Welcome
Information is an element of national power along with diplomatic, military and economic power. The current information environment challenges the United States as never before. It has leveled the playing field for not only nation states, but non-state actors, multinational corporations and even individuals to affect strategic outcomes with minimal information infrastructure and little capital expenditure. The Information as Power web site is an online resource that provides an electronic library of current and historical articles and documents. Its purpose is to facilitate an understanding of the information element of power in this new and difficult environment in order to better address the national security issues we currently face. Unlike sites focused on one aspect of the information element this site attempts to broadly consider all the dimensions of the information environment: physical, informational and cognitive.
The Information in Warfare Group (I2WG) of the U.S. Army War College (USAWC) is pleased to present Information Operations Primer for Academic Year 2012. It is published annually by the Center for Strategic Leadership and the Department of Military Strategy, Planning and Operations. The Primer, since its inception in 2004, has served as a primary resource on IO and related activities for USAWC students, faculty, and staff as well as the larger IO community.
This document begins with an overview of Information Operations, Strategic Communication and Cyberspace Operations and theory. At each level it describes strategies, doctrine, agencies, organizations, and educational institutions dedicated to the information element of national power. Finally, the document concludes with an specific glossary and hyperlinks to information operations, cyberspace operations and strategic communication related websites.
The AY12 edition includes new sections dedicated to U.S. International Strategy for Cyberspace, DoD strategy for Operating in Cyberspace, the Department of State Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications, the DoD Chief Information Officer (CIO), and the U.S. Army Cyber Command.
The U.S. Army War College extends a special thanks to the individuals, from over 30 organizations throughout the Department of Defense, uniformed military services, and Department of State, whose help and assistance have made the revision of this Primer possible.