[liberationtech] Is the Cyberwar beginning?

[André Rebentisch]

Am 31.01.2013 11:12, schrieb Rich Kulawiec:
> There's no such thing as cyberwar, any more than there's a "war on
> poverty" or "war on drugs" or "war on terror".  It's a construct either
> (a) devised by people who can't come up with a better metaphor -- or
> simply abstain from trying and/or (b) devised by people with an agenda,
> e.g., further bloating already-obscene military budgets, advancing
> political agendas such as domestic spying, etc.

Construction is the norm, so being a construct is no argument.

The issue is why you politically use the construct/metaphore. For
instance to attach it to a military discourse and capabilities, to show
that it is within a military purvue.
On the other hand other advocates may use the same phrase to pander to
pacifist sentiments when they advance political agendas against
"domestic spying" etc.

The discusssion isn't new, here for instance an article from 1993:
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01495939308402915

As regards the context, we approach the 49th Munich Security Conference,
and usually thinktanks launch their PR fireworks around the annual
event, characterised by more open and independent thought.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich_Conference_on_Security_Policy
http://www.securityconference.de/1/

--- A