Cyberwar and Nuclear Crisis Management: Implications for Civil-Military Relations

This chapter considers pertinent concepts, policy related dilemmas and their implications for civil-military relations. The literature and the US government already offer a rich menu of definitions for important cyber-related concepts, including cyberspace and cyber power. Information warfare can include both cyber war and net war. Cyber war, according to John Aquila and David Ronfeldt, is a comprehensive, information-based approach to battle, normally discussed in terms of high-intensity or mid-intensity conflicts. Crisis management, including nuclear crisis management, is both a competitive and cooperative endeavor between military adversaries. Infowar can also destroy or disrupt communication channels necessary for successful crisis management. The objective of infowar in conventional warfare is to deny enemy forces battlespace awareness and to obtain dominant awareness for on self, as the United States largely was able to do in the Gulf War of 1991. In addition, cyber technology and information related concepts are becoming the critical enablers for everything else related to deterrence, war and preparations for war.