Analysis & Opinions - H-Diplo/ISSF

The Skeptics Misconstrue the Cyber Revolution: A Response to Commentators on ISSF/H-Diplo and Elsewhere

| October 28, 2013

Note

(Referencing H-Diplo/ISSF Review Essay No. 17 by Brandon Valeriano on Thomas Rid. Cyber War Will Not Take Place. London: Hurst & Company, 2013. Published by H-Diplo/ISSF on 10 October 2013 at http://www.h-net.org/~diplo/ISSF/PDF/RE17.pdf.)

This commentary draws from the author's forthcoming article titled, "The Meaning of the Cyber Revolution: Perils to Theory and Statecraft," in the Fall 2013 issue of International Security: http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/23508.

Let it be stated at the outset: the virtual weapon has not fundamentally changed the nature of war. Further, insofar as the consequences of its use do not rise to the level of traditional interstate violence, there will be no such thing as cyber 'war.' In these respects, those who claim that the contemporary cyber peril is overblown are correct. Yet the Clausewitzian philosophical framework—a cherished device of the cyber skeptics—misses the essence of the cyber revolution: the new capability is expanding the range of possible harm and outcomes between the concepts of war and peace, with important implications for national and international security. The disanalogy of war conveys only what the cyber issue is not; it does not reveal the true significance of the danger, and may even conceal it....

To full text of the article is available here: http://www.h-net.org/~diplo/ISSF/PDF/RE17-Kello.pdf

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The full text of this publication is available via the original publication source.
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For more information on this publication: Belfer Communications Office
For Academic Citation: Kello, Lucas.“The Skeptics Misconstrue the Cyber Revolution: A Response to Commentators on ISSF/H-Diplo and Elsewhere.” H-Diplo/ISSF, October 28, 2013.

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