Air and Space Power Journal - Africa and Francophonie. Volume 7, Number 3, 3rd Quarter, 2016

• Main Author: Air Force Research Institute Maxwell AFB United States
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Subjects: africa; climate change; conflict; conflict prevention; contingency operations (military); culture (social sciences); deterrence; environmental governance; environmental protection; intergovernmental organizations; international law; international organizations; international relations; military operations; national politics; national security; peace missions; treaties

Military practitioners face a daunting task, posits Col Richard J. Bailey Jr. in Dilating Pupils: The Pedagogy of Cyber Power and the Encouragement of Strategic Thought. They must incorporate cyberspace and cyber power into an already complex suite of military applications. However, our nascent experience with the technology shows that we have yet to understand fully the domains intricacies. Students of cyber strategy must acknowledge and respect the challenges inherent in this conundrum. Thinking strategically about cyber power is a complex endeavor. This article proposes that strategy is ultimately dependent on understanding ones environment and adapting to uncertainty; thus, we still have much work to do in the cyber domain. Biases and frameworks, many of which result from etymological foundations, often hamper our understanding of the cyberspace environment. In addition, contextual confusion often leads to polarization in the early literature and a tendency to use anachronistic analogies to aid in comprehensionboth of which present problems to strategic thinking. Uncertainty in cyberspace is a product of the dialectical nature of strategy and the limits to useful informationboth organic and syntheticinherent in cyberspace and in our application of cyber power, therefore making adaptation critical to the cyber strategist. To make the most of their intellectual journey, students of cyber strategy must attempt to address these challenges or, at the very least, respect them. Air and Space Power Journal -Africa and Francophonie , 7, 3, 01 Jan 0001, 01 Jan 0001,