Support Materials
Using Leading Issues in IW As a Textbook
Return menu
- EMSE Infosec
- Julie Ryan's page
This book, intended for use in courses covering the emerging challenges in geopolitical relationships and competition, is not focused on the technology of warfare. Instead, it is focused on the use of a particular type of technology -- information processing technology -- for purposes other than peaceful cohabitation. This is not a book about hacking and touches on the technology only lightly. It is intended for non-technical focused discussions on what is important.
Basic syllabus structure:
Block 1: Introduction
Block 2: The Lessons of History
Block 3: Conceptualizing Modern Information Warfare
Block 4: The Challenge of Non-State Actors
Block 5: Partnerships and Conflicts of Interest
Block 6: An Attack on the Mind
Block 7: We’re All In This Together
Block 8: Theory of Attacks
Block 9: An Attack, Dissected
Block 10: Reversible Cyberattacks
Block 11: A Just War?
Block 12: Who's Responsible For Defense?
Block 13: The Right to Bear Arms?
Block 14: Virtual Societies and Virtual Warfare
Mapping to different semester lengths:
Syllabus details, block by block, can be found on this page:
From the introduction:
Information is the currency of the realm. As with any currency, it is subject to competition, manipulation, nurturing, theft, destruction, and governance. Hence, it is important to consider a concept of warfare that both uses information and the systems upon which information is gathered, husbanded, distributed, and controlled. The papers offered in this anthology are presented in a logical progression designed to take the reader through a thought process that begins with the historical antecedents of our current environment and ends with provoking questions regarding the nature of conflict and self-defense. The context of this conversation is one of security: the right to be safe in one’s person, the safety and continued value of one’s possessions, the mutual security of one’s environment, the elements of security for one’s community (including economic and national security), and the communal security of the international environment. These issues have never been easy to delineate so it should not be terribly surprising that the emergence of information security as a landscape for competition should be any less than extraordinarily complex.
The material provided on this website:
- A draft syllabus with suggested conversation topics and ancillary reading materials
- A set of learning objectives
- Suggested approaches to learning objective assessment
- Additional readings
Material will be added as time goes by. By making this information available freely on the web, I hope that instructors will find useful and thought provoking material to assist them in exploring this very intriguing topic. My thanks, of course, to the authors of the original papers that made this anthology possible.
Class 1: Block 1
Class 2: Blocks 2 & 3
Class 3: Blocks 4 & 5
Class 4: Block 6
Class 5: Block 7
Class 6: Midterm Exam
Class 7: Blocks 8 & 9
Class 8: Block 10
Class 9: Block 11
Class 10: Blocks 12 & 13
Class 11: Block 14
Class 12: Final Exam
10 Week Semester:
Class 1: Block 1
Class 2: Blocks 2 & 3
Class 3: Blocks 4 & 5
Class 4: Block 6
Class 5: Block 7
Class 6: Midterm Exam
Class 7: Blocks 8 & 9
Class 8: Blocks 10 & 11
Class 9: Blocks 12, 13, 14
Class 10: Final Exam
Class 1: Block 1
Class 2: Blocks 2 & 3
Class 3: Block 4
Class 4: Block 5
Class 5: Block 6
Class 6: Block 7
Class 7: Midterm Exam
Class 8: Block 8
Class 9: Block 9
Class 10: Block 10
Class 11: Block 11
Class 12: Block 12
Class 13: Block 13
Class 14: Block 14
Final Exam
