War in the information age: International law, self‐defense, and the problem of ‘non‐armed’ attacks

Abstract

The end of the Cold War and the unprecedented pace of technological change have resulted in a plethora of non‐traditional threats to US national security. Indeed, the United States now faces some ‘non‐traditional’ military threats that may exploit its vulnerabilities as a nation whose domestic strength is founded on an information‐based economy. While international law supports the right of the United States to act, within limits, in self‐defense against deliberate, aggressive, hostile attacks; some would argue that ‘non‐armed’ assaults, such as some forms of information warfare, may not manifest themselves in such a way for a nation to claim the right of self‐defense. The work argues that international law and custom, suggest that the United States has the right to take action, even military action to defend itself against ‘non‐armed’ attacks and that attacks against the US National Information Infrastructure would require such a response. Specifically, the article addresses the question: under what conditions would pre‐emptive action be justified when non‐armed, yet deliberate, aggressive and hostile action is taken against the United States.