The Art of Cyber Warfare

The title of this book—The Art of Cyber War—obviously refers to the title of another, very famous book that I already mentioned in the introduction: The Art of War by Sun Tzu, who is also called Sunzi, Sun Tse, or Sun Wu. However, Sun Tzu’s work provided more than just the inspiration for the title. Engaging with this work was important for the creation of this book as a whole. Moreover, the general significance of The Art of War can hardly be overstated. First of all, it is considered the oldest and one of the most important works on military strategy. It is therefore one of the central sources for engaging with strategic thinking. History is rich in evidence of the role it played in wars and conflicts over the centuries. Even after the death of Sun Tzu, the first myths about the book emerged: Those who had read it were considered unbeatable. In the field of martial arts, Sun Tzu’s work is also considered an indispensable classic. Last but not least, The Art of War is a prime example of how relevant thinking from past times and the history of that time are for our present day. However, reading and transferring Sun Tzu’s thoughts to the modern world is not entirely straightforward. Anyone who has taken the trouble to pick up Sun Tzu’s work will quickly have noticed how cumbersome many statements sound. Why is that?

The Art of War concludes with the chapter on espionage and the use of secret agents. About them, Sun Tzu also says: “They are a ruler’s treasure.” Even though this chapter from the Art of War is often not the focus of reception, it deals with one of the most important topics when it comes to warfare and strategic action in general. Because the ability to acquire knowledge unnoticed and to communicate with one’s allies without being discovered oneself is indeed of the highest strategic importance and is often overlooked—which has a good reason, as will become clear at the end of this chapter …

After the Chinese and ancient origins of classical warfare, as well as their development and relevance for the present time, were presented in the two preceding chapters, the following will discuss the war techniques and tactics of the Middle Ages.

What is the essence of war? Is really “everything” allowed in war? Such philosophically tinged questions about war may seem a bit strange at first, but they are nonetheless justified.

On the one hand, one could rightly claim that it is a constant of human history that power relations have always changed, borders have shifted, and new resources have been tapped and used for wars. On the other hand, this very fact provides the occasion to ask the question at the transition to the present: What is really new and what is as before? Let’s consider the situation where man stands against man exclusively on the battlefield. Here one could clearly suspect that this form of power struggle no longer exists. And even though recent wars such as those in Afghanistan, the Syrian war, and the Ukraine war have shown that even the oldest techniques and tactics still play a certain role, upon closer analysis we are dealing with a highly complex, asymmetric situation on the battlefield. When armies still faced each other, the numerical ratio of both sides was paramount. If 1,000 men stood against 10,000 men, the army leader had to come up with a lot to achieve a victory. Think of the advice from the 13 chapters of Sun Tzu. And already in the chapter about the Middle Ages, we learned how the invention of techniques shakes this logic of numerical ratios. What was the invention of the crossbow back then is the use of remote-controlled drones today. As a result, there are now acts of war in which no human being needs to be directly involved on site. This person can sit hundreds of kilometers away at a computer and remotely control the drone or carry out a hack. Being aware of this development can make it all the more shocking when you see war scenes reminiscent of those from past centuries.

Today, every war is considered to be against international law. Any threat or use of force between the member states of the United Nations and their international relations is fundamentally prohibited. The only exception to the rule is the right to self-defense and violence committed within the framework of sanctions decided by the UN Security Council. However, the assessment of wars and violence has not always been this way. Also due to Clausewitz and his reception described above, war was long considered a continuation of politics by other means. This only fundamentally changed in the course of the 19th century. Since then, a number of international conventions have been concluded. They regulate compliance with humanitarian international law in the context of armed conflicts and serve to protect people who are wounded, prisoners of war, and civilians who do not participate in the fighting. The history of humanitarian international law is interesting in itself, but also provides valuable insights for our context.

Every Star Wars fan will immediately hear the fanfares and the sound of the entire orchestra in their ears, with whose opening each of the films begins.