Information Warfare Past, Present, and Future

"The placement of information on a higher plane in the hierarchy of warfare will require a paradigm shift in how the U.S. plans, prepares, and conducts war. As Ian Brown has said, the U.S. should “aim to fight in the realm of moral warfare.”[36] While adversaries such as the Russians have long since integrated deception or maskirovka into warfare activities and professional training, the U.S. military is not built this way.[37] Clint Watts, an expert in information warfare, summarized the dichotomy between Americans and Russians: “Russians are brilliant at [information warfare] because they don’t see it as a subcomponent of warfare, it is warfare.”[38] In contrast, American hubris has arisen from “decades of having overwhelming military capabilities.”[39] While weaker states often leverage information operations to defeat a stronger opponent, the U.S. military cannot presume unfettered martial superiority in all domains at all times."