The Cyber Turn

It’s always a slightly odd experience writing the first post at a new blog, especially one with the pedigree and readership of Kings of War. For a start, it’s hard to know how much or how little to say by way of introduction, but on this occasion I’m going to keep things concise.

Some of you will know me from Ubiwar, FREErad!cals or Current Intelligence, and be aware of my interests and attitudes. For the majority who don’t, I’ve been drafted in to talk about this thing we call ‘cyber’. Readers will have noticed that it’s become quite big recently, what with some company called Google kicking off a stink about Chinese cyber-spies and whatnot. In truth, the momentum has been growing for years, but 2010 is already shaping up to be the year that military and foreign affairs really take the cyber turn, and I’m here to try and pick a way through it.

One thing I’ve learned from blogging about security over the last two years is that the same innocuous statement can have wildly varying effects. On the one hand, it elicits hawkish shrieks of ‘blogger-as-liberal-scum’ bile; on the other, you can be slated as a mindless pawn of the military-industrial complex. In one memorable week, I was accused of being an apologist for the global Islamist jihad and a Zionist-Crusader stooge. Quality. At the end of the day I probably don’t know any better than you, although that particular knife does cut both ways. So, let’s see if we can’t all sit down over a nice cup of tea and sort out the world’s problems together. I’ll bring the biscuits.

Tagged as: Cyberwar, Information Warfare