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Information Operations - Doctrine and Practice: A Reference Handbook (Contemporary Military, Strategic, and Security Issues)

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Whether modern military operations are kinetic (things going boom) or not (humanitarian assistance), there is a need to manage and disseminate information to inform and influence. This is done either through the Public Affairs or somebody else. Collectively, that "somebody" else is Information Operations, or IO. Understanding what IO is, and perhaps more importantly what it is not, has been challenging for those not practicing it (but even then, there's some confusion).

Over the last several years, only a few military monographs of note have explored the role and purpose of IO. As far as text or reference books, only Leigh Armistead's edited work is the only substantial post-9/11 resource. There's a new book that incorporates the lessons and evolutions of the last several years

Dr. Christopher Paul's Information Operations--Doctrine and Practice: A Reference Handbook is a necessary update to IO literature. It is setup and reads like, just as the title states, a reference handbook focused on military IO. Chris, a social scientist, methodologically pulls together relevant doctrine, pertinent works, historical examples, and provides analysis, challenges, and tensions of and between the elements of IO.

In analyzing the elements of IO, Chris is guided by three major themes. The first is integrating IO with higher (and broader) spanning the whole of the U.S. government. Second, recasting IO's five core capabilities -- psychological operations (PSYOP), military deception (MILDEC), operational security (OPSEC), electronic warfare (EW), and computer network operations (CNO) -- into two pillars, one based on systems and the other on content. And third is the tension between "black" and "white" information.

There is nothing inherently controversial in the book. Although some may take exception with (absolutely correct) statements like "Counterpropaganda features prominently in PSYOP doctrine, but it is also part of the public affairs portfolio." And, he continues,"It isn't clear who has the lead."

To most practitioners, there may be nothing new, but Chris has done a tremendous service in bringing together and discussing all the elements of IO. If you have Armistead's fine book on your shelf, this book replaces it with new discussions and analysis on the transformations that have occurred over the last several years, including Defense Support for Public Diplomacy, Blogs and OPSEC, civil-military operations, the tension with Public Affairs, among others.

If you are studying, or simply interested in, military information operations, then this is required reading that has no peer.

Even if the structure and culture of information operations (in lower case) were to change tomorrow, this book is still essential for its analysis of each of the military components involved.

Dr. Paul has delivered a careful and thoughtful review of U.S. doctrine for information operations and its components. Not satisfied with a mere review, Dr. Paul extends his coverage and offers a rich discussion of how those components integrate in practice.

Each information operations capability (PSYOP, MILDEC, OPSEC, EW, and CNO) receives a thorough treatment. Dr. Paul frames his treatment of these capabilities with a an innovative metaphor--they relate to each other like "apples" and "apple carts." This paradigm helps clear up a complex field and can be useful for thinking about IO integration in the future.

Information Operations--Doctrine and Practice also does a great job describing the tensions inherent in the doctrine for various IO and related capabilities. More importantly it lays out a careful description of how those tensions are worked out(or not) during actual operations. The historical vignettes do a nice job of making the abstract concrete and providing context for the (sometimes dry) doctrine.

While the content will probably not be new to IO practitioners, Information Operations--Doctrine and Practice would be a great resource for the interested layman and for military officers who need to use IO capabilities but do not have an IO background themselves.