Technology, Ethics and the Protocols of Modern War

Artur Gruszczak, Pawel Frankowski

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781315410715
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Contemporary security has expanded its meaning, content and structure in response to globalisation and the emergence of greatly improved world-wide communication. The protocols of modern warfare, including targeted killing, enhanced interrogations, mass electronic surveillance and the virtualisation of war have changed the moral landscape and brought diverse new interactions with politics, law, religion, ethics and technology.

This book addresses how and why the nature of security has changed and what this means for the security actors involved and the wider society. Offering a crossdisciplinary perspective on concepts, meanings and categories of security, the book brings together scholars and experts from a range of disciplines including political, military studies and security studies, political economy and international relations. Contributors reflect upon new communication methods, postmodern concepts of warfare, technological determinants and cultural preferences to provide new theoretical and analytical insights into a changing security environment and the protocols of war in the 21st century.

A useful text for scholars and students of security studies, international relations, global governance, international law and ethics, foreign policy, comparative studies and contemporary world history.

1 Introduction

Protocols of modern war

Artur Gruszczak and Paweł Frankowski

Security studies have evolved into a robust, dynamic and forward-looking discipline of the social sciences. This is largely due to the growing importance of security in everyday activity of individuals, social groups, enterprises and states. It is also owing to the development, enlargement and enrichment of theoretical reflection and empirical research on security in the volatile and erratic world of the 21^st century. New security challenges which have emerged since the beginning of the present century demand both a premeditated and tenacious political response as well as insightful consideration and afterthought. They reflect and determine the nature and structure of security and its embedding in the complex social, economic, political and cybernetic systems. The increasing complexity of the security environment contributes to the emergence of new unconventional and postmodern risks and threats as well as the rise of unmodern men and societies who reject the global order based on universal values of mankind.

Contemporary security has expanded its meaning, content and structure. It has accompanied the emergence of cyberspace, globalisation of the economy, worldwide communication and cultural diversity. It has entered into diverse interactions with politics, law, culture, religion, ethics and technology. These interactions have often brought about substantial and challenging consequences expressed in different forms, modes and categories. They are interrelated, mutually referencing and self-sustaining, i.e., the variables belonging in a given dimension of security (political, economic, cultural, technological and societal) interact with each other and produce noticeable effects in different realms. For instance, cultural changes affect the political system and social order which can cause serious disturbance of public security and may require normative changes in order to counteract subversion.

This book is a collection of articles looking at contemporary security issues from different angles in order to highlight the complex and diverse nature of today’s security and at the same time point to a conceptual ‘interconnector’ enabling and validating the cross-disciplinary approach adopted in this volume. The so-called ‘protocols of war’ play the role of such an interconnector stimulating the circulation of ideas, concepts and meanings of security. They also provide an analytical platform for studying strategic, political, technological and ethical aspects of contemporary security. They frame the applied concepts of warfare and also underpin a strategy of conflict resolution and crisis management in social, cultural, technological, ethical and legal contexts. The protocols of war opened in the 21st century (‘War on Terror’, ‘War for Iraqi Freedom’, ‘Counterinsurgency Warfare’, ‘Hybrid War’, ‘Drone Wars’) have perverted the rugged moral landscape drawn by the ‘good old’ wars of the 20th century. Targeted killing, enhanced interrogations, human terrain system, and also mass electronic surveillance, virtualisation of war, post-truth public discourse and internet trolling are epitomes of demoralisation of force and tolerance for its indiscriminate use. Hyperactivity of unconventional actors, such as suicide bombers, child soldiers, cyber squads, private military contractors and paramilitary proxy groups (‘little green men’) (Plaw and Augé 2012, p. ix) has fuelled unprecedented outbursts of anger, aggression, rage and cruelty which were transformed into violent rituals as a highly coordinated form of collective violence (Tilly 2003, pp. 24–26).

We assume that a rationale for the increasingly indiscriminate infliction of violence bears profound moral, ethical and legal consequences for the metamorphoses of modern war. Technology as a ‘power generator’ enhances the blurred picture of contemporary security in terms of ethics, justice and moral reasons. The development of complex autonomous security systems may bring about positive effects in terms of technical effectiveness, controllability and reliability yet it may also lead to safety-critical situations and cause serious harm. In the world of ‘killer applications’ (Singer 2010) ethical issues and moral dilemmas too often face the onslaught of strategic imperatives, modi operandi, military necessity, command responsibility, etc. Deception and manipulation, enhanced by mass communication technologies and cyber methods, have become offensive harmful forms of confrontation practiced by anonymous entities posing normative dilemmas and legal challenges for domestic law and international law (Boothby 2014, pp. 8–9).

By introducing the concept of the protocols of war, we attempt to challenge conventional normative and explanatory categories underpinning observational rationality in peace and conflict studies. Confusion caused by observation and analysis of so many complex processes and phenomena in the contemporary security environment, which often overlap themselves and contradict each other, must not undermine the cognitive flexibility required for a comprehensive approach to modern war. Technological and cultural production of violence (Whitehead 2007) breeds multiple concerns when it comes both to its immediate effects and long-term consequences of ‘collateral moral damage’. It makes us ponder over what feeds violent behaviour and what limits or restraints can be imposed on its contagious outcomes, especially in social networks and state institutions. We argue that ‘protocolarisation’ of war and violence is a rational-choice response to growing complexity and ambiguity of contemporary social, economic and political systems whose agents and structures strive to avoid or escape anarchical tendencies. We believe that the perpetual interaction between rationality and emotions has been predetermined by normative principles and regulatory guidelines which shape individual beliefs and basic preferences of actors. In contemporary complex and precarious systems, strategic actors attempt to reduce the complexity of the system and its interdependencies. This is particularly relevant in conflict situations and during wartime. Violence and military force used to be applied either premediately or impetuously, subject to interplay between strategic and tactical levels of hostilities. Political decision makers, military commanders or warlords tend to reduce the amount of information needed for managing the area of confrontation and make use of simplified procedural schemes. In pursuit of an effective way of closing the complexity gap between warfare and military organisation along with its steering mechanisms, protocols of war are introduced in order to reduce pressure on the apparatus of political decision making, streamline the command chain and mitigate moral and cultural harm-based restraints (Rose 2011, chap. 5). As to the latter, the protocols of war help to handle the ‘impossibility theorem’ characteristic for cultural theory of conflict (Chai and Wildavsky 1994, p. 163).

Our concept of the protocol of war departs from narrow terms typical for a technical notion of the word ‘protocol’. Dictionary definitions of protocol point to rules as the core part of this term and formal modes of their implementation. Merriam-Webster (2016) proposes the most general definiton: ‘a system of rules that explain the correct conduct and procedures to be followed in formal situations’. Other expressions point to specific usage of the word ‘protocol’ in diplomacy, social relations and technology. For instance, Webster’s New World Dictionary (Guralnik 1986, p. 1143) provides a narrow definition proper for computer science: ‘set of rules governing the communication and the transfer of data, which is particularly proper for computer network systems’.

Building on Alexander Galloway’s view, according to which protocol refers to ‘standards governing the implementation of specific technologies’ (Galloway 2004, p. 7), we see the concept of the protocols of war particularly applicable to sensitive structures and complex frames of multi-layered contemporary forms of organised violence. In a nutshell, the protocol of war is a codified system of values, norms and rules that legitimise and explain forms, methods and means of violence in domestic and international affairs. It is also a recognised practice-by-experience accompanying the evolution of warfare and the development of the art of war. What matters for the present book is the cognitive value of the notion of the protocol of war lying in its capability to interconnect security components located at different levels or embedded in different structures.

Although Galloway (2004, p. 29) claims that protocol in the military context is seen as ‘a method of correct behavior under a given chain of command’, we do not conceive of protocols of war as ‘codes of warfare’, sets of formalised procedures, actions and practices, enshrined in international conventions and protocols defining the legal conditions of use of force. Protocols are about management, modulation and control. They are as concerned with disconnection as they are with connectivity (Thacker 2004, pp. xvii–xviii).

The protocols of war by no means can be identified with topoi of war, archetypical narratives describing violence and killings, deeply embedded in the historical memory and reproduced culturally by future generations of ethnic, religious or national communities. Rather, they reflect changeability, fluidness and ambivalence of the contemporary world where the ways and means of social and political becoming are interchangeable and self-referential. Therefore, any topos of modern war is doomed to obfuscate and distort reality because violence, force and outrage are deeply nested in frames of reference specific for a given stage of human development and organisation. In a nutshell, modern war has been conditioned by a complex set of ideas, rites and narratives which were deliberately fostered and extensively enhanced by technologies, ideologies and morals. Vaccari (2015, p. 21), drawing on Deleuze and Guattari’s nomadology, ascertains that: ‘The war machine brings its own patterns of thought, codes and ways of organising and occupying space’. We argue that modern war generates new sets of codes, rules and norms responding to structural dynamics of conflict, coercion and violence.

Moreover, following Bialasiewicz et al. (2007, pp. 407–409; comp. Butler 2009, pp. 7–9) we claim that the protocols of war introduce discursive practices aiming to articulate specifications of violence through a combination of recognised ethical, technological and organisational patterns which provide a mechanism of self-sustainment of conflict-prone dispositions and forms of behaviour. It is worth underlining that the emergence of unconventional actors, as well as new technologies and devices applied in military confrontation, generated new performative discourses (Bialasiewicz et al., 2007, pp. 406–407) labelling different varieties of violence and embedding them in popular consciousness through the use of mass communication techniques. As a result, the protocols of war entered into circulation as frames of reference helping to understand and interpret ‘war messages’. Consequently, they were used to seek publicity or provide rationale for unconventional (asymmetric, hybrid, non-linear) modes of warfare practiced by amorphous warring subjects. Bialasiewicz et al. (2007) as well as Sylvia (2013, pp. 3–4) use the term ‘codes of security’ and point to the post-9/11 ‘global war on terror’ as a classic example of circulation of performative discourses and ‘branding messages’.

The aim of this collection is to utilise the concept of the protocols of war for responding to the two following questions: (1) why and how has the nature of security changed so extensively and (2) what are the most remarkable implications of the accelerated evolution of contemporary meanings and forms of security? So, the book seeks to provide a comprehensive analysis of the dynamic of security structures and systems permeated by the protocols of war. The goal of the editors of this volume is to move a reflection on the changing nature of contemporary security to a deeper level of cross-disciplinary analysis enabling exploration of strategic, technological, ethical and societal aspects. The contributors in this volume take different positions and try to broaden their cognitive perspectives, seeking to highlight diversity rather than pursuing narrow paths of conventional security studies. Some directly refer to certain features of security, such as cyberspace, insurgency, use of drones or strategic communication. Others offer more theoretical and reflexive approaches to broadly-viewed security emphasising such aspects as social justice, militarisation and post-conflict reconstruction.

The book offers a cross-disciplinary perspective on concepts, meanings and categories of security. The cross-disciplinarity of this collection is additionally highlighted by the fact that the book brings together a group of scholars and experts representing different traditions, schools, generations, institutions and scientific communities from all over the world. Editors and authors represent a wide range of disciplines such as military studies, security studies, international relations, International Political Economy and contemporary studies. The chapters examine links between military practice and academic overlook, security and peace studies. Such a variety of views, approaches and opinions gives an additional flavour to the whole collection, enriching the analytical value and conceptual novelty of the book. It aims to underscore the changing perspectives on security, subject to normative, cultural, technological and political variables. Several contributions highlight the meaning of power in contemporary security studies and point to the problem of violence and indiscriminate use of force. Other texts explore the impact of new technologies, particularly the effects of virtualisation of the security arena and their relevance for understanding security in different contexts. Upon closer consideration, one can notice a plethora of questions and issues that are reconsidered and subjected to an intense scrutiny. If they still create an impression of conceptual eclecticism, it could be somehow defended by reference to the methodological paradigm of analytic eclecticism introduced to the social sciences, and specifically to IR studies, by Sil and Katzenstein (2010).

In this book, editors and authors point out that technology has exerted a particularly strong impact on today’s security. The emergence of virtual reality, the global expansion of the Internet and cellular telephony, the rise of robotics and the possibility to do remote jobs heralded a ‘brave new era’. It had pride in progressive expansion of high-tech devices and solutions, user-friendly global communication and enormous, extraordinary virtual and physical mobility of people and goods. On the other hand, technology proved to be a double-edged weapon, enabling the proliferation of hate, fanatism and extermism as well as facilitating illegal circulation of money, weapons and drugs, conceived as traditional threats for security. Military technologies have exerted powerful impact on security culture and organisation. It can be observed not only from the perspective of evolution of arms, military equipment and combat systems, but should be analysed in the much wider context of the evolution of contemporary war. The massive use of drones is one of the most glaring current examples of how technology determines the ‘way of warfare’. One should also take into account cultural and educational repercussions of security-oriented public policies and social behaviours. Public discourse has increasingly displayed a military- and security-oriented bias, often adjusted to the prevailing collective mindsets.

The book is divided in three parts. The first part addresses security in its dynamic, changing meaning, pointing to evolution and transformation of the organised forms of violence. The second part focuses on technological aspects, underlining the expansion of technologies, the rise of remotely-controlled devices, the dilemma of dual-use technologies and the impact of military technologies on education and science. The third part elaborates on current security dilemmas, focusing on terrorism and cyber warfare as the major global threats.

Part I begins with an analysis of strategic communication and its role in a complex information environment. Aware of the communication context of the protocols of war, Alex Hochuli and Michael Holenweger examine NATO standards of strategic communication and their impact on the allied concept and doctrine as well as responses from several member states. The dynamic of the complex security environment is assessed and analysed in a new conceptual context by Artur Gruszczak. He offers a critical assessment of post-Cold War concepts of violence and warfare, especially the theories of asymmetric conflicts and hybrid wars. He puts forward a concept of postmodern warfare as an analytical tool useful for the interpretation of contemporary protocols of war highlighting non-optimal effects of diversity and a binary approach to norms and values.

Security has been more often regarded not as a value or an ingredient of the normative system, but as a commodity provided by different stakeholders active on the global market. It has been offered by the increasing number of private security providers marking their presence not only in public facilities, transportation or military logistic and training but also at the frontline of armed conflicts. The expanding area of security outsourcing and state-licensed violence has raised moral issues and ethical dilemmas. The issue of legitimisation of violence as commodity is taken up by Iveta Hlouchova. She juxtaposes private security and military companies with foreign fighters as entities operating in the same theater of conflict which are neither isolated, nor independent. We can say that both actors write up the same protocol of war although each of them reads out, interprets and understands it in different manners. Moreover, Hlouchova underscores opposition between private military contractors and foreign fighters and focuses on the former as strategic player countering the phenomenon of foreign fighters. The market dimension of violence is investigated by Caroline Varin. She stems from the linkage between inequality and political instability and conflict around the world. She claims that inequality was a mobiliser for uprisings in the Arab Spring and across Africa, and suggests that the only way to address this issue is to securitise inequality and develop policies that effectively handle this matter. The nature of conflicts analysed by Varin can be partially noticed in the case of Ukraine presented by Crister S. Garrett. He points to cultural explanations of the turmoil in Ukraine and puts forward the concept of the ‘ecosystem of international security’. He elaborates on a dynamic cultural model that frames narratives of security. Garrett’s grasping of cultural complexity of contemporary conflicts corresponds with the meaning of protocol as framing production of referential schemes according to adopted rules (see Goffman 1986; Butler 2009).

Part II is devoted to the technological and ethical aspect of contemporary conflicts and rivalry. Muthumanikam Matheswaran builds his contribution on the concept of global commons arguing that solutions to ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• Notes on contributors
• 1 Introduction: Protocols of modern war
• 2 Strategic communication and contemporary European security
• 3 Violence reconsidered: Towards postmodern warfare
• 4 Private security, military companies and foreign fighters: Possible interactions and potential practical implications
• 5 Uprisings, violence and the securitisation of inequality
• 6 Complicating security: The multiple narratives emerging from the Ukraine crisis
• 7 Technology, development, global commons and international security: A global commons and interdisciplinary approach to global security
• 8 Organisational networks in post-conflict disarmament efforts
• 9 From MK-Ultra project to Human Terrain System
• 10 Ethical dimension of post-heroic and autonomous modern armed conflicts
• 11 European military and dual-use technology transfers to Russia
• 12 Dilemmas of security and social justice
• 13 Cyber security norms in the Euro-Atlantic region
• 14 Cyberspace’s ontological implications for national security
• 15 Conclusions
• Index