Krigsföringsprinciper i en informationsvärld : En teoriprövande studie

The rise of the technological age has had a huge impact on society, from the way we connect with people to the way war is waged. As a result, countries had to adapt their strategies to include modern technology and subsequently an increase in information management. An increase of information both between forces and to the rest of society through different media outputs. During research it was discovered that there is currently a lack of theoretical explanations on information warfare (IW). A theory is only valid if it has a clear connection to empirical data. Therefore, this study aims to verify Robert Leonhard’s theory for the information age in relation to IW. Two cases were examined: Russia and the USA's utilization of IW during the war against Georgia in 2008 and the Invasion of Iraq in 2003. The analysis will be based on the three dimensions of IW: the cognitive, physical and information arena. The result shows that R. Leonhard’s theory is valid in accordance with the USA’s usage of IW and partially Russia’s use of IW. It is therefore possible to draw the conclusion that the study strengthens the theory. Consequently, this research can be used as a steppingstone to future studies.