By David Ronfeldt | The Rand CorporationExcerpt from: A Long Look Ahead: NGOs, Networks, and Future Social Evolution(pdf)
The term netwar
refers to an emerging mode of
conflict (and crime) at societal levels, short of traditional military warfare,
in which the protagonists use network forms of organization and related
doctrines, strategies, and technologies attuned to the information age. These
protagonists are likely to consist of dispersed organizations, groups, and
individuals who communicate, coordinate, and conduct their campaigns via the
Internet, often without a precise central command. Thus, netwar differs from modes of conflict and crime in which the
protagonists prefer to develop formal, stand-alone, hierarchical organizations,
doctrines, and strategies, as in past efforts, for example, to build centralized
movements along Leninist lines. In short, netwar is about Mexico’s Zapatistas
more than Cuba’s Fidelistas, Hamas more than the Palestine Liberation
Organization, the American Christian Patriot movement more than the Ku Klux
Klan, and the Asian Triads more than the Cosa Nostra....
