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The Right to National Self-Defense

in Information Warfare Operations

ISBN-13 978-0-9556055-1-2
Retail price: £25.00

The Author

Dr. Dimitrios Delibasis is a Counsellor for International Security Affairs and holds an officer’s commission in the Greek Army Reserve. His higher education includes degrees from the University of Athens, Georgetown University and the University of Westminster. Since 2001 he has been a visiting lecturer at the University of Westminster. His ambitious book presents a new paradigm by showing that Cyberwarfare, along with other methods of warfare defy the traditional State regulatory monopoly with regard to the use of force, and tend to make obsolete accepted ways of legal thinking as understood in the past. The book begins with a careful in-depth analysis of Cyberwarfare’s special features, such as stealth, speed, untraceability, the availability to State as well as Non-State sponsored agents; the defiance of traditional borders, and the resulting unprecedented potential for destruction. All of this is shown as typical of modern methods of warfare. The ultimate aim is to demonstrate that we have exceeded the boundaries of traditional legal thinking, based on the concept of regulating types of forcible action traditionally available to the State.

About this book

This ambitious work which took the better part of a decade to produce will be essential reading for all serious defence study students, and of absorbing interest to military professionals and lay people concerned with the future of warfare and all aspects of response to military attack.

Its ultimate aim is to demonstrate that the advent of Cyberwarfare has pushed traditional legal thinking regarding the regulation of forcible action beyond traditional boundaries. It attempts to do so by critically analyzing specific characteristics which are inherent to Cyberwarfare such as stealth, speed, untraceability, the availability to State as well as Non-State sponsored agents, their defiance of traditional borders, and an unprecedented potential for destruction, all of which have played a major role in making obsolescent traditional legal norms relied upon for the effective regulation of the use of force.

It follows from the above that no defence system can be effectively regulated, especially one as new and unconventional as Information Warfare, unless all its specific aspects are explored as deeply as possible. The best means to achieve such a purpose have been deemed to be through the inclusion as well as the careful analysis of as many real life examples of Information Warfare operations as possible in order to illustrate the special nature of Information Warfare and its various individual features.
The examples compiled for inclusion have been selected not on the basis of being the most recent, but on the basis of their factual background being as fully known as possible. Consequently, this book has been constructed around the concept of legality, starting with a section outlining currently existing legal norms of individual self-defense, then applying those norms to Information Warfare Operations including a presentation of existing international legal instruments with provisions applicable to Information Warfare which could serve as additional essential guidelines for a future legal framework specifically crafted to regulate the use of force in cyberspace.

Last but not least this book sets a paradigm with regard to Cyberwarfare as well as with other methods of warfare which escape the boundaries of the traditional State monopoly of the use of force. It ultimately shows the extent to which traditional legal thinking, which is shaped around the premise of regulating typical forms of State forcible action, when faced with such methods of warfare is totally obsolete.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

  1. The Revolution of the World Wide Web
  2. Information Warfare: The Ideal Weapon for Potential Aggressors
    Worldwide
  3. International Law and the Regulation of Armed Force: A Search for Answers

FIRST PART

Chapter 2

I. INFORMATION WARFARE: AS OLD AS HUMAN HISTORY

  1. Information Warfare in the past
  2. Modern Information Warfare Operations
  3. The Future of Information Warfare

Chapter 3

II. KEY PLAYERS OF THE MODERN INFORMATION WARFARE BATTLEFIELD

  1. States and State Sponsored Agents
  2. Non State Sponsored Agents

Chapter 4

III. OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE INFORMATION WARFARE

  1. Offensive Information Warfare
  2. Defensive Information Warfare

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SECOND PART

Chapter 5

I. THE LEGAL NORMS ON THE USE OF INTER-STATE FORCE AND INDIVIDUAL SELF-DEFENSE

  1. Traditional Legal Norms on the Use of Interstate Force: The Historical Origins
  2. International Customary Legal Norms on the Use of Interstate Force
  3. The Emergence of Modern Legal Norms and the Prohibition of the Use of Interstate Force
    1. The Period before World War II
    2. The UN Paradigm

    Chapter 6

    1. The Concept of Self-Defense
      1. The Right to Self-Defense
      2. The Concept of Armed Attack
      3. The Three Conditions Precedent to the Lawful Exercise of the Right to
        Self-Defensed) The Role of the United Nations Security Council

    Chapter 7

    1. The Optional Modes of Individual Self-Defense
      1. Self-Defense in Response to an Armed Attack by a State
      2. Self-Defense in Response to an Armed Attack from a State

    Chapter 8

    1. Anticipatory and Interceptive Self-Defense: an Exercise in Perplexity

    TABLE OF CONTENTS

    Chapter 9

    1. State Responsibility and Inter-State Force
      1. General Rules: Application
      2. State Responsibility and Aggression

    Chapter 10

    II. THE RIGHT OF STATES TO USE FORCE IN CYBERSPACE FOR INDIVIDUAL SELF-DEFENSE PURPOSES

    1. The Legal Foundations
      1. Information Warfare Operations within the Concept of Self-Defense
      2. Information Warfare Operations within Customary Legal Norms of Self-Defense
      3. The Role of the United Nations Security Council

    Chapter 11

    1. Information Warfare Operations within the Optional Modes of Individual Self-Defense
      1. The Unique Nature of Information Warfare Operations within the Modality of Individual Self-Defense
      2. Information Warfare Operations in Response to an Armed Attack by a State
      3. Information Warfare Operations in Response to an Armed Attack from a State

    Chapter 12

    1. Additional International Legal Instruments Supporting the Right of States to Self-Defense in Information Warfare Operations
      1. The Jus in Bello
      2. The Law of Space
      3. Oceans Law
      4. Communications Law
      5. The Law of International Agreements

    TABLE OF CONTENTS

    Chapter 13

    1. Information Warfare Operations and State Responsibility
      1. Information Warfare operations and the Need for Attribution
      2. Application of the Rules on State Responsibility to Information Warfare operations
    2. Information Warfare Operations and Current Norms of Individual Self-Defense: The Weakness of the Existing Regulatory Regime

    THIRD PART

    Chapter 14

    I. REGULATING INFORMATION WARFARE OPERATIONS: THE NEED FOR ‘A JUS NOVUM’

    1. A Search for Possible Ways to Strengthen International Co-operation on the Issue
    2. An International Convention Regulating State Use of Force in Cyberspace: An Exercise in Futility or a Real Possibility
    3. Factors, which May Play a Role in Shaping the World’s Future Attitude towards State Uses of Force in Cyberspace

    Chapter 15

    II. CONCLUSIONS

    BIBLIOGRAPHY & OTHER SOURCES

    LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS