Preparing for information‐age conflict: Part 2 doctrinal and strategic dimensions

Abstract

Across the spectrum of Information‐Age conflict, from social activism at one end to active military operations at the other, ‘swarming’ is emerging as an optimal doctrine for actualizing the potential of small, dispersed, networked groups using new information technologies. Swarms will feature a capability for ‘sustainable pulsing’ ‐ manœuvring separately, while combining on a particular object or target simultaneously, from all directions. This will be found both on battlefields, where decentralized, networked command and control will unleash the power of a BattleSwarm ‐ a possible successor to the twentieth‐century blitzkrieg form of war ‐ and in ‘global civil society’ actions, as seen in the campaign to ban landmines and in the protracted information operations to deter the Mexican government from using force against the Zapatista rebels in Chiapas. Achieving the organizational and doctrinal shifts we discuss will require unprecedented levels of information sharing. At the level of grand strategy, democratic states are advised to emphasize ‘guarded openness’ ‐ to remain open politically, economically and even militarily (to allies, especially), while creating mechanisms for guardedness as a ‘filtering system’ in order to mitigate the risks inherent in pursuing open information strategies. Improving relations between state and nonstate actors may prove a crucial challenge. Ultimately, the doctrinal and strategic ideas we raise imply calling for a ‘revolution in diplomatic affairs’ to match today's ‘revolution in military affairs’. Although power politics are not becoming obsolete, the classic model of realpolitik no longer quite fits the new realities; it will give way to what we call ‘noopolitik’ ‐ a new form of world politics in which the balance of power is superseded by the ‘balance of knowledge’.