Networks and Netwars: the future of terror, crime, and militancy

This volume studies major instances of netwar that have occurred over the past several years and finds, among other things, that netwar works very well. Whether the protagonists are civil-society activists or 'uncivil-society' criminals and terrorists, their netwars have generally been successful. In part, the success of netwar may be explained by its very novelty - much as earlier periods of innovation in military affairs have seen new practices triumphant until an appropriate response is discovered. But there is more at work here: the network form of organisation has re-enlivened old forms of licit and illicit activity, posing serious challenges to those mainly the militaries, constabularies, and governing officials of nation states - whose duty is to cope with the threats this new generation of largely non-state actors poses.

In this volume, we and our colleagues examine various types of netwar, from the most violent to the most socially activist. In so doing, we find that, despite the variety, all networks that have been built for waging netwar may be analysed in terms of a common analytic framework. There are five levels of theory and practice that matter: the technological, social, narrative, organisational, and doctrinal levels. A netwar actor must get all five right to be fully effective.

(From introduction)