ubiwar . conflict in n dimensions

John Robb on Cyberwar

Posted in ubiwar by Tim Stevens on August 16th, 2008

Robb does a great job of defining what it is, why they can do it, and why we can’t. A must read.

3 Responses to 'John Robb on Cyberwar'

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  1. M said, on August 17th, 2008 at 1:21 am

    And the graphic’s pretty cool, too…

  2. betz451 said, on August 19th, 2008 at 2:28 pm

    Thanks for the steer to this article, Tim. Very good. I fail to see, however, why we can’t do it too.

  3. Tim Stevens said, on August 19th, 2008 at 2:37 pm

    I guess Robb’s thesis is that we could but we lack the institutional flexibility to do so. That derives as much from an unwillingness to change, as from an inability to do so in a manner rapid enough to make a real difference. It’s the open source element that is critical - how do states embrace the power of open source? Well, in ways that ‘we’ might deem unethical, as Robb describes, and which fall outside traditional, legal definitions of war, including declarations of such.

    Such thinking underpins much of John Robb’s work: if states are going to develop suitable and effective capacities for counter-action they might have to, one, learn from their adversaries and, two, prepare to get their hands dirty. Not too dissimilar from modern COIN doctrine, really, but boots on the ground is still a lot easier to conceptualise than bits in the ether, manipulated by unseen hands…

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