NCJ Number
191421
Editor(s)
Alan D. Campen,
Douglas H. Dearth
Date Published
October 2000
Length
313 pages
Annotation
This book focuses on essays regarding the human factors of modern conflict and information warfare.
Abstract
The last half of the century featured advances in conventional weaponry, such that today conventional munitions and their application rival the possible devastation of nuclear arms. But war is not about technology and weapons, but about people. War is about policy; the expression of the wants, needs, and fears of the people. Information technology and communications technologies are creating at least four significant effects on warfare. Imbedded technology has already changed the nature of conventional weapons and supporting systems. New technology will create further new capabilities, as the escalatory process of capability and counter-threat continues. New technology will create new venues of conflict and combat. And new technology will create new values to be defended and attacked. Traditional warfare concentrated on the battlefield, which was conceptually and physically a two-dimensional arena – on either land or sea. The advent of longer-range weapons systems expanded the dimensional aspects, but the impact zone was again a two-dimensional problem. Space-based surveillance capabilities and reconnaissance was still concentrated mostly on conflict space that was thought of as essentially two-dimensional. Further developments in communications technology over time have added importance to the fourth dimension: that of time. The “information space” must now be a primary concern for military, political, and economic security. The digital capabilities provided by the information and communications revolutions will mean new values to be fought over. The issue of human factors is important in each of four aspects: the human user of technology, the human target of technology, human communications, and human values. For related chapters see NCJ-191422-431. Index