The information arena is today incorporated into all types of conflicts and offers, in addition to conventional methods, different approaches whose purpose is to influence and undermine their adversaries and thus shape the battlefield to their own terms. Information warfare embraces everything from propaganda and disinformation to cyber warfare where the concept's embeddedness really depends on who uses it and in what context. The term tends to spread in its meaning in the sense that the definition differs within the discipline. In order to be able to perceive, understand and counteract threats linked to information warfare, an understanding of what the concept actually means is required. This study is based on a conceptual model consisting of John Gerring's theoretical framework "Good Concepts" and aims to explore the concept of information warfare, how it is understood and elucidate its multifaceted meaning. Gerring's criteria examines the concept's underlying attributes, which emphasizes that the concept itself risks conveying different meanings. The study highlights ambiguity by identifying for instance cyberattacks, psychological operations,electronic warfare, political / strategic objectivesand a mix of different methodssuch as possible perceptions linked to information warfare. The results of the study show that an ambiguity exists within the concept of information warfare and that an understanding of the concept is of importance in the discipline of war science. In the end, it is about an understanding of the threats that accompanies the concept, but also the current need for a critical approach to how others use and interpret the concept.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:fhs-9201 |
| Date | January 2020 |
| Creators | Lindberg, Gustav |
| Publisher | Försvarshögskolan |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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