The rise of iWar : identity, information, and the individualization of modern warfare

"During a recent address to the National Defense University on U.S. counterterrorism strategy, President Barak Obama cautioned that 'we must define the nature and scope of this struggle or else it will define us.' His comments hinted at the dramatic transformations of the U.S. military and national security apparatus since September 11, 2001 (9/11). Notable among these have been a new operational emphasis on the threats posed by nonstate actors and individual combatants. This trend represents a major shift from the Cold War era paradigm focused primarily on conventional threats from state-based adversaries. This strategic reprioritization has evolved into new military doctrines focused on the task of defeating networks rather than formations and technical innovations designed for identifying, screening, and targeting individual combatants on the battlefield. This operational focus has also made the issue of identity central to U.S. national security strategy -- whether screening individual threats at the borders, segregating them on the battlefield, or targeting them across the spaces in between. In this monograph, Colonel Glenn Voelz examines this defining feature of recent conflicts, specifically the doctrinal and technical innovations giving rise to this new operational paradigm. He describes the central pillars of individualized warfare, including the rise of identity-based targeting and the key role of information technology in conducting these operations. This work contributes to an important dialogue concerning lessons learned from a decade of global counterterrorism operations and two extended counterinsurgency campaigns. It provides a useful case study on wartime military innovation by considering the policies and strategies that evolved in response to a new and unexpected adversary. He concludes this monograph with an in-depth discussion covering a range of emerging technologies likely to define how this kind of war will be waged in the future"--Foreword THE RISE OF IWAR:IDENTITY, INFORMATION,AND THE INDIVIDUALIZATIONOF MODERN WARFARE 7 FOREWORD 11 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 13 SUMMARY 15 INTRODUCTION 17 THE PILLARS OF IWAR 18 RESEARCH FOCUS 21 THE CATALYSTS OF IWAR 22 iWar as National Security Strategy. 25 iWar as a New Model of State Warfare. 27 iWar as a Driver of Doctrinal Innovation. 31 iWar as a Driver of Technology Innovation. 40 iWar as Policy Choice. 61 iWar as Case Study of Military Innovation. 68 Chart 1. Industrial Warfare versus iWar. 73 THE FUTURE OF IWAR 75 iWar and the Threat Environment. 76 iWar and the Technology Environment. 82 iWar and the Future of Identity. 96 TECHNOLOGY FUTURES: WAGINGIWAR IN THE NEXT GENERATION 102 Task One: Identity Discovery. 103 OPERATIONAL ATTRIBUTION 118 MAPPING THE NETWORK 124 ASSESSING IWAR 1.0 136 FUTURE IWAR AS POLICY AND STRATEGY:CAUTIONS AND CONSIDERATIONS 138 ENDNOTES 144