Abstract
This article considers the unique threat of information warfare and the challenges posed to defense establishments in democratic states that are typically legally limited in their ability to operate in domestic affairs. This author argues that military strategy on information warfare must be informed by understanding the systems of social and political function being targeted by foreign adversaries. Looking to theories of political communication, the author locates such understanding in describing democracies as information systems whose functionality resides in the countervailing operation of key social forces. Defense establishments would do well to develop greater analytic capacity for prediction of attack based on such societal—rather than strategic—factors and incorporate these predictions into efforts to shape adversary behavior in cyberspace, the primary medium via which information warfare is prosecuted today.
Highlights
This article considers the unique threat of information warfare and the challenges posed to defense establishments in democratic states that are typically legally limited in their ability to operate in domestic affairs
This article considers the unique threat of information warfare and the singular challenges posed to defense establishments in democratic states that, while tasked to secure national interests and ensure the integrity of the polity, are typically legally limited in their ability to operate in domestic affairs
Even more so than has been true with the pivot toward greater effectiveness in defining the mission of national militaries that are increasingly operating in the cyber domain, the specter of broad-scoped influence operations dictates an expansion of the national security enterprise that can be difficult to onboard
Summary
This article considers the unique threat of information warfare and the challenges posed to defense establishments in democratic states that are typically legally limited in their ability to operate in domestic affairs. This article considers the unique threat of information warfare and the singular challenges posed to defense establishments in democratic states that, while tasked to secure national interests and ensure the integrity of the polity, are typically legally limited in their ability to operate in domestic affairs.
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