Wars of Disruption and Resilience

Reviews / Votes

Wars of Disruption and Resilience is an important contribution to the cyber field, with both theoretical and policy implications. It will begin the debate on an issue important to the national security field. -- Gale Mattox * U.S. Naval Academy * Demchak's analysis is novel and innovative. It takes the study of problems posed by the vulnerabilities inherent in our increasingly cybered world in a new direction. The book will be essential reading for any academic engaged in the issue of cyber conflict and for any civilian and government officials involved in managing this very modern security problem. -- Terry Terriff * coeditor of <i>Global Insurgency and the Future of Armed Conflict: Debating Fourth Generation Warfare</i> * Chris Demchak's work offers a much needed, refreshing and holistic view on a new and worrisome front of conflict-the cyberfront. Drawing on a rich background in technology and security studies and illustrating her thoughts with telling stories, she manages the huge task to address the large variety of issues in this complex field and systematize them into one coherent and syncretic framework of cybered conflict and cyberpower. The reader receives a rewarding impression of how cybered industrialized societies are, how omnipresent this new technological layer is and how vulnerable the ensuing dependencies make us. Finally, Demchak also offers an outlook on what needs to be done to confront this new threat. She highlights the knowledge and the institutional change needed to render information societies resilient against the growing number of bad actors. With this large scope and the lucid insights into the contexts and conditions of cyberpower, Demchak's book clearly distinguishes itself from its competitors and must be considered required reading for both the theory and practice of cybersecurity. -- Sandro Gaycken * Senior Researcher, Freie Universitaet Berlin * Cyber warfare is already a reality of the twenty-first century and how actors continue to plan for it will do much to help distinguish winners from losers for decades to come. Demchak's insights in Wars of Disruption and Resilience should be of critical salience for both academic analyses and policy-making that grapple with this rapidly changing and complex phenomenon. -- Thomas J. Volgy * Professor, School of Government and Public Policy, University of Arizona * Wars of Disruption and Resilience is a pick for any collection strong in political and international affairs and debates an issue key to any discussion of security. It provides an assessment of the cyberfront of conflict and blends technological and security issues with stories to address the issues of the field. From the importance of vulnerability of technology in developed countries to what can be done to fortify information societies against cyber criminals, this is a powerful assessment of world cyberpower and its vulnerabilities. -- <i>Midwest Book Review</i>