12th June 2012: CyberWar Doctrines

Confront & Conceal

 

David Sanger’s new book Confront & Conceal reveals that the United States has developed an offensive cyberwarfare capability – code-named Olympic Games – for deterrence and denial of Iran’s nuclear weapons development program. The reaction to Sanger’s book has renewed debate about cyberwar doctrines and the internet’s safety. Slate‘s Fred Kaplan suggests that policymakers who formulate new cyberwar doctrines can learn from the 1950s and 1960s body of theory-building in nuclear strategy. Meanwhile, Atlantic Monthly‘s Patrick Lin, Fritz Allhoff and Neil Rowe wonder if cyberwar can be waged in a ‘just war’ framework. I suggested in 2010 that for Australia, an offensive cyberwarfare capability may lead to counterforce targeting by more equipped nation-states.