Digital Revolution Alert
|
Special Issue 4 – October 11, 2001 |
Resources to help you understand the digital
future
This email alert is offered to you by the Internet Business Unit of Belgacom to help you understand the growing impact of the internet on our economy.
For more information, suggestions and
comments please contact the editor michel.bauwens@belgacom.be
. Pointers to resources are very welcome and you will be credited if you wish
so.
The content therein does not in any way
reflect the official positions of Belgacom, only the selections and
interpretations of the editor, based on published sources.
PLEASE NOTE that all links are checked by the editor before sending out the
bulletin. If you have problems directly clicking through from the Word
document, simply copy and paste the URL directly to your browser.
This
is the third special issue dedicated to the manifold implications of the
September 11 events.
'THE
FIRST NETWORKED WAR'...................................................................................................................... 3
· Networks, Netwar and the fight for the
future......................................................... 3
· Without Warning: the history of
asymmetric threat............................................. 3
· Towards a 'Revolution in Military Affairs..................................................................... 3
· The third western war in context......................................................................................... 4
· War crises and governmental power.................................................................................. 4
· Diplomacy in the Information Age......................................................................................... 4
THE
INTERNET AS A TOOL................................................................................................................................ 5
· The internet in times of crisis: how
robust was it?.................................................... 5
· Online Donations drives have been very
successfull................................................ 5
· Original coverage by online media........................................................................................ 5
· How Google coped.............................................................................................................................. 6
IMPACT
OF (ON) THE NETWORKED SOCIETY............................................................................................ 6
· Cyberterrorism and the threat to
corporations....................................................... 6
· Copycat Terrorism: the danger of
contagion................................................................ 6
· Adjusting the scale of the deed to the
scale of the media................................... 7
· The Internet and the technological
superiority of the West............................. 7
THE
ECONOMIC IMPACT.................................................................................................................................... 8
· Business Week Special Report on the
future of the tech sector......................... 8
· A different kind of wartime economy................................................................................. 8
· The danger of the Hawala network.................................................................................... 8
OTHER
TECHNOLOGIES..................................................................................................................................... 9
· Not only bioterrorism, but genomic pathogens are the real danger........... 9
· Intelligence Analysis software to predict
future attacks............................... 9
· Detecting Terrorist Intention through
'brain scanning'........................................ 9
RESOURCES.......................................................................................................................................................... 10
· Information Sources..................................................................................................................... 10
'THE FIRST NETWORKED WAR' |
For even more coverage on issues related to
'information war', see the compilation at the bottom of the newsletter.
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue6_10/ronfeldt/index.html
" Netwar is an emerging mode of conflict in which the protagonists - ranging from terrorist and criminal organisations on the dark side, to militant social activists on the bright side - use network forms of organisation, doctrine, strategy, and technology attuned to the information age. The practice of Netwar is well ahead of theory, as both civil and uncivil society actors are increasingly engaging in this new way of fighting. We suggest how the theory of Netwar may be improved by drawing on academic perspectives on networks, especially those about organisational network analysis."
Book: Networks and
Netwars: The Future of Terror, Crime, and Militancy RAND, 2001
http://faculty.washington.edu/modelski/warning.html
Review of a book, which reviews attacks by unexpected challengers in world history. More than one world power completely underestimated threats of that kind, though in the end always defeated them.
Book: Mikhail Alexseev
WITHOUT WARNING: Threat Assessment, Intelligence, and Global Struggle (New
York: St. Martin's Press, 1997
http://www.comw.org/rma/index.html
This gateway to full-text online resources about the revolution in military affairs, information war, and asymmetric warfare contains a special section on Terrorism and Counter-terrorism, but had not been updated yet after the events.
See also this site with 'homeland security' documentation, http://stinet.dtic.mil/dticrev/vol5-number4.html
Book: Mary Kaldor, New and Old Wars: Organized Violence
in a Global Era, Cambridge: Polity, 1999
http://www.theglobalsite.ac.uk/press/109shaw.htm
Very interesting analysis of this new type of war we're embarking on, set in the context of the 'two previous western wars' of the post-Cold War era (Iraq, Kosovo). Highly recommended reading!
Martin Shaw's analysis is based on the following analysis of the world situation:
"Arguments about the nature of state power in the
current period.
These can be summarised in the following points:
Arguments
about the nature of political movements and political conflict.
3 Arguments about the nature of war and genocide in
the current period.
http://reason.com/ml/ml092001.html
An interview with historian Robert Higgs, author of the book 'Crisis and Leviathan', about how each war crisis has helped the growth of governmental power.
Book: Crisis and Leviathan : Critical Episodes in the Growth of American
Government (A Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy Book) . by Robert Higgs
http://www.cisp.org/imp/july_2001/07_01contents.htm
The 'Revolution in Military Affairs' finds a parallel in the world of diplomacy, which faces just as important adaptation challenges in the Information Age. A special issue of 'Information Impacts' magazine, which starts from the current situation but also, develops an ideal vision for the diplomacy of 2015.
THE INTERNET AS A TOOL |
" Soon after
the tragedy, many who had escaped the World Trade Centre sought to reach
family, friends, or colleagues by telephone. A major Verizon switching centre
had been destroyed, and long distance lines were saturated. Cell lines also
were quickly saturated, so many people desperate to reach loved ones used the
text-mode messaging features of their cell phones to communicate with
outsiders. For many, this may have been the first practical use of text-mode
instant messaging on a telephone. New Yorkers and those living in the D.C. area
with cable modem, DSL, or direct Internet access in the workplace were able to
send e-mail to others inside and outside the New York area. Some who could not
get a long distance line were able to dial a local ISP to get the word out.
Others used the venerable text mode chat tool known as Internet Relay Chat
(IRC) to get the word out about their condition in particular and the news in
general. As the various media sites became overloaded, some informal mirror
sites sprang up, with individuals building their own caches of news stories and
photographs. Other individuals sent emails with "deep links" to
particular pieces of important content on media sites, so that their
correspondents would not have to wend their way through slow-painting menu
pages." (source: see the Google
article listed below)
http://www.fing.org/index.php?num=1996,2
A French-language review of several articles which appeared just after the event, analysing the use of the internet, as well as it robustness and weakness as a network.
More info also here: http://www.fing.org/index.php?num=1990,2
http://www.wired.com/news/ebiz/0,1272,46876,00.html
The coming of age of the internet as a fundraising took was proven after the solidarity drives for Ground Zero victims.
http://63.208.24.134/terrorism/steve2.htm
This
column by Steve Outing focuses on the innovative ways that online media have
used to cover the events.
Tips for online journalists: http://63.208.24.134/Terrorism/Steve1.htm;
some of the best examples of coverage, http://63.208.24.134/terrorism/outing/steve3a.htm
; on video streaming experiments, http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-7230430.html
; the Harris poll on comparative media usage, http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/011005/50147_1.html
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue6_10/wiggins/
Very
interesting analysis of how the leading search engine coped with the increased
public demand after the crisis.
More info: the Google reference page to
monitor Ground Zero items: http://www.google.com/currentevents/
- Communication networks were set up with extreme rapidity
A review of the crisis communications set up by telecoms, FEMA, and the Red Cross, very soon after the catastrophe everything was in working order.
URL = http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/01/09/21/010921hnemergserve.xml
IMPACT OF (ON) THE NETWORKED SOCIETY |
http://www.terrorism.com/documents/iw-privatrisk.pdf
Australian
document on how companies can assess the new threats. Good reading for IT
managers and those responsible for security, and for general managers wanting
an overview.
More info on the topic at the website of
the Institute for the Advanced Study of Information Warfare, http://www.psycom.net/iwar.1.html
From the "Journal of Memetics", a warning on the diffusion of examples. Memetics is the science of the diffusion of ideas.
http://reason.com/hod/cf091101.html
Thoughtpiece on the reasoning behind the attacks: 'the terrorism of the deed' had been become largely ineffectual through the increasingly short memory spans induced by the speed of modern media. This action was designed to overcome this: "it represents an adjustment of the scale of potential terror to the scope of available media."
http://www.arts.uwa.edu.au/MotsPluriels/MP1801kg.html
This is a very interesting French-language review of a book by Edouard Glissant, a 'leading postcolonial intellectual' who has written a treatise examining how the internet strengthens or weakens the domination of the First World over the Third World. In other words: how does it function as a tool for power. This is of course relevant as both sides use networked technology as an important tool in their arsenal.
More info: http://www.arts.uwa.edu.au/MotsPluriels/MP.html
; http://www.media-culture.org.au/reviews/features/politics/politics.html
Book: Traité du tout-monde.
By Edouard Glissant. 1997
- Inside Pakistan
We do not usually publish regular reporting in this specialised newsletter, but this Dutch-language account of a trip in Pakistan to study the Islamic radical culture, is very well done.
URL = http://www.wereldwijd.be/magazine/pakistan.htm
-
Internet
Rights and Civil Liberties Monitor
Surveys the
impact of the recent events on democratic rights.
URL = http://www.apc.org/english/rights/newsmonitor/index.shtml
THE ECONOMIC IMPACT |
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/tc_special/rethink_tech.htm?c=bwtechoct05&n=link20&t=email
Several articles discuss
the future of the tech sector (which will be 'leaner and meaner', the telecoms
(in the doldrums for a long time to come), and the security sector, which will
benefit, as it gears for a 'battle ready' internet.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/09/business/09ECON.html
"Given the nature of this
new conflict with terrorism, the economy is not likely to be revived by the
developments that fuelled previous wartime booms, like surging orders for tanks
and airplays or demand for workers to replace those who go off to fight."
http://www.tnr.com/101501/cottle101501.html
While the
international coalition focuses on the 'formal' financial system, the Islamic
terrorist movements have been using a centuries old informal network of money
transfers: the Hawala network.
- Publishers wonder what to publish after September 11
- Tax cuts vs. increased anti-terrorism spending as means to revive economy: which is best strategy?
URL = http://www.tax.org/Communications/SullivanAntiterrorism.htm
OTHER TECHNOLOGIES |
http://www.lemonde.fr/article/0,5987,3232--229130-,00.html
An opinion
piece by biotechnology critic Jeremy Rifkin, who warns of the danger inherent
in further developing genomics, hence putting terrible new weapons in the hands
of those with ill intent.
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991368
Karnac of Applied Systems Intelligence claims to be able to predict future terrorist attacks, provided government databases share their intelligence.
More info: http://www.asinc.com/
http://www.brainwavescience.com/FBIRPT4.htm
No, this is no science fiction: based on the cognitive work of Lawrence Farwell it has been established that the brains of trained people react differently when shown certain pictures related to their training. An experiment with FBI agents (above) was 100% successful.
More info on 'brain fingerprinting', at http://www.brainwavescience.com/index.html
; a case study at http://www.brainwavescience.com/harrington.htm
- Introducing a 'safe mode automatic pilot' in planes would make hijackings impossible,
URL = http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stories/story/0,10738,2812283,00.html
- Terrorists and steganography
URL = http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/comment/0,5859,2814256,00.html
- Crypto-gram special issue on September 11
Newsletter read by security experts, hackers, and civil libertarians concerned with a loss of privacy, it focuses on such issues as cryptography, biometrics, and privacy.
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