This is the first book to analyze how the technology to alter images and rapidly distribute them can be used for propaganda and to support deception operations. In the past, propagandists and those seeking to conduct deception operations used crude methods to alter images of real people, events and objects, which could usually be detected relatively easily. Today, however, computers allow propagandists to create any imaginable image, still or moving, with appropriate accompanying audio. Furthermore, it is becoming extremely difficult to detect that an image has been manipulated, and the Internet, television and global media make it possible to disseminate altered images around the world almost instantaneously. Given that the United States is the sole superpower, few, if any, adversaries will attempt to fight the US military conventionally on the battlefield. Therefore, adversaries will use propaganda and deception, especially altered images, in an attempt to level the battlefield or to win a war against the United States without even having to fight militarily. Propaganda and Information Warfare in the 21st Century will be of great interest to students of information war, propaganda, public diplomacy and security studies in general.

In Leigh Armistead's second edited volume on warfare in the Information Age, the authors explore the hype over possibilities versus actuality in their analysis of Information Operations (IO) today. First, leaders must better understand the informational element of national power, and second, their sole focus on technology must expand to include IO's physical interconnectivity, content, and cognitive dimensions. Finally the authors urge the United States to use its enormous IO advantage to deal with complex national security issues beyond the Department of Defense, for example, in swaying global opinion and influencing other populations. Armistead and his colleagues set aside the hype and conjecture concerning IO, because its real potential is more powerful and comprehensive than currently appreciated. In a straightforward format they take practitioners on the path toward a smart and effective way of waging IO. While the original claims of "bloodless" wars or of computer hackers plunging North America into a new "dark age" of constant electric grid collapses quickly raised awareness of new threats and capabilities in the Information Age, these scenarios strain credulity and hamper our understanding of those threats and capabilities. This volume corrects this situation, grounding IO in the real world, and concentrates on its actual challenges, capabilities, and accomplishments. Information Warfare will be an indispensable guide and reference work for professionals and students in the fields of national security.

This is the first book to analyze how the technology to alter images and rapidly distribute them can be used for propaganda and to support deception operations. In the past, propagandists and those seeking to conduct deception operations used crude methods to alter images of real people, events and objects, which could usually be detected relatively easily. Today, however, computers allow propagandists to create any imaginable image, still or moving, with appropriate accompanying audio. Furthermore, it is becoming extremely difficult to detect that an image has been manipulated, and the Internet, television and global media make it possible to disseminate altered images around the world almost instantaneously. Given that the United States is the sole superpower, few, if any, adversaries will attempt to fight the US military conventionally on the battlefield. Therefore, adversaries will use propaganda and deception, especially altered images, in an attempt to level the battlefield or to win a war against the United States without even having to fight militarily. Propaganda and Information Warfare in the 21st Century will be of great interest to students of information war, propaganda, public diplomacy and security studies in general.

(Dis-)Information Age Warfare: Countering ISIS, Putin & Co. Sidney E. Dean, Editor The phrase "hearts and minds" might be relatively new to global politics, but influencing popular opinion - that of your own citizens and allies, that of your adversaries, and that of the neutral world - has always been a vital element of international politics and of warfare. Early evidence can be found in Egyptian reliefs touting the invincibility of the pharaoh, who was depicted larger than life and surrounded by fallen foes. The message was simple, but clear: Egyptians should support their ruler who defended and brought glory to their nation, while foreigners should submit to his will rather than risk destruction. Propaganda warfare became more sophisticated over time. During the Cold War the Soviet Union dedicated a huge apparatus to so-called "agitational propaganda" or "AGITPROP." The goal was to promote pro-Soviet movements in the Third World while creating sympathy for Soviet aspirations among western populations. The rise of terrorist violence in the second half of the 20th Century was also paralleled by (dis-)information campaigns designed to gain sympathy for the extremists. At the same time western governments did their best to undermine communist regimes and promote democracy, primarily through broadcast media such as the BBC, Deutsche Welle, Radio Liberty/ Radio Free Europe, or Radio Marti. Ironically the free societies faced (and face) greater communications challenges than tyrants and terrorists. The latter's willingness to lie and distort allows them to present more intense arguments which resonate with many people. The recent revolution in communications technology has taken 21st Century propaganda warfare into a new dimension. It has also leveled the playing field to the point that a small organization or even one skilled communicator can disseminate a message around the world within minutes. The snowball-potential offered by social media means that one film clip or blog post can be re-tweeted, liked, friended and forwarded to millions of people within days. Traditional media outlets tendency to monitor the net further increases the potential exposure for propaganda messages. Unfortunately, the more outrageous, threatening or extreme the message, the more likely it will be viewed. The internet's potential as a propaganda dissemination tool was quickly recognized by well-organized and funded groups such as al Qaeda and ISIS, groups which have recruited large numbers of technology- and media-savvy specialists who churn out e-zines, blog posts, twitter campaigns, and eye-popping violent videos. Even pop music and video games have become terrorist recruiting tools. Meanwhile Vladimir Putin's nationalist Russia has also revived disinformation as a major foreign policy tool, albeit with a different tack than ISIS et al. While the latter seek to recruit and incite youth, Russia hopes to convince middle-class, educated Europeans and Americans that, "objectively," Putin is pursuing legitimate national aims, even defending Russia and Russians from an aggressive United States or Ukraine. And once western governments are playing catch-up in their struggle to discredit adversarial propaganda. This volume brings together fifteen subject experts who discuss the phenomenon of (Dis-)Information Age Warfare; analyze the Russian and Islamist propaganda machines; introduce the civilian and military counter-efforts currently conducted by the United States (including the Special Operations Command Military Information Support Operation or MISO, the State Department's Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communication or CSCC, and the work of the private media through the Broadcasting Board of Governors or BBG); and propose additional strategies for countering the flow of propaganda. As always, we wish you interesting reading.

This study discusses salient trends demonstrated by contemporary warfare of these first years of the 21st century. The authors reinforce previous notions of Fourth Generation Warfare, but most importantly explore the workings of new components and how these have modified the theory and practice of warfare beyond the basic divisions of conventional and unconventional warfare as witnessed in the preceding century. Throughout history there has been a close interaction between politics, communication and armed conflict and a main line of investigation of this book is to track changes that are presumed to have occurred in the way and manner in which armed conflicts are waged. Using cogent examples drawn variously from conflicts of the Arab Spring, the Islamic State and Russian adventurism in South Ossetia, Crimea and Eastern Ukraine, the authors demonstrate the application of Information Warfare, the practice of Hybrid Warfare, and offensive use of diplomacy, communications, economics and international law to obtain political and military advantages against the status quo states of the international community. The authors combine a theoretical framework with concrete empirical examples in order to create a better understanding and comprehension of the current events and processes that shape the character of contemporary armed conflicts and how they are informed and perceived in a highly mediatised and politicised world.

In Information War, former United States Information Agency employee Nancy Snow describes how U.S. propaganda efforts and covert operations are expanding more rapidly today than at any other time in U.S. history, as the Bush administration attempts to increase U.S. dominance by curbing dissent and controlling opinion. Snow lays out the propaganda techniques that the government uses to control dissent in the twenty-first century, spotlights the key players and their spinmeistering abilities in the information war, and describes memorable "leaks" in the Administration’s efforts to conduct stealth propaganda programs and control information at home. Ultimately she shows that dissent and true democracy are the early casualties of these policies.

The modern means of communication have turned the world into an information fishbowl and, in terms of foreign policy and national security in post-Cold War power politics, helped transform international power politics. Information operations (IO), in which time zones are as important as national boundaries, is the use of modern technology to deliver critical information and influential content in an effort to shape perceptions, manage opinions, and control behavior. Contemporary IO differs from traditional psychological operations practiced by nation-states, because the availability of low-cost high technology permits nongovernmental organizations and rogue elements, such as terrorist groups, to deliver influential content of their own as well as facilitates damaging cyber-attacks ("hactivism") on computer networks and infrastructure. As current vice president Dick Cheney once said, such technology has turned third-class powers into first-class threats. Conceived as a textbook by instructors at the Joint Command, Control, and Information Warfare School of the U.S. Joint Forces Staff College and involving IO experts from several countries, this book fills an important gap in the literature by analyzing under one cover the military, technological, and psychological aspects of information operations. The general reader will appreciate the examples taken from recent history that reflect the impact of IO on U.S. foreign policy, military operations, and government organization.