Harmony & Chaos
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Vol. 1, Issue 3 December 2009 Journal IO A publication of the Information Operations Institute Harmony & Chaos: The Principles of China’s Unrestricted Warfare Association of Old Crows Vol. 1, Issue 3 • December 2009 Journal IO Operations Specialist 2nd Class Gretchen Flint along with Operations Specialist Seaman Andrew Wilbanks monitor radar in Combat Information Center (CIC) aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan in 2006. US Navy photo by Pedro A. Rodriguez (Released) Contents 3 Harmony & Chaos: The Principles 27 Book Review of China’s Unrestricted Warfare Ideas as Weapons: Infl uence and By Carson Thomas Checketts, J.D. Perception in Modern Warfare. By MAJ Edgar A. Jimenez, US Army 12 China’s Public Diplomacy Institution: Its Development, Challenges and Prospects of Its Practice By Dr. Zhang Zhexin 18 Information Operations: Not Just a On the cover: A Chinese Su-27 Flanker fighter makes a fly by Set of Capabilities at Anshan Airfield, China Mar. 24, 2007. DoD photo by Staff Sgt. D. Myles By Michael L. Williams and Marc J. Romanych Cullen (Released) 23 A Short History of Religious Leader Engagement Operations in Operation Iraqi Freedom By Master Sergeant John Proctor, US Army EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD LTC Kevin Doyle, USA (Ret) ©2009 Association of Old Crows/Naylor, LLC. All rights Mr. Robert Giesler EDITORIAL & PRODUCTION reserved. The contents of this publication may not be re- Mr. Austin Branch, SES produced by any means, in whole or in part, without the Mr. Jake Schaffner, SES STAFF prior written authorization of the publisher. Editors: Mr. Mark Johnson, SES Joel Harding, Dr. Dan Kuehl Design & Layout: Dr. Dan Kuehl Barry Senyk Editorial: The articles and editorials appearing in this RADM Andy Singer, USN (Ret) magazine do not represent an official AOC position, unless Submissions: IO Journal Mr. Kirk Hunigan The welcomes specifically identified as an AOC position. BG John Davis, USA article submissions for consideration. Manu- RDML Bill Leigher, USN scripts should be of interest to the information BrigGen Mark O. Schissler, USAF operations community and should include Col David Wilkinson, USMC proper sourcing with endnotes. All articles are CAPT Michael Hewitt, USN peer reviewed. Direct all submissions to Joel Col Al Bynum, USAF (Ret) Harding, [email protected]. 2 IO Journal | December 2009 Harmony & Chaos: The Principles of China’s Unrestricted Warfare “Where is the battlefi eld? The answer: everywhere.” – Unrestricted Warfare By Carson Thomas Checketts, J.D. I. The Century of Asia ast year in a speech at George Washington combination of these factors has left little time for careful con- University, the former Director of National sideration of what the Century of Asia may hold for the future Intelligence, Admiral McConell spoke about of the US A recent Australian Defense White Paper cites China’s how the world will look in 20-25 years. The expanded defense budget, and suggests the outcome of China’s Admiral was direct in his prediction: “the rise will largely be determined by the bi-lateral relationship summary line is, it’s the Century of Asia. The between the US and China. 3 The relationship between US and numberL one economy in the world will be China.”1 Assuming China was coined the “G-2” by the Council on Foreign Relations this assessment proves to be accurate, the US will continue to to highlight the significance of this relationship.4 President see a gradual transition of economic, military and politi- Obama went further when announcing the new Ambassador to cal power from Washington to Beijing. China, stating “I can think of no more important assignment The US faces this decline in comprehensive than creating the kinds of bridges between our two countries national power (CNP), at a particularly inop- that will determine the well being not just of Americans and portune time, with the war in Afghanistan Chinese, but also the future of the world.” 5 ramping up, the ongoing commitment There are lively debates about whether China will choose in Iraq and a painful recession re- a peaceful rise or come into its own through a more confron- sources are spread thin.2 The tational nationalism. The standard logic of a rising power is Chinese tanker soldiers with the People’s Liberation Army look on during demonstrations at Shenyang training base, China. DOD photo by Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen, U.S. Air Force. (Released) IOIO JournalJJoJououournarrnnnaal | DecemberDecDeDececembeemmbmberer 200922020000009 3 that it reaches critical mass by engaging in a regional or international conflict.6 These debates often cite the rise of Euro- pean powers in an age un-touched by the Information Revolution in Military Af- fairs. The instruments of national power in the 18th, 19th and 20th century were far different from the broad array of tools available to China in the 21st century. The information revolution in military affairs has changed how nations engage in competition. Perhaps the most significant differ- ence between the emergence of super- powers in the past and China is the degree to which irregular warfare is ca- pable of accelerating the pace of strategic gains against international rivals. One example of the danger posed is economic warfare in the form of industrial espio- nage. Mr. James Olson, the former chief An F/A-18F Super Hornet, from the “Red Rippers” of Strike Fighter Squadron Eleven (VFA) 11, fires of CIA counterintelligence has stated that off its flares while performing evasive maneuvers during an air power demonstration for officials China’s economic warfare program is the from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) in April 2007. US Navy photo by Mass “most pervasive,” of more than 26 nations Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kristopher Wilson (Released). that conduct industrial espionage against the US.7 Economic warfare is not new to the US or to the UK. it helpful to use a new term, sufficiently broad, to cover the In 1940 after Paris fell to Germany, Churchill famously in- operations discussed in the book. I use the term “offensive structed the Minister of Economic Warfare, Mr. Hugo Dalton to peacetime operations” or (OPTO) to cite the range of opera- “set Europe ablaze.”8 The difference between the wartime eco- tions, tools and strategies that are employed individually or nomic warfare of World-War II and modern economic warfare in conjunction with one another, short of open warfare, to is the political and technological environment permeating the influence, degrade or attack the components of a nation’s com- international economy, which make an actual declaration of prehensive national power. This term enables us to consider war unnecessary. Inflicting massive economic harm on a com- the strategic implications of competing with a foreign nation peting national power or the world economy is now possible whose strategy is focused on winning without fighting. without declaring war. Just last year MI-5 warned that China Before getting into the content of URW, it’s important to was spying on industries inside the UK.9 Outside of industry, consider how and why OPTO presents both an ideological and foreign governments are reportedly targeting our national strategic threat to the international legal order as well as US infrastructure. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that national security. The strategic challenge to the US spelled out foreign governments have penetrated the US electric grid.10 in URW is this: Can the US win a long-term, strategic campaign With no prescribed method of either tracing or deterring such in diverse, seemingly disconnected fields of competition during intrusions, elements of US infrastructure are at the mercy of peacetime, or is US power so focused on conventional capabilities nations capable of penetrating so deeply into our national and advanced weapon systems that it will be surpassed by China boundaries. as the primary political, financial and strategic influence over the Experts in Chinese information and irregular warfare cite next century? “Unrestricted Warfare” by Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui (URW) In a conventional war there are explicit thresholds and as a turning point in how China views 21st century warfare.11 boundaries between nations. If an enemy fleet or army ap- As the title of the book implies, URW suggests a range of op- proaches a nation’s geographic border, the nation being at- erations that go far beyond what the US defense and intel- tacked has both a warning and a legal right to self-defense. ligence communities would put under any singular conceptual The challenge with OPTO is that the operations, while offen- framework. URW incorporates components of information op- sive in nature, often fail to trigger any thresholds that would erations, irregular warfare, cyberwarfare, terrorism, economic lead to political, legal or military reaction on the part of the warfare, lawfare, espionage and elements of foreign relations nation being targeted. URW advocates for combining various to advocate for a form of warfare that “breaks ideology,” and components of OPTO that accumulate strategic victories over moves in a completely new direction. The breadth of operations time, avoiding any head-on confrontation that would trigger discussed in URW, make it a difficult book to discuss using US a conventional military response. While OPTO has always been terminology. Rather than forcing the tactics, strategies and a part of warfare, the degree of our nations vulnerability has operations discussed in URW into US parlance, I have found greatly expanded in the 21st century. 4 IO Journal | December 2009 Returning to the legal considerations, the word “offensive,” that over 103 nations were penetrated. While the group was (in OPTO) raises some questions about whether or not these able to trace the intrusions back to China, they maintain that operations reach the legal threshold of “an attack,” as defined there is no way to attribute the intrusions to the Chinese gov- by the law of war and the United Nations Charter.