Networks and Netwars: The Future of Terror, Crime and Militancy
Book Introduction:\ \ The fight for the future makes daily headlines. Its battles are not between the armies of leading states, nor are its weapons the large, expensive tanks, planes and fleets of regular armed forces. Rather, the combatants come from bomb-making terrorist groups like Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda, drug smuggling cartels like those in Colombia and Mexico, and militant anarchists like the Black Bloc that ran amok during the Battle of Seattle. Other protagonists are civil-society...
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Netwar--like cyberwar--describes a new spectrum of conflict that is emerging in the wake of the information revolution. Netwar includes conflicts waged, on the one hand, by terrorists, criminals, gangs, and ethnic extremists; and by civil-society activists (such as cyber activists or WTO protestors) on the other. What distinguishes netwar is the networked organizational structure of its practitioners--with many groups actually being leaderless--and their quickness in coming together in swarming attacks. To confront this new type of conflict, it is crucial for governments, military, and law enforcement to begin networking themselves. Army Magazine Excellent text for many reading audiences: social scientists, computer scientists, policy makers, military leaders or anyone interested in emerging threats.
Networks and Netwars\ The Future of Terror, Crime, and Militancy \ \ Rand Corporation\ Copyright © 2001 John Arquilla\ All right reserved.\ ISBN: 9780833030306 \ \ \ \ Preface\ The fight for the future makes daily headlines. Its battles are not between the armies of leading states, nor are its weapons the large, expensive tanks, planes, and fleets of regular armed forces. Rather, the combatants come from bomb-making terrorist groups like Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda, drug smuggling cartels like those in Colombia and Mexico, and militant anarchists like the Black Bloc that ran amok during the Battle of Seattle. Other protagonists are civil-society activists fighting for democracy and human rights-from Burma to the Balkans. What all have in common is that they operate in small, dispersed units that can deploy nimbly-anywhere, anytime. They know how to penetrate and disrupt, as well as elude and evade. All feature network forms of organization, doctrine, strategy, and technology attuned to the information age. And, from the Intifadah to the drug war, they are proving very hard to beat; some may actually be winning. This is the story we tell. \ This book also provides a further step in the elaboration of our ideas about how and why the information revolution is affecting the whole spectrum of conflict. Our notion of cyberwar (1993) focused on the military domain, and our first study of netwar (1996) on irregular modes of conflict, including terror, crime, and militant social activism. The implications of these concepts for organization, doctrine, and technology across the spectrum of conflict were further elaborated in our book, In Athena's Camp (1997). More recently, we noted that many activists who practice netwar are helping to create a new approach to strategy and diplomacy that we call noopolitik (1999). Next, we expanded on our idea that swarming (2000) will emerge as a 21st-century doctrine that will encompass and enliven both cyberwar and netwar. Here, we offer new analysis about netwar. The analysis includes case studies about terrorists, criminals, and gangs; social netwars in Burma, Mexico, and Seattle; and closing chapters on some of the technological, organizational, and doctrinal dynamics of netwar.\ U.S. policymakers and strategists will be interested in this book. It should also interest analysts in academia and research institutes concerned with how the information revolution is altering the nature of conflict.\ This book was prepared for a project on "Networks and Netwars," directed by John Arquilla and David Ronfeldt. The project was sponsored by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence), OASD/C3I, and was conducted within the International Security and Defense Policy Center of RAND's National Defense Research Institute (NDRI). NDRI is a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, the unified commands, and the defense agencies.\ Comments are invited. We can be reached via email at arquilla@ rand.org and ronfeldt@rand.org.\ (Continues...)\ \ \ \ \ Excerpted from Networks and Netwars Copyright © 2001 by John Arquilla. Excerpted by permission.\ All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.\ Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site. \ \
Preface Summary Acknowledgments Chapter One THE ADVENT OF NETWAR (REVISITED) John Arquilla and David Ronfeldt Part I: Violence-Prone Netwars Chapter Two THE NETWORKING OF TERROR IN THE INFORMATION AGE Michele Zanini and Sean J.A. Edwards Chapter Three TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL NETWORKS Phil Williams Chapter Four GANGS, HOOLIGANS, AND ANARCHISTS--THE VANGUARD OF NETWAR IN THE STREETS John P. Sullivan Part II: Social Netwars Chapter Five NETWORKING DISSENT: CYBER ACTIVISTS USE THE INTERNET TO PROMOTE DEMOCRACY IN BURMA Tiffany Danitz and Warren P. Strobel Chapter Six EMERGENCE AND INFLUENCE OF THE ZAPATISTA SOCIAL NETWAR David Ronfeldt and John Arquilla Chapter Seven NETWAR IN THE EMERALD CITY: WTO PROTEST STRATEGY AND TACTICS Paul de Armond Part III: Once and Future Netwars Chapter Eight ACTIVISM, HACKTIVISM, AND CYBERTERRORISM: THE INTERNET AS A TOOL FOR INFLUENCING FOREIGN POLICY Dorothy E. Denning Chapter Nine THE STRUCTURE OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM AND ITS OPPONENTS Luther P. Gerlach Chapter Ten WHAT NEXT FOR NETWORKS AND NETWARS? David Ronfeldt and John Arquilla Contributors About the Editors Afterword (September 2001): The Sharpening Fight for the Future
\ Army MagazineExcellent text for many reading audiences: social scientists, computer scientists, policy makers, military leaders or anyone interested in emerging threats.\ \ \ \ \ ChoiceThis is an interesting and important book on a fascinating subject.\ \ \ Foreign Affairs... A useful collection of pieces on how contemporary communications shape nontraditional forms of warfare.\ \ \ \ \ King Features Weekly ServiceAnyone who is not afraid to challenge their own thinking about how the war on terrorism is to be fought will find Networks and Netwars thought-provoking and eye-opening.\ \ \ \ \ National JournalNetworks...the next major form of organization in our society. Networks and Netwars is an effective tool for people who want to understand them.\ \ \ \ \ New Perspectives QuarterlyArquilla and Ronfeldt are a rare breed: strategic thinkers of the information age.\ \ \ \ \ U.S. News & World ReportRECOMMENDED READING ... contemporary terrorists are using the diffuse, often leaderless, organizational and operational approaches outlined in Networks and Netwars.\ \
