Ideas As Weapons Influencepercept

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The United States has struggled to define its approach to what has been termed the 'information battlefield' since the dawn of the information era. Yet with the outbreak of the war on terrorism, the United States is being violently challenged to takea position and react to militants' use of emerging information technology. Ideological demigods operating against the United States now have unprecedented channels by which to disseminate their message to those uncertain, sympathetic, or actively engaged in their philosophy. From the caves of southeastern Afghanistan to the streets of Baghdad, 'the message' has dominated the thinking of those who perpetrate horrific acts of violence, whether in the name of ideology, ethnic and sectarian partisanship, or religion. This book seeks to illuminate the uses of information in armed conflict by juxtaposing the views of those who engage in manipulating information against the historic context. The anthology is divided into four sections: geopolitical, strategic, operational, and tactical. The geopolitical perspective is that dominated by world politics, diplomacy, and the elements of national power excluding military force. The strategic view examines where the violence has begun and the military element of power that has become a major contributing factor. The operational perspective handles the campaigns to accomplish a specific purpose on the world stage - for example, the Iraq campaign. Finally, the tactical level takes into account the individual and the individual clashes within the campaigns at issue. Because the nexus of informationconflict is most easily viewed in the world's contemporary violent confrontations, this anthology is heavily weighted toward military personnel who have managed these difficult issues.