Looking Ahead: Preparing for Information-Age Conflict

摘要

As we assembled this volume, we initially expected to conclude it in a standard manner: revisiting themes noted in the introduction, summarizing key points from the selections, and identifying issues for future research and development. This concluding chapter still has some of that flavor. But as we discussed how to write it, we realized our thoughts were cohering around four sets of ideas which, together, amount to the outlines of an integrated vision of information age conflict from how to think about it, to how to prepare for it and deal with it. As a result, this chapter represents not only the conclusion of this book but also the beginning of an integrated vision of information age conflict. This vision has four parts conceptual, organizational, doctrinal, and strategic. Each part of this vision is tied to the others; each energizes the others. ' Conceptual foundation: This vision entails, indeed requires, a deep, broad view of information. This is achieved by adding to the dominant view that information is largely about information processing a less-developed view that is about information structuring or structural information. In this latter view, information is what enables a structure to hold its form. This broad view of information refocuses thinking about the significance of information to organizations and leads to a recognition that their ideational superstructures are as important as their technological infrastructures.