The increasing influence of cyberspace in the realm of military operations has transformed the concept of warfare. The dependence of states on the technology gave rise to digital battlefields. In contemporary times, the significance of the Information Space has been greatly emphasized. It has a profound impact on the International security and the military doctrines of states. It can be said that the evolution of modern warfare is combination of conventional and digital warfare. The Conventional warfare is the usage of battlefield tactics and weapons by two or more countries in an open confrontation where they use all physical means to fight a war. Whereas, Cyber Warfare includes the usage of digital tools in order to attack enemy’s data systems or stealing sensitive information. In other words, the ability to disrupt the functionality of Government and military institutions or even tools such as jamming systems through cyber-attacks.
The cyber warfare is also being used by the states to shape the public opinion or to promote a specific narrative which may harm enemy’s aims and objectives. The Governments around the world do this by spreading content which aligns with the state policies. Similarly, PsyOps are conducted in order to target certain group of people. The phenomenon has given rise to the concept of ‘cognitive warfare.’ The focus extends beyond military considerations to include psychological operations and disinformation campaigns with the help of digital tools such as social media. These campaigns can also be launched by the enemy state to undermine a Government’s functionality. The targets of such campaigns encompass both military and civilians. It is noteworthy that as technological advancements progress, the complexity of cognitive warfare concurrently intensifies. Understanding and navigating the complexities of cognitive warfare in modern conflicts is crucial.
The impact of ‘Digitization of Battlefield’ on International security is profound. The information can easily flow beyond borders with unpredictable speed and could impact a large fraction of society. This shift is backed up by the progress in technology, especially with the ongoing advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI). On one hand, the military technology supported by AI is helping states around the world to acquire military gains but on the other the Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (C4I) systems are vulnerable to cyber threats. Lack of encryption, weak passwords and insufficient access controls makes them an attractive target of these threats. Therefore, states need to continually upgrade technical or cyber capabilities in order to safeguard their strategic interests.
In ancient times, conflicts were exclusively undertaken by sovereign states but now the non-state actors including extremist’s groups, terrorists and individuals play their part by using the easily available digital means to promote their narrative. They not only use this tool to target strategic installations of a state but to spread misinformation among the general population to promote their extremist ideologies by using social media accounts. According to a 2022 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report,
“Global internet users grew by +4.0 per cent over the past twelve months, with 192 million new users contributing to an overall total of 4.95 billion by January 2022. Social media users increased by more than 10% since this time last year to reach almost 4.62 billion. There are now more than 5.31 billion people around the world using a mobile phone –an increase of 1.8 per cent.”
The number of Internet users have increased in the recent years which indicates that spreading misinformation is just a click away. The 2010 Arab Spring is the classic example of it. The civil uprisings were initially ignited through social media which resulted in the demise of autocratic government. Another example is the use of Social Media platforms by ISIS to promote the extremist ideologies which later results in terrorist’s attacks. It is worth noting that these non-state actors neither possess legitimacy nor accountability. A sovereign state fails to account these types of threats. Below is the graph of number of tweets and re-tweets in 2018 shared by legal ISIS accounts as well as randomly sampled set of users in Arabic language only:
This shows the hierarchy of control the non-state actors have in this Fourth Industrial Revolution and indicates the Confluence of Physical and Cyber battlefields. In this Globalized world, states not only require heavy machinery, manpower and technically advanced weapons but digital power and strategies to counter the enemy.
The ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict is the best example of physical digital confluence. The social media was flooded with graphic images and videos soon after the October 7 attack by Hamas which sparked different reactions globally. Hence, a physical conflict was transformed in an information conflict with the help of cyber tools. Renown photojournalist Motazaz Azaiza emerged as a hero from this dispute where information warfare has shaped the future of the conflict. He has 19 million followers who likes, engage and comment on videos filmed and posted about IDF atrocities in Gaza. In this way, any person sitting far away from the conflict prone area can witness the crimes committed by the governments and have a personal opinion on it. The global outcry stems from the information shared on social media platforms. Hamas supporters have blamed Israel for inflicting damage to civilian population. Resultantly, the IDF has welcomed reporters to visit conflict prone sites in hope to gain sympathy. The government of Israel is spending millions of dollars on pro-Israel social media campaigns on YouTube, Tiktok, Instagram and Twitter. The fact that many American organizations, activists and politicians oppose their government stance on Israel-Hamas conflict suggests that information warfare does have an effect on individuals which may influence a Government’s decisions at global level.
What if Israel won the war militarily but fail to gain people’s trust globally? Territorial gains is of no use when a country has failed to gain the public support from around the world. The ongoing conflict is being shaped by public opinion more than even the Holocaust was. It indicates that the domains of warfare have extended beyond traditional means. In contemporary times, it has become important for states to invest in cyber capabilities. However, it is equally essential to keep an eye on the negative consequence of digital world especially on young minds. Therefore, maintaining control through cyber oversight is important because it helps in gaining sympathies and funds from around the world. However, influencing public perception through propaganda, media censorship and manipulation might be seen as violation of freedom of expression and democracy.
Ostensibly, states cannot win wars based on military might. Information war will continue to dominate the modern conflict. Nuclear and irregular warfare concepts are equally important while discussing the modern conflicts. The emergence of new domains indicates that the focus has shifted from traditional combat to non-traditional or indirect ways of warfare. The Great power rivalry would be negatively affected by these latest developments in the field of warfare which would also impact the global security. The Cyber threats involving complex technologies coupled with issues like migration, climate change, economic and health crisis would further shake the foundation of international security. Hence, the modern battlefield requires new approach and strategies. A country might be strong militarily but lack online space and strategy. Similarly, a country might have a strong online space but lacks in cyber security measures.
