Information Operations: Warfare and the Hard Reality of Soft Power

Modern means of communication have turned the world into an integrated and seamless network of information, which in terms of foreign policy and national security in post-Cold War power politics has revolutionized international 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 behaviour. 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 facilitating damaging cyber attacks on computer networks and infrastructure. In information Operations, IO experts from several countries analyze the military, technological, and psychological aspects of Information Operations.