I’ve been looking at generational warfare from a slightly different perspective.
As we have agricultural revolutions, industrial revolutions, and the information revolution it appears there is a corresponding relationship to the generations of warfare. We did not give up agriculture when the industrial revolution came about any more than repeating fire weapons and fire and maneuver warfare of second to third generation warfare resulted in the end of one for the other (did I get that right?).
My thesis is that cyber warfare is a fifth generation warfare element. I’ve been told by senior think tank experts that cyber warfare is neither a reality nor part of actual warfare as it does not result in actual bombs being dropped. That theory likening war only to dropping bombs or launching missiles and forgetting the aspects of insurgency, and intelligence gathering that Sun Tzu talked about so long ago.
I can demonstrate a decentralized network of computers being used by a decentralized network of insurgents for command and control activities and yet that is sliced off and isn’t cyber warfare.
I can demonstrate a decentralized network of computers being used by a decentralized network of insurgents hooking into the social network (web 2.0, youtube, second life?) phenomenon and using the tools for psychological operations and that isn’t cyber warfare.
I can demonstrate free open source software being manipulated to create back doors into trusted systems (pearl module back door hack) yet that isn’t cyber warfare.
I can summarize scenarios that are actual realized events using computer systems to assassinate a public figure (manipulation of medication dosages in computerized pharmacies “Indianapolis child deaths”).
If fifth, or fourth generation it is relatively unimportant. The fact remains that real world effects are created through cyber warfare that are no less onerous than IED’s are to more traditional insurgents. Yet if it isn’t a 500lb bomb falling from the sky it’s not warfare?
Whether justified theory or misrepresented reality finding a voice for that which is indescribable is hard work. Especially when people say “So what?”.