[ecrea] New Book: Digital War

Digital War (Routledge) - by William Merrin


/Digital War/offers a comprehensive overview of the impact of digital 
technologies upon the military, the media, the global public and the 
concept of ‘warfare’ itself.

This introductory text explores the range of uses of digital technology 
in contemporary warfare and conflict. The book begins with the 1991 Gulf 
War, which showcased post-Vietnam technological developments and 
established a new model of close military and media management. It 
explores how this model was reapplied in Kosovo (1999), Afghanistan 
(2001) and Iraq (2003), and how, with the Web 2.0 revolution, this 
informational control broke down. New digital technologies allowed 
anyone to be an informational producer leading to the emergence of a new 
mode of ‘participative war’, as seen in Gaza, Iraq and Syria. The book 
examines major political events of recent times, such as 9/11 and the 
War on Terror and its aftermath. It also considers how technological 
developments such as unmanned drones and cyberwar have impacted upon 
global conflict and explores emerging technologies such as 
soldier-systems, exo-skeletons, robotics and artificial intelligence and 
their possible future impact.

Contents:

Introduction: A New Field

1. Top-Down War: Broadcasting Conflict in the 1990s

2. Non-War and Virtual War: Theorizing Conflict in the 1990s

3. Informational and Networked War: Remaking Conflict in the 1990s

4. The War on Terror: Reporting 9/11 and Afghanistan

5. Shock and Awe: Reporting the Iraq War

6. From Abu Ghraib to Facebook: The End of Military Informational Control

7. Transparent War: The Wikileaks ‘War Logs’

8. Drone War: Telepresent Assassination

9. Ambient War: Cyberwar Everywhere

10. #ParticipativeWar: Social Media in Gaza and Syria

11. Viral War: Islamic State’s Digital Terror

12. Augmented War: Wearables, Phones, Soldier-Systems, AR, Simulations, 
Sensors, Exo-Skeletons and BCI

13. Algorithmic War: The A.I. and Robotic RMA

Conclusion: The Clouds of War

Reviews:

*'There is no longer war, there is only digital war. Merrin convincingly 
implicates an astonishing array of actors as participant in contemporary 
conflicts: this is war without bystanders. And in an era in which 
hacking, drones, robotics, artificial intelligence, trolls and bots have 
destabilised the already shaky concept of war, Merrin brings urgently 
needed order, clarity and vision. His analysis is sharp, compelling and 
refreshingly uncluttered. Students and scholars of Politics, IR, Media, 
Communication, Journalism, War and Security Studies now have a fabulous 
core text, but historians of contemporary warfare will also embrace this 
new guide for its bold imaginary, its vivid narration. Some will 
resist*/Digital War/*, for visionaries tend to upset the canon. But 
after Merrin, the field of war and media is renamed, reimagined, 
revitalised.'*--/Andrew Hoskins, University of Glasgow/

*‘Within the span of roughly two decades, we have seen remarkable 
transformations in how wars are fought and how global publics watch 
these wars. William Merrin provides an excellent guide to this 
evolution, analyzing topics ranging from expanded concepts of 
"journalism" to newly created battlefield robotics. Academics, 
policymakers, and the broader public face a daunting task in keeping up 
with the changing dynamics of conflict. Merrin understands this and 
helps us keep pace.**/Digital War/*//*is the right book at the right 
time*.’--/Philip Seib,University of Southern California, USA/

*'Merrin has redefined the field of war and media. He connects 
traditional concerns about leaks, legitimacy and propaganda to the 
wearables, drones and robots through which war is now waged. The result 
is war perceived as if through fractals -- never-ending patterns of 
complexity and recursion, where the origin, cause or effect is never 
quite visible. Merrin's fascinating story takes us from war fought 
through top-down information control in the 1990s to today's 
participatory wars. But the fog of war is not lifted. Merrin explains 
how the information glut of participatory war keeps us in the dark. War 
continues to bring death and suffering, but our perception of that 
reality is more fragmented and cloudy than ever.*'--/Ben 
O'Loughlin, Royal Holloway, University of London/

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