Conventional warfare as we know it takes place on the battle field. In the 20^th century the battle for regional and global hegemony doled out two World Wars. As the capabilities for mutual annihilation spiked following both wars an ideological warfare became the next terrain nonetheless with protagonists flexing muscles every now and then.

The world has changed over time. Technology has transformed the way war is fought. The protagonists have remained the same as well as the playing field. It’s the means of war that have shifted. Global warfare is happening online and historic foes of freedom continue to act in the same indecorous fashion. However, those on the side of good and democratic progress recruit have the imperative of winning this new warfare.

Eric Rosenbach, co-Director of the Belfer Center at the Harvard Kennedy School and Former Assistant Secretary of Defense and Katherine Mansted, Senior Adviser for Public Policy at the Australian National University’s National Security College have an interesting perspective on how the West can defeat the undemocratic forces in this age of data warfare. According to the scholars,

“After reinforcing its defenses, the United States should expose the malign tactics and shadowy networks of its adversaries. Evidence of bribery, state sponsorship of organized crime, the employment of cyber-mercenaries, and attempts to interfere in Western democratic processes must see daylight outside the memos of intelligence services. Such exposure should form a core plank of public information campaigns that reveal China and Russia’s corrupting and coercive behaviors.”

Read more about this perspective here.