Taliban's Internet Strategy -- Information Power

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported on its website late last week ("The Taliban's Internet Strategy," Sept. 9, by Bashir Ahmad Gwakh), that the Taliban is developing an increasingly sophisticated Internet-based strategic communication approach in its fight against the United States and other Western nations.

In its report, RFE/RL quoted Abdul Sattar Maiwandi, the web editor of a Taliban website, who addressed the importance of information in warfare and the influence of news media. Reportedly, in an interview with Al-Emarah, the official Taliban website, Abdul Sattar Maiwandi observed, "Wars today cannot be won without media." He then added, "Media aim at the heart rather than the body, [and] if the heart is defeated, the battle is won."

Abdul Sattar Maiwandi seems to have studied well the strategic art of information in warfare. As I have learned here at the U.S. Army War College, victory in asymmetric warfare often means simply surviving. Despite the U.S.-led coalition's dismantling of the Taliban government in Afghanistan following the terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001, Taliban resistance continues and, some claim, is in resurgance in Afghanistan. If so, this development would support the notion that a smaller, more poorly armed group could outlast a more powerful force by avoiding destruction while it erodes the political will and means for that force to continue fighting.

This is not unlike the situation that Western governments now find themselves in, with economic conditions that are leading to reductions in military budgets and a refocusing of public attention from international conflict to domestic problems. At least in the United States, however, public opinion still supports the fight against terrorism, with nearly two-thirds of U.S. citizens expressing a willingness to give up some personal privacy and freedoms to continue the fight. Click here for more from AP.

Still, public support among Western nations seems to be at a tipping point, which increases the need for effective strategic communication efforts to counter and defeat Taliban propaganda. The reports of Taliban propaganda efforts are not new. News organizations like the BBC have been covering this story for nearly a decade.

But recent reports of the Taliban's use of social media and other emerging Internet-based forms of communication to prey upon willingness to fight further highlight the need to stay ahead of the Taliban in terms of employing information as an element of power. Organizations like the U.S. Army War College's Information in Warfare Group in the Center for Strategic Leadership are at the forefront of this effort. Visit the group's website for details of its information programs.

But more work may be needed to counter any increased investments by the Taliban in its information campaign. Just consider the alternatives. According to a BBC report in 2009, "The propaganda fight is intense because whoever wins it will gain the support of the people and stands a chance of winning the war on the ground too."

2011 Social Media Summit, Harrisburg (PA) University of Science & Technology

I'm looking forward to attending the 2011 Social Media Summit, held at Harrisburg University of Science & Technology next Wednesday, Sept. 14. I will accompany Professor Dennis Murphy, director of the U.S. Army War College's Information in Warfare Group, in the Center for Strategic Leadership. He will be a featured panelist for the Summit's 12:30-1:45 event, "Social Networks and the Military." Dennis and other panelists will discuss the difficult balancing act of using social media as an important communication channel while protecting against threats to military security as well as the safety and privacy rights of military members and families.

Prof. Dennis Murphy

Dennis is Professor of Information Operations and Information in Warfare at the U.S. Army War College's Center for Strategic Leadership. He served on active duty as an Army officer for 27 years and has published extensively on information operations, strategic communication, network centric warfare and national security issues. He was the first George C. Marshall Fellow for Political-Military and Diplomatic Gaming at the Department of State's Foreign Service Institute in 1999. He also has vast experience in information operations (IO) and strategic communication in combat and peace operations. As a result, he is in high demand as a speaker and panelist at forums like the 2011 Social Media Summit.

Click here for more information on the Social Media Summit. Click this link for more information on Dennis Murphy.

Cyberterrorism: New Information Frontier

Jeff Caton

Congratulations to U.S. Army War College colleague Associate Professor Jeff Caton for his invitation to appear with author Mark Bowden (Black Hawk Down) at the Oct. 5 World Affairs Council of Philadelphia forum on cyberterrorism. 




Mark Bowden

Bowden has written a new book, Worm: The First Digital World War (Grove/Atlantic), due out this October. In the book, Bowden explores the dynamic interplay between our hunger for Internet access and the risks associated with viruses, security flaws, personal privacy, network attacks, etc.

Jeff, whose office is next door to mine, is Professor of Cyberspace Operations here at the U.S. Army War College. He served for 28 years as an active-duty Air Force officer and has authored 13 professional publications and many book reviews. He is has gained national recognition as an expert on cyberspace as well as space, missile, and nuclear operations. Jeff and I often debate the merits of social media and other Internet-based forms of communication versus the risks associated with such open communication and personal privacy in cyberspace. The conversation between Jeff and Mark Bowden should be fascinating.

For more information about Jeff's appearance at the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia event on Oct. 5, check the council's website: http://www.wacphila.org/programs/center_city.html. You can also click this link for Jeff's biography.

Marist PRSSA President Alexis Murphy Receives National Gold Key Award

Congratulations to Marist College senior communication major (Public Relations) Alexis Murphy for receiving the prestigious Public Relations Student Society of America's (PRSSA) annual Gold Key Award. This national award recognizes outstanding public relations student leaders who best exemplify excellence in the academic study of public relations, ambitious pursuit of professional development opportunities, and leadership in their PRSSA Chapter.

To even be considered for the award, students must meet the following, very selective criteria:

 

• Have been a PRSSA member for at least two years.
• Be a senior or graduate student. (Seniors may apply up to one year after graduation.)
• Have a GPA of at least 3.4 in your major.
• Have held a PRSSA leadership position at the Chapter or National level.
• Have completed at least one public relations internship, approved by your Faculty or Professional Adviser.
• Affirm intention to become a PRSA Associate Member within one year of graduating.

Alexis has been an active member of the Marist College Red Foxes Chapter of PRSSA since her freshman year. She is currently serving as president of the chapter and served previously as the chapter's vice president. She has been instrumental in the chapter's professional growth and visibility on the national level. Among other accomplishments, she helped manage the chapter's first online leadership development forum, which was featured on the national PRSSA website. She also contributed to the establishment of the chapter's new student-run public relations firm, Northroad Communications LLC.

A complete list of previous Gold Key Award recipients is listed at http://bit.ly/pn7Q8q.

Update From U.S. Army War College -- It's About Thinking, Not War

I wanted to focus my latest update about my work at the U.S. Army War College on the mission of the College itself, which continues to impress me. When the institution was established in 1901, the College's founders committed an incredible misnomer. The curriculum taught at the War College is hardly about waging war. Quite the opposite: it's about thinking of ways to apply elements of national power (diplomacy, information, military, econonics) without having to resort to war; or, when war becomes inevitable, acheiving the nation's political objectives through the most ethical and effective application of military power.

The U.S. Army War College's name was bestowed by the U.S. War Department, which is now known as the U.S. Department of Defense. Wisely, military institutions of higher learning established by the Department of Defense have been given more appropriate names. Take for example the National Defense University, founded in 1976, whose mission is "prepare military and civilian leaders from the United States and other countries to evaluate national and international security challenges through multi-disciplinary educational and research programs, professional exchanges, and outreach" (see http://www.ndu.edu/info/mission.cfm).

Elihu Root, U.S. Secretary of War, 1899–1904

Still, in spite of its inauspicious name, the U.S. Army War College performs a valuable service for our nation. In 1903, at the ceremony that marked the laying of the War College's cornerstone, Secretary of War Elihu Root proclaimed, "Not to promote war, but to preserve peace by intelligent and adequate preparation to repel aggression, this institution is founded" (see http://bit.ly/pzmxag).

Contemporary military leaders, like current War College Commandant Major General Gregg Martin, U.S. Army, have explained that the War College experience is "about thinking how to think." General Martin Dempsey, U.S. Army Chief of Staff and the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, remarked recently that the frantic pace and bias for action associated with most military jobs allow little time for officers to read, think, and reflect.  Gen. Dempsey offered the following advice to students at the War College: "Take the opportunity here to do some serious thinking ... about how to think."

Everywhere I go on Carlisle Barracks, home of the U.S. Army War College, I witness this advice being enacted by students, faculty, and staff. Just yesterday, sitting in class with 16 students (senior military officers from the United States, Italy, and Columbia), I found myself amazed (and grateful) for the opportunity to listen to the War College's chair of national intelligence, a Central Intelligence Agency officer, lead a discussion of current political-military strategy in Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other regions of instability. Seamlessly, the class actively dissected current national security strategy, compared it to lessons from historical events like the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC), and constructed ideas for improvements to strategy using critical thinking processes taught here at the College.

Students here prepare for such discussions by reading the work of some of the world's greatest military historians and strategists: Thucydides, Sun Tzu, Clausewitz -- along with current works by contemporary authors like Roger Fisher, Thomas Ricks, Bob Woodward, Thomas Schelling, and Joseph Nye.

In closing, I will provide the reading list of books (this list does not include shorter readings) assigned to students during the year at the War College. Looking at this list, I no longer feel bad about the "heavy" reading list I assign to undergraduate and graduate students in my courses at Marist College. In fact, I have copies of these books on my office bookshelf, and aspire to read through them before my year here is complete.

• Art of War (Sun Tzu/Griffith)
• Clausewitz (Howard)
• Conflict after the Cold War, 2nd ed. (Betts)
• Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis, 2nd ed. (Allison & Zelikow)
• Fiasco: the American Military Adventure in Iraq (Ricks)
• Fifth Discipline, rev. and updated (Senge)
• FM 6-22, Army Leadership (Oct 06)
• Future of the Army Profession, rev and expanded, 2nd ed. (Snider)
• Getting to Yes (Fisher)
• Great Communication Secrets of Great Leaders (Baldoni)
• Inevitable Surprises: Thinking Ahead…Turbulence (Schwartz)
• Landmark Thucydides: Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War (Strassler)
• Leading Change (Kotter)
• Making of Strategy
• Masks of War (Builder)
• Obama's Wars (Woodward)
• On War (Clausewitz)
• Price of Liberty (Hormats)
• Rise to Globalism, 8th rev ed. (Ambrose)
• Soldiers, Statecraft, and History (Nathan)
• Strategic Leadership Primer (3rd ed.)
• Strategy (Liddell-Hart)
• Thinking in Time (Neustadt & May)
• Type Talk at Work, rev. (Kroeger)
• Understanding Global Conflict and Cooperation (Nye & Welch)
• US Army War College Guide to National Security Issues, 4th ed. (Bartholomees), V. 1 and 2
• War & Politics (Brodie)
• War Within (Woodward)
• When Cultures Collide, 3rd ed. (Lewis)
• Who Says Elephants Can't Dance (Gerst)

Happy reading to all!

USA Today College Features Marist PRSSA and President Alexis Murphy

Congratulations to the Marist College PRSSA Red Foxes Chapter and, in particular, PRSSA President Alexis Murphy and Faculty Adviser Jennie Donohue, for recognition of their work by USA Today College. USA Today College featured the community service work performed by the Red Foxes PRSSA members in support of a local Girl Scout chapter this past spring. Specifically, the chapter conducted a workshop on public speaking for the Girl Scouts.


Following the workshop, Alexis authored a blog post with advice for other PRSSA chapters, which USA Today College featured online on August 26, 2011. Among other bits of advice, Alexis suggested:

• Take a look at your club’s objectives and missions.
• Research your local community.
• Reach out to the organization that is of interest to you and your team.  
• Dress appropriately based on the event.
• Bring a camera to document your event to share with other organizations and your college. 
• Make sure that all the supplies you need are all set

Read the entire post at http://usat.ly/qYaJRE. Again, congratulations to Alexis, Jennie and the Red Foxes chapter for earning Marist more national recognition. Follow the Red Foxes PRSSA Chapter on its website or blog.

Online Education -- Not So Fast (or Cheap, or Easy)

Mike Terry photo, for The New York Times

The New York Times' front-page story, "Online Enterprises Gain Foothold as Path to College Degree" (by Tamar Lewin, Aug. 25, p. 1) caught my eye ... and raised some concerns.

First, Lewin pointed out that a number of enterprises are making a lot of money by creating online degree programs that are "cheaper, faster and flexible enough to take work experience into account" (para. 1).  Second, Lewin claimed, "For those who have the time and money, the four-year residential campus still offers what is widely considered the best educational experience" (para. 5).

I have nothing against efforts to make the cost of higher education more affordable and accessible. However, I take exception to the impression left by the article that online education programs are inherently cheaper, faster, easier and better than traditional face-to-face degree programs.

I teach several graduate courses in Marist College's School of Communication and the Arts' master's program in communication. I know from student feedback that our courses, while they may be affordable and flexible, are not fast or easy. The following comment, posted by a graduate student in one of my online discussion forums, belies the notion that online courses are by nature faster and easier:

"Being on a virtual team at Marist has made communication more difficult because of the delayed response that often occurs when communicating via email. Being a distance learner means that I cannot simply walk into my professor's office and ask a question. Instead, I need to email my professors when I have a question and then wait until they check their email accounts if I want to have a question answered. I've also noticed that operating in a virtual classroom has required more time in the process of getting to know my professors and classmates than face-to-face relationships tend to require. Perhaps that is the most significant challenge I've noticed in virtual communication versus face-to-face communication – time. Everything seems to take more time. Coordinating meetings online can take almost as long as attending a meeting face-to-face. Plus, virtual communication often requires learning new technologies, which takes time as well.

"The benefit of virtual communication I've noticed most is the education it enables me to acquire in spite of a very busy schedule. Without the ability to meet virtually, I would never have time to commute to and attend face-to-face classes. Another aspect of virtual communication that I greatly appreciate is the ability to compose my thoughts before posting them online. In face-to-face interactions, communication is impromptu and harder to prepare for. With virtual communication like discussion forums, I am afforded all the time I need to consider the discussion occurring around me and compose my thoughts about a given topic before chiming in."

Another student in the course offered this comment, supported by quotations from course readings:

"In this virtual environment ... class is always taking place, so there really is no 'cap' on participation. So we spend much more time 'in the classroom' than if we were attending a weekly, physical class. As Barrett (2010) wrote, 'With a virtual team, a high level of commitment is even more critical than with a traditional team' (p. 333). It also requires more effective internal communication from professors, including 'supportive management, effective media/forums, and ongoing assessment' (p. 349)."

Yet another student affirmed the value of flexibility in online education described by Lewin but dispelled the notion that flexibility equates to easier coursework:

"I chose the Marist program over in-person programs here where I live because of my harried schedule between work and my lacrosse club. I needed the flexibility of working within my limited free time.

"But I have [found] that the Marist program is more challenging and I do more work for this than I would have if I were actually attending classes here. When I share info with friends about what we do as part of our program, they are amazed."

"So, online learning has definitely come a long way."

I could go on and on, offering other comments from graduate and undergraduate students that echo the previous examples. However, my point is that quality of teaching and learning in degree programs is not determined by the platform (e.g., online or on the ground). Rather, the quality of outcomes in online education, just like on-the-ground education, is associated directly with the quality and commitment of the educational institution, teachers, and students.

I'm proud to teach at Marist ... and grateful for every opportunity to share a classroom with our superb students, whether that means undergraduate or graduate, on the ground or online. And, if you are considering a Marist education, come and join us. I can't say that your experience will be cheap, fast, or easy. However, I can offer assurances that your education, whether it takes place online or in a brick-and-mortar classroom, will be of the highest quality.