Information Warfare
Research Report
Information Warfare: An Air Force Policy for the Role of Public Affairs
Robin K. Crumm
Copyright Date: Jun. 1, 1996
Published by: Air University Press
Pages: 52
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https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep13869
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  1. Front Matter
    Front Matter (pp. i-i)
  2. Disclaimer
    Disclaimer (pp. ii-ii)
  3. Table of Contents
    Table of Contents (pp. iii-iv)
  4. Abstract
    Abstract (pp. v-v)
  5. About the Author
    About the Author (pp. vii-vii)
  6. Chapter 1 Introduction
    Chapter 1 Introduction (pp. 1-4)

    Millions of people in America and around the world sat mesmerized be-fore their television sets in 1991 watching the first, real-time video cover-age of the Persian Gulf War. The public obviously enjoyed the technology that enabled them to be armchair warriors, but few realized the significance of witnessing the first “war-in-a-glass-bottle.”¹ However, its value was not lost on our Iraqi adversaries. News broadcasts as an immediate intelligence source fired the imagination of the enemy and the Iraqi Rocket Force began watching Cable News Network (CNN) to home-in their Scud volleys into Israel and Saudi Arabia.²

    On the coalition side, live...

  7. Chapter 2 Defining Information Warfare and Identifying the Public Affairs Link
    Chapter 2 Defining Information Warfare and Identifying the Public Affairs Link (pp. 5-13)

    The successful conduct of military operations in IW demands new ways of thinking. The military is responding to the challenge of this new era with innovative strategies and tactics for fighting wars. There is consider-able debate among the services and other government organizations about what this novel form of warfare should be called or how it should be de-fined. However, most military professionals agree that the technological innovations of how we sense, record, process and transmit information has opened up additional vistas for conducting war. While the definitions may seem vague because information embraces so many disparate activities, the Air...

  8. Chapter 3 A Historical Perspective of Military Propaganda
    Chapter 3 A Historical Perspective of Military Propaganda (pp. 15-29)

    Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary defines propaganda as “ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one’s cause or to damage an opposing cause.”¹ Philip M. Taylor, in Munitions of the Mind, offers this definition: “Propaganda is really no more than the communication of ideas designed to persuade people to think and behave in a desired way. In wartime that usually means getting them to fight or to support the fight.”² Joint Pub 3-53, Doctrine for Joint Psychological Operations, says it is “any form of communication in support of national objectives designed to influence the opinions, emotions, attitudes, or behavior of...

  9. Chapter 4 Public Affairs Options/Implications for Information Warfare
    Chapter 4 Public Affairs Options/Implications for Information Warfare (pp. 31-41)

    From the historical analysis of chapter 3, it is apparent that PA and the IW community can learn a great deal from the propaganda experiences of past wars in formulating an appropriate policy for the PA role in IW. The evidence points to three possible paths which PA could pursue.

    Option One would proceed on the path which PA is currently heading—a hands-off approach to IW. Under the guidance of the current PA directives denouncing propaganda, PA would maintain a strict policy of avoiding any association with IW planning or execution. Option Two suggests PA should acknowledge when it...

  10. Chapter 5 Conclusion
    Chapter 5 Conclusion (pp. 43-44)

    Since the 1996 Worldwide PA Conference in April, PA professionals have expressed a more focused desire to examine PA’s future in an IW environment. It is too early to tell what PA’s future role in IW will be, but considerable evidence points to what should not be PA’s role.

    A logical interpretation of the evidence does not support at least two of the approaches examined. Option One, a hands-off policy toward IW, and Option Three, which condones the use of lies in the press, do not reflect the current technological or psychological realities of our nation. Option Two suggests an...

  11. Back Matter
    Back Matter (pp. 45-49)