Description:

In an era where anyone can have access to the Internet or other media forms, it has created communication with complete freedom. Governments no longer have a strong hold on communication, which creates challenges for filtering information and security posed by terrorists and insurgents. Terrorists, insurgents, and criminals have become adept at shaping perceptions among multiple audiences, using an electronic communication infrastructure to reach the global community. These groups are competing against national governments for the power to gain influence in order to achieve their strategic objectives. In this technological age, media and the internet are becoming the battlefields for modern conflicts and are the key sources in capturing a global audience. This work focuses on the core of the ongoing struggle for strategic influence, and particularly, how states can counter the role that media and the Internet play in radicalizing new agents of terrorism.

This work provides a deeper understanding of the ongoing struggle for strategic influence, particularly how states can counter the roles and influence of terrorists. Governments need to find ways to effectively confront its non-state adversaries in all levels of the information domain and create an understanding of strategic communications within a broad range of technologies. In this work, an international group of authors describe how terrorists, insurgents, and nation-states compete for strategic influence. In addition to several critical essays, Information Warfare 2.0 also provides a set of case studies that illustrate how the means and methods of strategic influence can impact a nation's security.

ABOUT THE EDITOR

Dr. James JF Forest is the Director of Terrorism Studies and an associate professor at the United States Military Academy, where he teaches courses on terrorism and counterterrorism, information warfare and foreign policy, and directs several research initiatives for the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. He has published 11 books on a variety of topics, including Weapons of Mass Destruction and Terrorism (McGraw-Hill, 2007), Countering Terrorism and Insurgency in the 21st Century (Praeger, 2007), Teaching Terror: Strategic and Tactical Learning in the Terrorist World (Rowman & Littlefield, 2006), The Making of a Terrorist: Recruitment, Training and Root Causes (Praeger, 2005), and Homeland Security and Terrorism: Controlling the Security Environment (McGraw-Hill, 2005), as well as articles in the Cambridge Review of International Affairs, Democracy and Security and the Journal of Political Science Education. Dr. Forest also serves as a guest lecturer for several government agencies in the U.S. and Europe, and maintains a top secret security clearance. He holds degrees from De Anza College, Georgetown University, Stanford University, and Boston College.