcement to begin networking themselves.

Networks and Netwars: The Future of Terror, Crime, and Militancy

Computers & Technology

Certification

Despite staggering defense costs, the U.S. military has not learned how to confront terrorist and insurgent networks. Traditional thinking and special interests have concentrated on potentially outdated systems, like aircraft carriers and heavily armored vehicles. Our ability to wage irregular warfare against networked forces has been stunted. Meanwhile other nations have innovated and developed techniques that will surpass the capabilities of the hidebound American armed forces.... Worst Enemy offers an inside analysis of the events that have derailed our efforts to transform the nation's military into a leaner, lighter, and much more "networked" force. Mr. Arquilla places these events in historical context and assesses Donald Rumsfeld's role as secretary of defense of the post-9/11 era.

Worst Enemy: The Reluctant Transformation of the American Military

Americas

Ivan R. Dee, Publisher

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Books by John Arquilla