The Art of War in the Network Age

Introduction

Since no plan survives actual combat, and the art of forecasting is imperfect, efforts to predict with certainty the future of today’s revolution in military affairs (RMA) must inevitably fail.

Stephen J. Blank¹

Military systems naturally reflect social, cultural and technical evolutions. In light of this, the study of strategic literature in recent years shows that much attention has been given to the evolutions implied by the implementation of computer networks, not only from a technical but also, and mostly, from a strategic viewpoint. The application of the Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA), which appeared in 1992, and then of the Transformation², 10 years later, are tightly linked to the spread of information technologies, but also to the actions and practices they imply [GOL 05]. Yet, if the art of war theory still represents “the art of dialectics of opposing wills using force in the resolution of conflict”³, it also seems to represent the poor relation of technological developments. This is partly caused by its likelihood to become a real techno-military ideology, profoundly defined by technology [HEN 13b]. RMA and Transformation are both driven by strategic cultures full of techniques. Involvements in Afghanistan (2001–2014) and Iraq (2003–2008) seem to have overshadowed RMA and Transformation, the rational aspects of which seemed too remote from the imperatives of the counter-irregular struggle. This led Desportes [DES 06] to state that “transformation ...