Dreaming 5GW

Recent Entries in The Vault

• Manipulating Observation

  Via Danger Room: Insurgents Intercept Drone Video in King-Size Security Breach The 5GWish money quote: If you think militants are going to be content to just observe spy drone feeds, it’s time to reconsider. “Folks are not merely going to...

• OST + EBOv2 + Engaging Emergence, Pt. 2

  OSTIn my last post, I explored the idea of EBOv2 after having introduced it as one of the key "principles" of 5GW.  I suggested three interrelating limitations or "stumbling-blocks" to conducting the more expansive and inclusive form of EBO,...

• OST + EBOv2 + Engaging Emergence

  EBOv2 Previously in writing about EBOv2 (or, "Evolved EBO" as I quickly labeled it then), I noted that effects-based operations should be expanded to include two areas of observation when determining operations:In general “effects-based” has two components: “It is thus...

• Engaging Emergence

  Watch Engaging Emergence in Educational & How-To  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.comPeggy Holman, co-author of The Change Handbook, discusses "Engaging Emergence". (Be aware there is a 30-sec commercial at the beginning of this video, and then again 1/3 and...

• Principles of 5GW: Evolved EBO

  (This is part of a series of posts exploring what I consider to be the essential principles of 5GW.)Preliminary:   EBO?Writing in Effects-based operations: A New Operational Model?1, April 2002, then-LTC Allen Batschelet examined three differing concepts of EBO currently...

• Social OODA Loop

  [This is primarily a "remember me" post I'm using to collect some old OODA work-ups (from posts that might no longer be available), for future thought/blogging; additionally, a simplification of previous posts.]First, a thank-you to Joseph Fouche of The Committee...

• 5GW: Alignments

  Recent discussion concerning the idea of "The Puppet Master"  under an old D5GW thread has brought a question to my mind.Adam Elkus used two statements, one in the post and another in a comment, that struck me as being very...

• 5GW Operation Notes: Who What Where When Why How

  Here some notes to help me clarify my own thinking. The notes may be useful to others as well.As always, I appreciate any comments, questions, corrections, additions…feedback of any sort....

• Media Spectacles in Information Campaigns

  Curtis highlighted my recent note on the Michael Jackson media spectacle and Iran. I agree very much with his characterization that "any info-war effort will need to be aware of the possibilities of an MJ-type black swan squashing that effort,"...

• Principles of 5GW: Hands in the Field

  (This is part of a series of posts exploring what I consider to be the essential principles of 5GW.) I. Hands in the Field Early MentionsI think that my earliest use of the phrase "hands in the field" in conjunction...

• Principles of 5GW: Introduction

  Although I have been largely absent for very nearly a year (last post was July 1, 2008) I have occasionally alternately marveled and cringed at whatever 5GW-related blog posts, here at D5GW and elsewhere, I have happened to read in...

• XGW and Torture

  Cross Posted at Red Herrings.   When considering the use of torture within the framework of XGW it becomes clear that torture has real utility at only three gradients of doctrine.   0GW Torture: 0GW - Confrontation and Conflict at its...

• Swine Flu as System Perturbation

  Cross-posted at Red Herrings   Rule Set - System Perturbation - New Rule Set Going back to some of my very first considerations of Fifth Gradient Warfare (Fifth Generation Warfare at the time), this very simple three part progression...

• Twitter as Distributed Cognition?

  I posted earlier on the idea of Twitter as a form of distributed cognition. But that might be too simplistic--and mechanistic--a look at the evolving medium. The idea of Twitter as a "mass mind" does not really make sense outside...

• Shades of 5GW in Shimon Naveh

  Read this article, via ubiwar, about Israeli strategist Shimon Naveh. Naveh is a fascinating individual. Patton-esque (if that wasn't a word it is now) in his free wheeling use of vulgarities and arrogance. That he bases his systems theory on...

• The XGW Framework: Classification and Creation of Doctrines for Conflict and Confrontation

  Cross posted at Red Herrings   The following is an attempt to categorize the principles behind the doctrines that comprise each gradient of the XGW framework. Please note that the XGW framework is not the Generations of Modern Warfare model...

• Recent Fifth Generation Warfare (5GW) Stuff on the Internet

  TDAXP is taking the lead with a souvenir edition of the Dreaming 5GW PoV on 5GW theory by calling for chapter ideas and submissions for a 5GW Book. This is a great idea (and overdue). I hope CGW can be...

• Building a framework: the premises

  There are a few basic premises that should be included in any framework that attempts to differentiate between methods / doctrines / types / generations / gradients of warfare. 1) There must be an internally consistent progression of effectiveness displayed in...

• Swarm Intelligence and 5GW

  I have a new essay up at GroupIntel that may have some 5GW implications. Check it out for a good look on why swarm intelligence may be overhyped and how it may play into 5GW manipulation....

• Recent 5GW related links of (maybe) interest

  Soob's - "The Ultimate 5GW? Holding a Foreign Economy Under the Knife by Manipulating the Resource Demand of our Own"Mountain Runner's "The Spectrum of War and Peace and the Role of Public Diplomacy""Where Are the Shadowy Criminal Masterminds?"Citizen Warrior's "The...

• Mutually Exclusive Paths to Fifth Generation Warfare (5GW) Success

  I have been working up a Fifth Generation Warfare (5GW) [1] scenario in response to a question by Seerov on Dreaming 5GW.As a side effect, I have come to have to see that regardless of which combination of 5GW style...

• Dreaming 5GW Wordle

  I have been playing around with Wordle.Wordle for Dreaming 5GW BlogPuppet Master WordleYou can play around here with it....

• Recommended Reading: In Harmonium

  Notes Towards a Theory of Asymmetric Conflict.  Part 1 Part 2 Part 3  Lots of great food for thought here that resonates well with XGW theory, specifically the concepts of perception (4GW) and context (5GW)....

• Demographic Warfare

  From Russia Policy; Trying to Make a Virue Out of Having Ceded the Initiative at Zenpundit in a comment by Seerov. "This war is the result of the old Soviet policy of demographic engineering.  The Soviets (Especially Stalin) would "dilute"...

• More 5GW Fiction: Halting State by Charles Stross

  Halting State by Charles Stross   Halting State is set in the near furure and centers initially around a bank robbery. That in itself isn't especially SciFi or even 5GWish except that this particular bank robbery was carried out against...

• Blog Tank: National Strategy for a Few Nuclear Weapons - 5GW

  An Interesting puzzle for 5GW thinking. (Hat tip: Zenpundit) Blog Tank: National Strategy for a Few Nuclear Weapons - Expanded by Cheryl Rofer "Andy at Nuclear Mangoes reminded me over the weekend of my irritation that nobody has addressed the strategy...

• Operational: Check as Tactical 5GW

  Recent discussions of Operational Check (such as at tdaxp and WSJ) have talked about many aspects of the hostage rescue, but now from the perspective of xGW theory. Was the rescue an example of tactical 5GW operations? Consider the Operative...

• COPYCAT CLOUDS

  Close to a month ago, a deranged individual went on a stabbing spree in Tokyo. The incident might not have been big news here but it certainly shocked the Japanese. Now, however, it appears that the Internet is full of...

• The Joker: Epitome of Global Guerrillas

  Made the note on Twitter.Here's the review that particularly catches my eye: "The Dark Knight", rated with an A by Emanuel Levy, who goes on for some length but writes this nugget:...

• 5GW DECEPTION OPERATIONS AND THE SOVIET PRECEDENT

  Deception is 5GW’s central offensive weapon--the “secret war” equivalent of the combined arms strike. Some may say this is an overstatement. Can active deception really be classified as a weapon? Our disbelief in the offensive power of deception springs from...

• Updated: Where You Vote and How You Vote: Proto-5GW Thinking in a Study of the Context of Voting

  From NPR News: All Things Considered. Study: Your Polling Place Affects How You Vote "June 23, 2008 · A new study shows that where you vote affects how you vote. People who vote in schools, for example, are more likely...

• On Information

  A Twitter "tweet" from @Selil earlier this evening roused a long-dormant post idea. Since Twitter is a "micro-blog", its constraint of just 140 characters limits its utility to low-bandwidth, big-idea (or mundane-activity) broadcasting. Prof. Liles's "big-idea" (in response to @mtanji...

• A 5GW Lesson? Hugo Chavez Embarrassed

  PoliticalWarfare.org has the story:"Brilliant results: Chavez proves we can goad our adversaries into doing our work for us"--love the title!...

• "Unrestricted Warfare" (URW) and XGW / 4GW / 5GW

  I have been meaning to write this for awhile. Zenpundit's mention of "Unrestricted Warfare" and 4GW/5GW got me to type it:The ideas from URW haven’t quite made there way into 4GW/5GW…there is a lot of richness in the its ideas....

• 5GW Chess

  This is from a comment I left over at Phatic Communion in a conversation that had to do with Centers of Gravity (CoG). "It seems to me that 5GW is less about looking for one particular CoG (be it stregth...

• GW Theory Cast Too High?

  I've thoroughly enjoyed the rich intellectual debate broiling this past month in the 'blogosphere over the construct of the "generational" model of warfare: from D5GW host Curtis Gale Weeks to co-contributors tdaxp (several posts and more) & General of the...

• Iran and 5GW

  Soob has an interesting post contemplating "Iran's Mini-Quasi-5GW".Reading it, I was reminded of an old post here about a potential al-Qaeda 5GW effort (originally posted to Phatic Communion.) Point being: we should perhaps not be altogether surprised that 5GWish events...

• Example of how xGW analysis improves on GMW analysis

  Fabius discussed militias in terms of 4GW defense. His post is well done, and is I think about as far as GMW (generations of modern war theory) goes. I expanded on it using xGW concepts. Thus, a good example of...

• Skilluminati Closing Shop?

  After nearly 6 months largely absent from the blogosphere, I returned to find that the discussion of 5GW has branched out in many interesting ways. One exceptional expansion of the topic could be found at Skilluminati Research, a blog that...

• Triangulating Clausewitz and Boyd

  Recent discussions re: "GMW vs xGW" [1] [2] [3] suggest that William Lind's Generations of Modern Warfare model is insufficient and that the newer model xGW proves more useful for understanding warfare in our present era -- as well as...

• From GMW to XGW: The Great Divorce

  I propose we say goodbye to such jargon as "Third Stage of the 4th Generation of War..."The Term “Generation” Must Be AbandonedJust as the abandonment of GMW (The Generations of Modern War) is a critical step in the evolution of...

• XGW as a System for the Classification of Doctrines

  I posted this as part of a comment at TDAXP, part of an excellent discussion with several D5GW contributors and Smitten Eagle about the shape of XGW and its differences from the Generations of Modern Warfare (GMW). I'm posting it here so...

• "Best discussion yet on this topic, that I have seen."

  I agree with Lexington's comment.  5GW as Event Horizon has it all: a well spoken skeptic, clear distinction between XGW and GMW, many D5GW contributors, and of course references to the Event Horizon.Check it out....

• On the Super Empowered Individual

  (I originally posted this at Soob and thought it too generally interrogative and bit meandering for D5GW. A session in thinking aloud, perhaps. And then got to thinking D5GW is a long discussion of theory and theory involves uncertainty and...

• Who coined the term "GMW"?

  It's been used at least twice in threads where I was active (here at Dreaming 5GW, and there at ZenPundit), but I just noticed Smitten Eagle's use of the term "GMW" to stand for William Lind's "Generations of Modern War"...

• Doing the Unthinkable

  I think the problem comes from the simple power of the word “war”. It immediately brings up images of uniformed soldiers with weapons hurting other soldiers (at best) or, more likely, innocent civilians. That concept of warfare is pretty solid...

• SEI:4GW::Nukes:3GW?

  My last post, composed of the title of this post only, elicited only one response from a confused co-blogger. It was my first post on D5GW in five months. The question was inspired largely by the recent focus in other...

• SEI's and Nukes

  SEI:4GW::Nukes:3GW?...

• Purpleslog on Covert Radio - Topic: "5th Generation Warfare - What does it all mean?"

  My voice is disguised by a heavy cold, I talk way to fast (as I do in real life when excited), and I didn't sleep much the night before, but none the less, an interview I gave on 5GW for...

• 5GW Links - 9 May 2008

  You may find these 5GW-related links to be interesting....

• Another Book on the 5GW Shelf: Daemon by Leinad Zeraus

  There have been other works of fiction discussed in 5GW circles that, to some extent or in some part, contain elements that could be used as examples of Fifth Generation Warfare theory. Ender's Game and other books of the 'Enderverse' come to...

• Of the People, By The People: The Strategic Citizen 5GW Style

  This is a third style of 5GW in my slow-motion series and follows the Puppet Master style and the Socio-Political Entrepreneurship style. Working Definition of Fifth Generation Warfare (aka 5GW aka SecretWar): 5GW is the secret deliberative manipulation of actors,...

• Stray 1AM Thought: Would a 5GW Organization Resemble a Cult?

  So, would a 5GW organization resemble a non-religious Cult with secrecy, cohesion, strange practices and goals?Would looking like a cult be away for the 5GW org to hide its true intentions?...

• "Spooky Action at a Distance" and other Recent 5GW Links

  These are all newish.-- Skilluminati's "The Language of Power":Spooky action at a distance is a great single-sentence summary of 5GW.For brainfood I submit Henry Okah, David Myatt and Ronald Stark. Interms of clinical psychology, 5GW operatives are NOT SANE --...

• The Dark Lantern

   Just a quick note to share an interesting term I ran across that might be a catchy title for Fifth Generation Warfare actors or organizations.    Dark Lantern: A lantern with an opening, which may be      closed to conceal the light....

• Proto-5GW Manipulation May Not Necessarily be Done in Secret

  It may, in fact, be quite visible.   For example:   "We were fourtunate that we were able to seed it. And a few places kept picking it up and wondering if it was real, was it fake? And then...

• “Stealth Is Knowledge” - New 5GW Blogger? [Update]

  Is this blogger going to be a new 5GW theorist?My interest in 5GW (5th Generation Warfare) is rooted in it’s potential for positive social and cultural change. The comment made me think of of former 5GW blogger/commenter RevG. The blog...

• PurpleSlog’s 5GW Working Definition 0.91

  Here is a minor update to my working description of Fifth Generation Warfare (5GW):5GW is the secret deliberative manipulation of actors, networks, institutions, states or any 2GW/3GW/4GW forces to achieve a goal or set of goals across a combination of...

• 5GW related thoughts via Münzenber's partial review of the book 'The Exploit"...

  ...is here.Bonus: In the comments, Arherring created a new word - 5GWably...

• 5GW Discussion Topic: is it still useful to discriminate between “tactics”, “operations”, “strategy” and “grand strategy”

  I culled this from comments to an old post from around Christmas that people may have missed ( I certainly did at first).Arherring commented:How about the terms tactical, operational, strategic and grand strategic. I think these terms need to be...

• Dreaming 5GW LinkSpotting: Where are the "super-empowered hopeful individuals?"

  A cross-posted article called “Super-Empowered Hopeful Individuals” [1][3] and “Empowering Hope” [2] references a post by fellow D5GW blogger Arherring. Here is an excerpt: A leading fear for those of us looking at the longer-term implications of molecular manufacturing...

• Shrinkwrapped on Conspiracy Theories [Update]

  One of my earliest thoughts on 5gw was regarding conspiracy theories: A 5GW operation will create conditions and contingencies to avoid detection by hiding among the crazies. I can see where parts of an operation might purposely be exposed and...

• Information, No Information, and 5GW

  Blogger Lance Miller at Progressive Positive dips into 5GW blogging pool:It is interesting that we call our age the Information Age. Information seems to the body of 4th generation warfare. Sounds like 5th generation warfare may be about no information....

• Cringley touches upon the emergence of Super Empowered Individuals

  Cringley is a documenter/pundit of computer geeks and their world. He does calls them “nerds” though which shows he does not have a full understanding and is apart from them. Anyways, in a recent article he wrote: There is...

• Cyber-Jihad meets...Civil 5GW?

  As many know the internet entails a largely (thankfully) uncontrolled and vast plain of information. Within this "lawless" land, ideas flow free. The internet is, arguably, the purest incarnation of America's First Amendment. The double edged sword is ; it...

• Who coined "0GW"?

  I know I referred to it as PMW/PMP on May 6, 2005, and I referred to "0GW" on September 6, 2007, but I thought someone else came up with it before me.  Did I borrow it from someone on this...

• Who defines 5GW that way, Mr. Lind?

  From Bill Lind's latest ("On war #251: War or not war?): Between February 8 and February 14, four American schools suffered attacks by lone gunmen. The most recent, at Northern Illinois University on February 14, saw five killed (plus the...

• 10 Reasons Why Elections are the Perfect Test Bed for 5GW

  1)  Defined timeframe allows for 5GW organizations to plan to specific points in time and the election cycle allows for a truly strategic planning horizon.   2)  Defined geographic areas involved allow for a 5GW organization to precisely define the...

• Nuts and Bolts 2

  addendum to Nuts and Bolts   Memetic Warfare Another manipulative tactic or strategy of Fifth Generation Warfare, and something that I see as a core element of 5GW theory, is the controlled introduction of specifically tailored memes into systems in...

• 5GW Attack on JFCOM?

  Yesterday a good friend from Virginia sent me an article from "DataTech Government Newsletter" that harshly criticizes the Training Transformation program at U.S. Joint Forces Command (one of ten joint [all-service] Combatant Commands in the U.S. military).  Besides harshly maligning...

• 5GW Link Spotting: Baudrillard's Bastard - "hackers, power grids, and (dis)information"

  The Author of that blog writes: But, back to the point: hackers, power grids, and (dis)information. Virilio's theory suggests that in an information war (one tactic of 5GW), the dominate form of 21st-century warfare, "information and disinformation have become indistinguishable...

• Nuts and Bolts

  Recent discussion on the mechanisms for the manipulations of Fifth Generation Warfare has prompted me to think specifically about how 5GW would work in an operational context. In short, thinking about the ‘nuts and bolts’. I currently envision two main...

• MountainRunner: Against xGW, For William Lind?

  I should have expected it when I jabbed "public diplomacy", but Mountainrunner decided to seek revenge by ravaging generations of war theory. At least, he does so while donning the mantle of a William Lind literalist, apparently rejecting any deviation...

• SCENARIO: SIMULACRA AND SIMULATION

  THE MAN WHO WASN'T THEREA recent ThreatsWatch briefing by Steve Schippert and Nick Grace focused on the Islamic State of Iraq's (ISI) creation of a fictional character, "Abu Omar Al-Baghdadi." Al-Baghdadi was called into existence to put an Iraqi face...

• Polling the Intelligentsiasphere

  As my first return post after more than a month, I'd like to ask a question of whatever regular readers remain with D5GW:What are the key concepts/terms for the immediate future (next 50 years) and consequently for the fifth generation...

• Theoretical 5GW Operation: The Pre-Election Hostage Situation

  For several hours yesterday the news networks were captivated by a hostage situation at one of Hillary Clinton’s New Hampshire campaign offices. A news reporter on the Fox News Network speculated on a sympathetic surge of good-will toward the ‘victim’ of...

• THE CONSPIRATORIAL STRATEGY

  IS 5GW EVOLVED CONSPIRACY? In the course of an exchange on my previous entry, Strategist raised an important point: [I]s there much difference between the 5GW organizations you describe, and good old-fashioned conspiracies against the state? As I was reading...

• Darknet: A Model for 5GW Organization

  CLOSED SOURCE WARFARE Networked insurgents and Global Guerrillas are, by definition, open source. Transnational and decentralized, they sacrifice secrecy in favor of flexibility and collaboration. They are by nature self-improving, as many users collaborating can make the organization more efficient,...

• Dozier Internet Law, Insurgency, and Scofflaws

  I Hate Linux breaks the news that Dozier Internet Law, which was previously featured on D5GW, is violating Google's terms of service with spam web pages. (I also noted this on Jim River Report). Because this is an example of...

• John Robb: "On Open Source Guerrilla Vanguards"

  Link: On Open Source Guerrilla VanguardsWhile I am just as suspicious of ye ol' foco insurgency --In Che's model, when the moral crisis was finally precipitated by the vanguard, an organic uprising would rise to replace it with a morally...

• 5GW in Clausewitz's Trinity

  Überblogger ZenPundit has summarized a ten-part series by Fabius Maximus from Defense and the National Interest.  Though only posted about two hours ago, ZenPundit's post has already elicited feedback from FM, as well as myself and D5GW moderator Curtis Gale...

• Proto-5GW Group Discovered and Broken up?

  It sounds like the USGOV discovered a 5GWorg operating from the inside for the benefit of the state and against the state's enemies, but without the permission or knowledge of the state. Once discovered, that state took it down.Did a...

• X vs X: Follow-up and Query

  Reviewing my last post, "X vs X: Boom and the Generations in Conflict", (which Dan tdaxp linked with kind words; thanks!), I wonder if the diagram ought to be updated.I had used this diagram to show the generational conflict and...

• X vs X: Boom and the Generations in Conflict

  Arherring's intriguing reconceptualization of the xGW framework, "XGW: Left of Boom - Right of Boom", has inspired me to take my own route tying the concept of "Boom" to the generational model.The term Boom, as I see it, describes the...

• XGW: Left of Boom - Right of Boom

  A New Point of View on the Relationship Between Kinetic Action and XGW.   The Generations of Warfare model is most often viewed as a progression. The term 'generation' itself reinforces this, implying the process of one leading to...

• Offloading and 5GW

  Lately I've been reconsidering the term offloading and finding great correspondence with other terms frequently used on Dreaming 5GW:cognitionOODAco-optationfreedomglobalizationresilienceconsilienceopen sourcestaticThis will be a very long post; so if you are reading this from the front page, I've put the rest...

• Funny Thing Timing

  Over eight decades after the Ottoman slaughter of some one and one half million Armenians the US Congress has seen fit to introduce a bill that will define said Ottoman endeavor in a most accurate fashion applying the label genocide....

• Lawfare and Public Participation (Does Dozier know better? Should it?)

  I am confused. What happened at first at least made sense. Three blogs (i-Blog, i-Ratings, i-Scams) criticize DirectBuy. DirectBuy hires a lawyer, Dozier Internet Law. A lawyer sends a threatening letter (excerpts, full text, original pdf). Public Citizien responds with...

• Lawfare Backlash: DirectBuy + Dozier Internet Law

  Many blogs, including Community of Information and Technology Experts, Esoteric Appeal, I Hate Linux, Legal Fixation, New York Personal Injury Law Blog, Online Liability Blog, Overlawyered, Slashdot, SunMink, and Technology Own are reacting to Public Citizen's posting of a legal...

• Follow-up: Generation-al

  A discussion is ensuing at Amicable Collisions involving the valuation and evaluation of the generational warfare model (xGW).  The post and the idea in question, "Political Activism as a Form of Warfare", were highlighted in my last post on D5GW. ...

• Politics and Imperatives

  A couple of recent links to D5GW:Phil at Amicable Collisions linked our Soros post with "Political Activism as a Form of War."While I do not agree that the only use for an xGW model is "primarily in showing the sequence...

• 5GW Makes Use of Another Dimension to Conflict: Institutional

  In all of xGW, conflict can be thought of as having these as dimensions: Grand StrategyStrategyOperational (aka Boyd's Grand Tactical)TacticalStarting with 3GW and especially with 4GW, three other dimensions where acknowledged and became useful and used:PhysicalMoralMentalThe idea is you can...

• Zepundit on 5GW

  Over at his blog, I wrote: The qualitative break would be on focus: an 4GW campaign would attempt to weaken some enemy, while a 5GW would attempt to change the rules of the game in which enemies are faced. That...

• Prophecy and Art

  The human race is becoming a disgrace.Countries are fighting with chemical warfare.Not giving a damn about the people who live there.Nostradamus predicts the coming of the Antichrist.Hey, look out, the third world nations are on the rise.The Democratic-Communist Relationship,won't stand...

• Co-opting Zombie Fashion

  Wiggins of Opposed Systems Design has a meaty post on "Info Militias and 21st Century People's War" -- on China's efforts to create Internet Brigades (really, a term relating to Russia) and other things: a new kind of "people's war",...

• Soros and 5GW?

  "His operations are separated from him by layers of misdirection and plausible deniability." -- Wolf Pangloss, "Danger! Soros Engineered Immigration Brouhaha", September 26, 2007. What do you think? How do the purported activities (in that linked article) differ from normal...

• What Openness (in "Open Source") Will Really Mean/Do

  -- or "Networks Redux".Whereas network theorists often begin with the assumption that definite pathing can be observed, assessed, and defined when studying social systems, I began with a look at the way individuals operate and interact and the resulting emergent...

• 4GW/5GW Game: "The Takedown of Sam Adams and John Hancock"

  Early in my blogging attempts I wrote a post called 4GW/5GW: The Takedown of Sam Adams and John Hancock.It was inspired by a blurb in US News and World Report about a counter-insurgency class at the Army's Command and General...

• The 2007 URW Symposium Proceedings

  There is something called the Unrestricted Warfare Symposium. Here is the cover page for the 2007 proceedings. It is sliced and diced into several PDFs. The conference was held in March.Since I see the book "Unrestricted Warfare" as one of...

• "Leverage Factors"

  I just started reading The Meaning of the 21st Century by James Martin this evening.What I read on page 10 and then page 11 jumped out at me:Leverage FactorsIn this book, I use the phrase leverage factors to refer to...

• 5GW Mention: August 19, 2003

  WASHINGTON, Aug. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- "Afghanistan, Israel, and Iraq are all at risk," says Robert David Steele, a national security veteran and expert on 5th generation warfare. "The U.S. has the wrong national security paradigm in effect-the Cold War heavy...

• Dispensational Premillennialism

  Lo! and Behold!  a blog post on Thomas Barnett's blog caught me off-guard, because it was something I had never expected to see there:The end times core teaching of Protestant fundamentalism."Dispensational" refers to dividing the faith's sacred history into distinct...

• TPMB: Against Newt, for 5GW

  Newt wants his Long War to be a shorter, Big War, but the reality is that the integration processed cannot be magically sped up. Globalization's spread and impact is way beyond our control at this point in history. We will...

• X + 1

  I'm happy to announce the expansion of our talent pool at D5GW: A.E., who blogs at Simulated Laughter, a freelance political writer whose articles have appeared in Foreign Policy in Focus, Peace Magazine, and Alternet, has joined the Dreaming 5GW...

• Nonpartisan Explores xGW Theory

  Following up on comments left in a previous D5GW post, Nonpartisan of Progressive Historians has asked his readers,Isn't it possible that warfare doesn't move in a teleological direction at all, but that rather we're facing "armies" that are using techniques...

• Thinking- and Non-Thinking 5GW

  "Recommended Reading" -- Mark Safranski, ZenPundit"9/11: The Mouse that Roared" -- Nonpartisan, Progressive HistoriansInteresting back-and-forth at ZenPundit.  Mark linked the article on Progressive Historians in his weekly highlight, spurring a negative comment from D5GW contributor Dan tdaxp which in turn...

• Our State-Without 5GW in Iraq

  A military force that fights the a war in modern warfare's fifth generation -- that is, a 5GW Army, focuses on altering the rules of the game so that the fighting of lower-generational forces proceed in a way favorable to...

• Blogspotting: Xiandos.info

  Xiandos.info is an earnest conspiracy wiki with an interest in 5GW - or perhaps they see 5GW as just part of the conspiracy world.Their actual entry on 5GW is a copy of my now deleted wikipedia 5GW entry with the...

• Should 4GW/5GW Theorist Be Against the State?

  Commenter "Mark" Writes at TDAXP: I would have thought everyone's interest in 4GW and 5GW would lead to the inevitable conclusion that the nation-state is obsolete and harmful, and is at the beginning of a painful death. One should welcome...

• The Weaponization of the Media

  I've spent some hours digging around the cyber-sphere in an effort to find and define the many references to the fifth generation of warfare. The cause of this being Curtis's newest online endeavor, the 5GW Timeline. A wiki like initiative...

• 5GW Example on TV: "The Marked" on "The 4400"

  I really like The 4400. It is a low-key Science Fiction show with a long story arcs.Recently, a 5GW example has occurred in the form of a non-special ability group called the "The Marked": The Marked are a group of...

• "PSYOP Auxiliaries": The Civilian Irregular Information Defense Group as Proto-5GW

  There is a budding practical 5GW-ish thinker in the form of something called the  Civilian Irregular Information Defense Group:PSYOP Auxiliaries must use all available assets to collect the wide variety of opposing information and propaganda existing in media.  Avoid being...

• Hammes 5GW Redux: Via Phil

  Phil of Pacific Empire recently attended a talk given by Colonel Thomas X. Hammes. Phil's participation in the Q and A phase: My question was: in the generations-of-war framework, each generation should be able to defeat the preceding generation. How...

• xGW Evolution: Purely Reactionary?

  Are the generations of war purely a response to developments within the earlier generation? To wit, is (x plus 1)GW driven primarily by a desire to thwart practitioners of (x)GW? Consider this: 1GW: Marked by regimental structure and strict discipline....

• Pattern Recognition Redux

  We have no future because our present is too volatile. We only have risk management. The spinning of the given moment’s scenarios. Pattern recognition.-William Gibson, Pattern RecognitionWiggins (another name soon due for a "redux"; but that's a different post....) of...

• 5GW Theory Timeline

  The beta of the new site is coming along rather well so far:5GW Theory TimelineOh yeah, did I mention that D5GW will try to collate all blogospheric discussion of fifth generation warfare -- in its many guises -- for easy...

• Architects of the Future: The Socio-Political Entrepreneurship Style of 5GW

  Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.[...]Therefore the skillful leader subdues the enemy's troops without any fighting; he captures their cities without laying siege...

• Blogspotting 5GW:"Four aides to Iraqi Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani have been killed in Al-Najaf over the past two months..."

  The 5GW discussion is on Zenpundit:Four aides to Iraqi Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani have been killed in Al-Najaf over the past two months, raising many questions as to the safety of Iraq's supreme Shi'ite leader and the motives of...

• EU Integration a 5GW Swarming Project?

  From the article at The Economist: There is nothing new in claims that the EU is seizing power by stealth. What is novel is that they come from ardent supporters of EU integration. An early case was Valéry Giscard d'Estaing,...

• Found on Wikipedia: "The Dulles Plan"

  From Wikipedia:Since the early 1990s, anti-Western media in Russia have referred to the so-called Dulles plan (Russian: план Даллеса). It is the text (in Russian) of a secret plan to destroy the USSR through the ideological manipulation of the Soviet...

• Culture Jamming as 5GW Tactic?

  From Wikipedia:Culture jamming is the act of transforming mass media to produce commentary about itself, using the original medium's communication method. It is a form of public activism which is generally in opposition to commercialism, and the vectors of corporate...

• The Original 5GW Post - 13 April 2005

  From http://use.perl.org/~TorgoX/journal/24173 :Wednesday April 13, 200508:08 PM5GW equals "whoops"[ #24173 ]Dear Log,The core idea of fifth-generation warfare is shaping up to be: "make it look like an accident".I have been unable to find anything else by "torgox" related to 5GW...

• Ideology

  What can drive a 5GW campaign? What’s it’s catalyst? What pumping engine hammers it out and spreads it forth? The Super Empowered Individual? Or the mastery of ideology? I’ve talked before of mastering the media and how such mastery is...

• Cinematic xGW Primers

  Following in the footsteps of tdaxp and in the spirit of Wizards of Oz,  I've added my own xGW primer to my blog Phatic Communion.Not serious enough to post here. ;)  Very "primer"....

• Attitudes and xGW

  As I wrote over at tdaxp, Both Rosenberg & Hovland (1960, 3) and Triandis (1971,3) break down attitudes into three components: cognitive (what people believe), affective (what people feel), and behavioral (what people do). The chart used to illustrate this...

• Fifth Generation Starfish

  As Thomas L. Friedman describes in The Lexus and the Olive Tree, individuals are ‘super-empowered’ by their access to technology and connectivity, allowing them to act and interact globally. This environment gives them access to an open-source marketplace of ideas...

• Terminology Question: How should we refer to those "doing" 5GW?

  5GW Effectors5GWersFivers5GW Constructors5GW PractitionersFivetitioners5GW-actors5actorsPhactorFivetorsNuttersPhraudsPhakesFuppetsAny Thoughts?...

• Open Space Technology

  Are any of our regular readers familiar with "Open Space Technology"?I just stumbled onto that link and the initiative today, while working a sideline but important (?) initiative of my own in my ongoing Blogshares virtual corporate war.  I stumbled...

• Highlighting a D5GW Comment #2: "Non-Kinetic" as really "Dispersed Kinetic"

  In case you missed it, read it here....

• Highlighting a D5GW Comment #1: Center of Gravity and xGW

  Read it here....

• Super-Empowered Individuals and 5GW: Heads,Tails, and Edges

  I have been working on a new post for the series on "Super-Empowered Individuals and 5GW" begun by Arherring; but his post has inspired thoughts I thought I would break out as a follow-up within the series. I began a...

• 5GW and Command

  Command and Control (C^2) theory is very well developed for 1GW, 2GW and 3GW campaigns. Joint Publication (JP) 6-0 lays a solid foundation for communications between different elements of a joint force, and each uniformed service has well-developed doctrine with...

• Super-Empowered Individuals and 5GW: Heads or Tails.

  As globalization economically and socially connects the world , its citizens are paid in the metaphorical ‘coin’ of super-empowerment. However, like a coin, super-empowerment has two sides. You cannot enjoy the benefits of the positive side without the negative flip...

• xGW, Plain & Single

  As I wrote on tdaxp, in response to a private question from Catholicgauze... Since the emergence of the modern warfare, four "generations of warfare" have been identified. The first generation, or 1GW, emphasizes concentration-of-soldiers. The most famous 1GW was the...

• Blogspotting: "Fighting Poverty: 5GW Strategy" at Blog "dm hallowell"

  DM Hallowell synthesizes some ideas from familiar sources and blogs them as "Fighting Poverty: 5GW Strategy"....

• We need a '5GW Primer'

  Zenpundit's 4GW primer is here. We need a 5GW primer, in the same style....

• Perusing a Conspiracy Nutjob's Website: "The Biggest Secret"

  As an aside to my interest in 5GW, I have been thinking about conspiracy theories as it might applied to 5GW theory.I just found a mother-load of crazyness.Welcome to "The Biggest Secret" website. It ties together everything and the kitchen...

• Laying the Foundations Part 5: Security Through Obscurity?

  What is the nature of the secrecy or invisibility of Fifth Generation Warfare? I have been thinking lately about the idea that 5GW will be secret, or invisible because it is hard to distinguish what is 5GW and what is...

• Another BIG Welcome!

  With great excitement and anticipation, I'm happy to welcome subadei as the newest contributor to Dreaming 5GW!Many regular visitors of D5GW will already be quite familiar with subadei who, through his slant-wise eponymous blog Soob, has often addressed the state...

• Kinds of 5GW

  As I mentioned over at tdaxp, there seems to be three basic sorts of 5GW: The insurgent 5GW (the classical formulation) The state-within 5GW (where a clique inside the host society attempts to transform the host society) The state-without 5GW...

• Shloky's "Invisible Hurricane" as 5GW Example?

  On Shlok Vaidya's Website (worth adding to your favorite RSS feed if it isn't already), he links to an article on Oil Refinery problems such as:A third of the country’s 150 refineries have reported disruptions to their operations since the...

• A Big Welcome

  I would like to extend a BIG welcome to our newest contributor to Dreaming 5GW:  deichmans! Deichmans only recently entered the Blogosphere as a blogger in his own right with Wizards of Oz, but he has been enriching the Blogosphere...

• Defending Against 5GW

  Over at Phatic Communion, Arherring has suggested something called "5GW analysis paralysis":In other words, what is the effect of the knowledge that you have an opponent merely capable of 5GW campaigns? Given the inherent secrecy of 5GW your opponent has...

• Dreaming 5th Generation War + tdaxp

  Given the success of my Orientation and Action that broke my original "Go Deep" post into manageable chunks, over the next week my post "Dreaming 5th Generation War" (for which this blog is named) will post as a six-part series...

• How do you know that 5GW even exists?

  Interesting thoughts over at Soob....

• 5GW Fragments by Amicable Collisions

  Amicable Collisions writes: ...I found certain themes recurring again and again: entrepreneurship, the strategic citizen, updating classical liberalism for the 21st century, developing a 21st century vision for the American Experiment, centralized industrial age institutions vs. decentralized information age institutions,...

• Towards a Catechism of the Generations of War

  (Cross-posted at tdaxp as The Generations of War: Not Emerging, But Always Present.) When did the generations of war was the first 1GW? 2GW? 3GW? 4GW? 5GW? And when will the next generation emerge? Before the beginning of history. And...

• Conspiracy and Shadow Government in 5GW

  Wolf Pangloss finds my series Orientation and Action, and adds his thoughts: In other words, 5th Generation Warfare requires a conspiracy to subvert the formal government with a shadow government. There has been speculation here and there about what 5GW...

• The Generations of War in the Context of Realms and Kinetics

  (tdaxp's note: This is a cross-post of 'Orientation and Action, Part II: The OODA-PISRR Loop.' That article is one of two sequels for 'Go Deep,' my very first post on 5GW. 'Go Deep' is now split up into Orientation and...

• Building the Military-Industrial-Syadmin-Complex

  The United States already has seven uniformed services Air Force Army Coast Guard Marine Corps Navy NOAA Corps Public Health Service While the latter two are relatively toothless, the first five on the list do show that uniform services can...

• William Lind and John Norman

  At the Boyd Conference I had the pleasure of listening to William Lind share his idea of 4GW, was in the context of everything else. Lind is an excellent speaker, and I regret not being able to talk to him...

• William Lind on 5GW

  Considering his recent comments on 5GW, given at the 2007 Boyd Conference in Quantico, Virginia No 5GW is in sight. "No eyes can see that far." and "Concepts of 5GW are meer attempts to ignore the breadth of 4GW." and...

• The Military-Industrial Complex and 5GW

  After I described how we will lose the war of ideas to al Qaeda and therefore must search for a better way of winning, Curtis asked that I be more precise. Specifically, how would I build a 5GW that can...

• The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable

  The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbableby Nassim Nicholas Taleb “Before the discovery of Australia, people of the Old World were convinced that all swans were white, an unassailable belief as it seemed completely confirmed by empirical evidence....

• We will lose a 4GW against al Qaeda. But we can still win.

  America cannot win a 4GW -- a long-term war of ideas -- because she will betray herself first. Within a generation of the enslavement of Europe and China to Stalinism, arrogant American liberals combined with comfortable American leftists to do...

• 5GW Blogspotting: Three Posts on Mitchell Langbert's Blog

  I found three 5GW related posts on Mitchell Langbert's Blog.In the first, he references another post mostly. His juices go flowing and two minutes later he posted Fifth Generation Warfare: 4GW No Longer Applies and wrote:The model of 4th generation...

• June/July 07 UK Terror Plot: A 5GW perspective

  As information about this plot comes out I think I see a 5GW or proto-5GW aspect to it. It seems that every person in the cell responsible for this plot is not only a foreigner (unlike the London subway bombing...

• The Orwellian Problem

  By my count, Anglophone North America ex Canada is on its fifth legal regime. The First Republic was the Congressional regime, which illegally abolished the British colonial governments. The Second Republic was the Constitutional regime, which illegally abolished the Articles...

• "It Was the Nightingale, and Not the Lark"

  Romeo:     Let me be ta'en, let me be put to death;     I am content, so thou wilt have it so.     I'll say yon grey is not the morning's eye,     'Tis but the pale reflex of Cynthia's brow;     Nor that is...

• 4GW Blowback or 5GW Pawn

  I have a new post up on western unbelief as a form of Christianity, and it after writing: The most visible Christian ideological death squad is Islam, for obvious reasons. However, evangelical secularism or Ultracavlisnism, may form a Christian intellectual...

• Ralph Peters is an Idiot

  Just had to say it.It may even be untrue.  The fact that 'idiot' can be interpreted variously is my sword and my shield.Thomas Barnett linked Peters' essay "Faith's civil wars"  -- an essay which may seem to be a 5GW...

• 5GW Blogspotting: "Back Into 5GW and Embracing, Enacting the Black Swan" at Soob's blog

  Read it here....

• Follow-up: Superempowerment

  Cartoon Heroes by Aqua We are what we're supposed to beillusions of your fantasyAll dots and lines that speak and sayWhat we do is what you wish to doWe are the color symphonyWe do the things you wanna seeFrame by frame,...

• The 2007 Boyd Conference...and 5GW

  The Small Wars Journal blog has a post on the upcoming 2007 Boyd Conference and a block of seats.I can't go. I looked over the program and saw this:Colonel TX Hammes (USMC Ret.) and William Lind: 4GW and the future...

• Follow-up: On the Barnettian 5GW

  From TPMBThomas Barnett responded to my post "On the Barnettian 5GW" with "Nice post by Curtis on 5GW."Shane's right in his comment: I do agree with the vast majority of the post, to include its criticism that my vision to...

• scientia media

  Interesting little reference found in the Oxford Companion to Philosophy that has 5GW overtones:Molina, Luis de (1535--1600). Jesuit theologian and philosopher, born in Cuenca, Spain.  He studied and taught at various leading Iberian universities. Molina is best known for his...

• "Declaring 5GW War"

  Dan tdaxp has an interesting follow-up to my last post, and in my latest comments under both posts I wrote some things that have iterated in my head, in combination with both posts, to produce some other thought which I'd...

• Declaring a 5th Generaton War on America to Shrink the Gap

  Mountainrunner's review of Brave New War was greeted thusly by John Robb: Knew it was going to happen. Oh well. To tell you the truth, I kinda expected more push-back to an outsider like me from the "conference crowd" guarding...

• On the Barnettian 5GW

  I'm bumping up a comment I left in another thread...And this is where 5GW on a grand scale may diverge from the current Robb/Hammes approach, which emphasizes one superempowered individual as opposed to generating empowerment across an entire society.[Steve, commenting...

• ...the superhero with his “sixth column”

  Found in the comments at Crooked Timber left by "Alex":Amusingly, the superhero with his “sixth column” is pretty much what “Tdaxp” and “Dreaming 5GW” think they are doing to fight 4th Generation Warfare.The post is a discussion of comics including...

• Robb and Hammes on "Catastrophic Superempowerment"

  Super-Empowerment of Individuals is one of the drivers of 5GW theory.John Robb has a new post on a conversation he had on the subject with T.X Hammes entitled: CONVERSATION: TX Hammes on Catastrophic SuperempowermentIt is worth the quick read and...

• The 5GW Movie hat Mighta/Coulda Been: Transformers

  The blog Chained to the Cinémathèque reports on what could have been a movie with 4WG or 5GW themes:The film starts out as an allegory for 4th Generation Warfare (4GW), or perhaps even 5GW: enemies are hidden among us, yet...

• Old 5GW Reference: But Is it 5GW?

  From The Democracy Project:New technology, Islamic values and relations radically change the implications of Hammes's strategic model. In some ways, Islamic culture makes fifth generation conflict more like pre-modern warfare.[...]In particular, the interactivity of Islamic belief with military action means...

• "Positioning" by Al Ries and Jack Trout: Anything for 4GW or 5GW?

  I recently read Positioning by Al Ries and Jack Trout.This is really mostly a marketing/business book, but I am looking for ideas I can swipe from elsewhere fro 4gw/5gw.I love the subtitle: The Battle for Your Mind. I am going...

• A Vision Too Abstract

  Thomas P.M. Barnett gets it wrong building on Russia vs Estonia -- mostly by imagining such a thing as "non-kinetic" effects.Shame on you, sir. UPDATE: More on this topic at the Blorum: The Myth of "Non-Kinetic" Effect. Plus, Sean Meade...

• Kilcullen on Narratives in Iraq

  "US forces’ primary contribution is not delivering a message but creating safe space where Iraqis can deliver the message.""The single narrative the US has pursued is that as they (Iraqis) stand up, we stand down. That message is not particularly...

• Some ideas for XGW as intellectual framework

  [Ed. note: This is a post originally made to "The Blorum" -- a now-defunct area of D5GW within the D5GW Forums, although the thread is still there as well as comments associated with this post. The date given for this...

• Puppetmaster Parallel

  [Ed. note: This is a post originally made to "The Blorum" -- a now-defunct area of D5GW within the D5GW Forums, although the thread is still there as well as comments associated with this post. The date given for this...

• Possible 5GW Archetype: The Puppet Master 5GW

  The Puppet Master 5GW is the small empowered group behind the scenes. They use/discard/co-opt/create 4GW-ish orgs to further their own 5GW goals. Targeted assassination may be used as a special skill of the small group) but it will be of...

• Kent's Imperative on Estonia, Russia, The Wizards War and 5GW

  Kent's Imperative writes about The Wizards War and a possible type of 5GW. First the Cause: Wretchard in particular applies an apt name: the Wizard War. This captures, in succinct form, the alienation the typical man on the street might...

• Laying the Foundations Part 4: The Fourth Wall

  Previous forms of generational warfare are only very rarely deceptive on the strategic level. Even 4GW, as shadowy and elusive as its insurgent practitioners attempt to make it, is essentially very direct and very blatant. A 4GW attack on the...

• Parallel Development = Iterative Development

  Not long ago, in a post brainstorming about the OODA and 5GW, I remarked,While trying to grasp the concept of an iterative development process, I ran into this difficulty:  in a parallel development process like those already mentioned, each distinct...

• Can 5GW Theory benefit by Studying Con Men and Cons?

  I just caught up on the last few episodes of the TV show Lost which includes a confidence man ("Sawyer") as of the characters.I wonder if 5GW Theory, which emphasizes manipulation, can be fleshed out some by knowledge of the...

• Hammes on 5GW

  [Originally posted to the now-defunct D5GW "blorum", transfered to the blog with date, title, and content retained.] Arherring has a new post up on D5GW critiquing the 5GW prognostications of Colonel Thomas X. Hammes. I agree with every point Arherring...

• Colonel Hammes Enters the Fifth Generation

  Fourth Generation Warfare Evolves, Fifth Emerges. Colonel Thomas X. Hammes, USMC, Retired Military Review May-June 2007 I have great respect for Colonel Thomas X. Hammes. Any time he is mentioned or offers his opinion or analysis in an interview or...

• Introducing PurpleSlog

  Hi!I blog under the name PurpleSlog.The genesis of my interest in Fifth Generation War theory (5GW) comes from the the early/original 5GW post (and the comments) by ZenPundit, TDAXP, Coming Anarchy (though the post no longer seems to exist) and...

• Conspiracy Theories and 5GW

  R, Adam. 2007. The death of conspiracies. The Metropolis Times. April 24, 2007. Available online: http://themetropolistimes.blogspirit.com/archive/2007/04/24/the-death-of-conspiracies.html. Jumping straight to the conclusion: The result is that important conspiracies are getting next to impossible to keep secret. No country would dare fake...

• Notes Inspired by Larry Sanger

  The ZenPundit, Mark Safranski, has linked a brilliant essay by Larry Sanger:"Who Says We Know:  on the new politics of knowledge."Sanger deftly considers the truth behind the truths, in a way that will bear on future 5GW thinking and theory. ...

• AKA: Static

  "The Blame Game", via Soob, via Younghusband at Coming Anarchy. Or in other words, tracing effects back to causes will only become more difficult, as more voices and more operatives (proxies) affect the system from more locations/domains -- but people...

• Kinetics and Violence

  The genesis of this post is the comments section for ZenPundit's autoborking post on JL Kirk Associates. However, I think it has some broad applications. In particular, I am wondering if "kinetic" is the right words in the following progression...

• Is Kirking a Tool in all Generations of War?

  Even before kirking became a verb in its present sense, Dr. Glen Reynolds wrote a scholarly paper on how SLAPP lawsuits may soon have a negative ROI because of the power of blogospheric swaming. Over a tdaxp, Curtis has done...

• The Dawn of (observable) Concerted 5GW

  Soob has a couple posts worth checking out -- "Online 5GW?  Online 4GW?" and, especially, "First publications" -- concerning the Wikipedia entry for the Russian internet brigades....

• Memes as Nodes in Complex Interactivity

  Moral resilience operates on multiple levels. First, at the level of an organization as a result or product of what Colonel Boyd described as:"A grand ideal, overarching theme, or noble philosophy that represents a coherent paradigm within which individuals as...

• A Quick Observation

  Saw this phrase on Tom Barnett's blog and it jumped out at me. "Bush seems unable to define a victory, so he leaves it to the Dems to define a loss." I have explored before the consideration that 5GW will...

• The D5GW Paradox

  I've been sidetracked by Movable Type woes, which are eating into my time and my peace of mind; thus, haven't been blogging much.  Check out the new author pages, linked in the left sidebar, when you get a chance; plus,...

• Politics and Conflict

  Five days ago, A. E. of Simulated Laughter posted a follow-up to an entry on D5GW with an entry titled "5GW and Obama -- Long Post."The Republicans have employed a form of 4GW for a long time. The Democrats did...

• 5GW Warriors: Sam Harris

  I might as well launch this series on [potential] 5GW Warriors with a link to a video I watched for the first time tonight showing a man, a stage, an audience, and memes at work recontextualizing religious belief. I don't...

• Politics Goes Viral

  From ShaneBertou.com, in a post considering the YouTube video that uses an old AppleMac ad but inserts Hillary Clinton as the oppressive dictator/mind shaper:This is no doubt an interesting development in the world of political advertising. It will be interesting...

• Empires of the Mind

  “The empires of the future are the empires of the mind.”In general, the Winston Churchill quote is auspicious for 5GW dreaming.  Churchill's words alone would sum up the theory of 5GW that I have presented on D5GW, or at least...

• Loyalty vs Fidelity

  Alan Sullivan of Fresh Bilge ponders the difference (that he would make) between loyalty and fidelity:Of all the minor virtues, loyalty is most apt for twisting to evil purpose. Unlike fealty, loyalty has no intrinsic value. It is morally neutral....

• Patriotism and Stumblingblocks

  Recently on tdaxp, Dan highlighted a comment that his friend Aaron had left on a 5GW-related post at tdaxp:I don't find patriotism some quality to aspire to. It's racism minus the pigmentary convenience.[Aaron, from "Comment Upgrade: Patriotism and the Iraq...

• On Future Superpower

  My high school buddy and science fiction writer Raymund Eich has begun a series of posts which will explore the requirements placed upon science fiction writing by potential future geopolitical realities: Anyone writing science fiction set in the next century...

• Indirection as a Component of 5GW

  Courtesy, Against the tide & the necessity of tacking, by Razib Let me assume for a moment that you, the reader, are in the minority of the human race which does not subscribe to the supernatural religions. How are we...

• On the New

  -- not the news, but the new.One thing that has bugged me about many detractors of 5GW theory (and 4GW theory, the generational warfare model, etc.):  their perverse concept of "newness."  The perversion in their use of the concept has...

• Emersonian Circles

  I often return to reading Ralph Waldo Emerson's essays whenever my thinking grows stale and tedious.  I just as often put his book of essays aside for long periods, after it seems to grow stale and tedious.  So there is...

• The Lost Tomb of Jesus

  Is it journalism? Is it docu-drama? Is it archeo-porn? Is it a window into a 5GW operation? This last Sunday evening, without the distraction of NFL football and not being a fan of Desperate Housewives, my television landed on the...

• GG / GW

  If a country were beset by John Robb's global guerrillas, could a 5GW organization operate openly? In particular, I am thinking if you actually have a land where forming a central government is impossible, a 4GW movement may proceed to...

• OODA Doodling

  I've been doodling with the OODA again, trying to use the imagery to better understand 5GW.  I'll put the doodles and comments below the fold, because they are image-intense when considered together (kb) and I don't want to make the...

• A Kinder, Gentler Definition

  For the past few days I’ve been kicking my Working Definition up against Curtis’ Kinder, Gentler War, just trying to see if it stuck and what it stuck to. As a result, I’ve come up with a new definition that...

• A Kinder, Gentler War?

  In a look at "4GW Christianity Around the Blogosphere" Dan recently highlighted some 5GW-related thoughts from Thomas P.M. Barnett's post "Why the yin disconnects from the yang" which are fertile ground for 5GW theorists.  I'm going to break apart the...

• Spammy Correspondence

  A thought has occurred to me, inspired ultimately by a consideration of a really stupid spam scam. A metaphor.Much spam works like 4GW operations.A repetitive nature may defeat the message.  Most people who bother to check their email accounts become...

• More on Static

  An addendum/juxtaposition to my last post, on "Tying Loose Ends."Toward the end of that post, I suggested what may seem utterly obvious but may often be overlooked.  An explosion of choices for determining the exact outlines of a life one...

• Tying Loose Ends

  A common theme, or call it a common question, frequently resurfaces in our little neck of the Blogospheric Woods, amazingly emergent wherever the discussion turns toward an examination of the future of humanity:  Shall there be tribes; if so, will...

• Deconstructing John Robb's "Bazaar of Violence"

  A flurry of posts and comments have swarmed the generally closed-source development of Global Guerrilla Theory, whether to attack it or in support of it -- depending on who is writing. My various comments on the recent threads will seem...

• For your amusement...

  Something I ran across while retreating from reality into the satirical unreality of one of my favorite authors. Considering the 5GWish tone, it made me chuckle and I thought I would share. " But we thought obsessively about Virgil's reference...

• 5GW and Global Guerrillas Theory

  In response to a comment by Curtis, I issue a call to arms on defining Global Guerrilla Theory As I see it, there are three possibilities for global guerrilla theory Internally valid, externally valid Internally valid, externally invalid Internally invalid,...

• Toward a Better Understanding of 4GW

  Vis-a-vis my remarks on the thread "Winning a Hockey 5GW": For some time now, I've had in the back of my head the thought that much of the way media is consciously used in America, and often subconsciously effective, is...

• Winning a Hockey 5GW

  note: This is a guest post by Catholicgauze. CG's been a friend of mine for some time. Before starting his very good blog, he wrote a three-part series on the geographer H.J. de Blij which appeared on tdaxp [1, 2,...

• 5GW, Freedom, and Theory

  Recently, J.R. approached me with the following question: Has it occurred to you that should 5GW be more widely recognized, it could mean--or lead to--the effective end of liberty? If anything--ie not just media or academia, but even family life...

• What would a 5th Generation Format War (5GFW) look like?

  Slashdot and Digg links to the very good news that HD-DVD Encryption has been cracked, allowing one to play HD-DVDs in the same manner one plays regular CDs. What's been particular fun is reading the digg comments. One in particular...

• Are the Germans ripping me off?

  Or giving me props? Is this a google translation? Or a brilliant exegesis? Sadly, my monolinguialism once again cuts me off from a potentially fascinating conversation, but Unverdachtiger Schweinestall's post Kriegsführung = "The O.O.D.A.-Loop" strongly resembles my own post, Go...

• Working Definition V. 2.3

  Fifth Generation Warfare (5GW): An emergent theory of warfare premised upon manipulation of multiple economic, political, social and military forces in multiple domains to effect positional changes in systems and achieve a consilience of effects to leverage a specific goal...

• How should the term "5GW" be used?

  Is this usage compatible with an accepted understanding of 5GW? Interesting story on how the US is using the threat of attack (not specifically mentioned, but implied) to increase uncertainty of investments in Iranian energy projects. It appears that this...

• Laying the Foundations Part 3: Technology

  One thing that I have always tried to keep in the forefront of my thoughts as I ponder the theory and doctrine of Fifth Generation of Warfare is to keep, for the most part, technology out of the picture. As...

• 5GW and the Struggle Against Evil

  After no activity for a year in a half in the comments section of my first post on 5GW, guest Herb Harris adds his thoughts: I just read this post and began to think of how the world is fighting...

• Interlude: Static Visualized, Conceptualized

  While I delay the writing and posting of the second part in my series on Static, Transparency, and Systemic Resilience, new sparks that appear to address the subject of static have surfaced or resurfaced:  whether in my own mind or...

• Static, Transparency, and Systemic Resilience:
  Part One

  The holiday crush has left me with a backlog of embryonic posts, a dizzying map of Blogospheric connection (posts from bloggers who never slowed down for the holidays and in many cases are now moving onto other subjects!), and the...

• Barnett on 5GW

  Props to Arherring for provoking (and providing the illusion of choice to ?) Tom Barnett, in his description of this blog and 5GW: My own sense is that 5GW will be all about fait accomplis and the illusion of choice,...

• Recommended Reading: The Starfish and the Spider

  The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizationsby Ori Brafman, Rod Beckstrom The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations By Ori Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom Spiders have: Centralized organization. A head, body,...

• Steve DeAngelis, In Other Words

  Interesting article from Steve DeAngelis on Enterprise Resilience Management Blog:"Prevention Better than Mitigation"Steve looks at Rent-Way, a company that ultimately had to sell its business to competitor Rent-A-Center after a transparent attempt by its CEO, William E. Morgenstern, to correct...

• Laying the Foundations: Part 2 Iterative Design

  As discussed in Part 1 of this series, sequential design, also known as the Waterfall model, provides a framework for a 5GW campaign where the goal is focused, its requirements are known and fixed, and the timeframe for the 5GW...

• John Robb, In Other Words

  Having drawn dire images of ultimate apocalypse and the convergence of diverse demons whose only shared goal upon the Earth is destruction -- i.e. the inept 5GWarriors John Robb has called 'Global Guerrillas', who really do have other goals but,...

• The 910 Group Considers Hezbollah's Defeat

  Dan of TDAXP introduced us to the 910 Group  -- "5GW and the Anti-Jihad" -- which led to an interesting exchange that has now expanded into a kind of open-source exploration of ways the Lebanese people can fight the threat...

• Baker-Hamilton, Failed 5GWarriors

  It is the unanimous view of the Iraq Study Group that these recommendations offer a new way forward for the United States in Iraq and the region. They are comprehensive and need to be implemented in a coordinated fashion. They...

• Laying the Foundations: Part 1 Sequential Design

  Updated: With Graphic by Curtis Weeks Re-Updated: to give credit where credit is due -hat tip to TDAXP- While searching the internet for others who are working on 5GW or its equivalent, I ran across an article on Phil Jones’s...

• 5GW and the Anti-Jihad

  The 910 Group, in two posts -- "There is no dog but Rufus and The Open Society -- begin the work of using 5GW theory to defend America in this Long War What happens when access to the avenues of...

• Take a Survey. For Science.

  A friend of mine has devised a simple, 10 question survey that should take no more than 2 minutes to complete. Let your voice be heard, and help the science of conflict expand. (Aherring has already taken the survey and...

• Many Paths to Victory

  --and every one important?...

• Parallel Worlds

  The recent explosion of interest in Linden Research, Inc.'s Second Life should be a pointer to how 5GW organizations may form and operate in relative isolation and freedom across a broad spectrum of the Earth's citizenry.  While Kent's Imperative ponders...

• Laying the Foundation of 5GW

  As Curtis mentioned in an article on Phatic Communion (Which I am glad he is getting back to) I suppose, there’s only so much that can be said about a dream until you realize that the dream needs to be...

• Working Definition V. 2.0

  Fifth Generation Warfare (5GW): An emergent theory of economic, social, political and military conflict premised upon manipulation of systems through influence in multiple domains to achieve a specific goal or set of circumstances. (Arherring 11/20/06)...

• Warfare Continua

  In his last post, "5GW: The Vertical and The Horizontal," Arherring connected a consideration of vertical and horizontal activity with Dan tdaxp's generational continuum as well as with the notions of kinetic and non-kinetic activity.  This represents an important framework,...

• 5GW: The Vertical and The Horizontal

  "There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we...

• Managing Multiple Strands

  A lot of 5GW theory has focused on general broad aspects of the next generation of warfare, sometimes dipping into the esoteric and  philosophical basis of 5GW, and that's the way it should be.  Once on a post discussing EBO...

• Against William Lind, Against John Robb, in favor of 5GW

  I had been cautious of posting here, as I self-promote enough on other blogs, but now that Aherring and Curtis have asked me to share my thoughts, I thought I will. Attempts to establish what is meant by 5GW runs...

• Sysadmin U.

  The other day a friend of mine and I were talking politics and the conversation moved into a discussion about the U.S. military’s growing pains as it has shifted from the offensive force that brought down Saddam’s Iraq to the...

• 'Working Definition' of 5GW and Topics of Exploration

  One of my main goals here at Dreaming 5GW is to establish a definition of Fifth Generation Warfare. My hope is to be able to explain the general concept of 5GW in a short paragraph. With that in mind I...

• Follow-up to 'GG as 5GWarriors'

  Some interesting commentary on that post.  I wanted to highlight the commentary and my reactions, but this, it turns out, requires a lengthy post; so follow below the fold ............

• Future Starlight

  An intriguing post from Kent's Imperative that may have major implications for conducting fifth generation warfare:"Searching Starlight"One of the other very key Insights from the Proteus study was the concept of Starlight – the complex and variable effects of time...

• 'Global Guerrillas' as 5GW Warriors

  I am leaping ahead in this post to a summarizing look at John Robb's Global Guerrillas, fueled by my own thoughts concerning the recent Barnett-Robb 5GW debate as well as a bit by Mark Safranski's thoughts on the matter.  Mostly...

• Barnett and Robb

  Short on time today and tomorrow.  Too bad, because 5GW discussion has been ratcheted up in our little neighborhood on the AllSpace.  Here are some links and a few remarks; but I will definitely be returning to these shortly, when...

• Rule-Sets, System Perturbations and 5GW

  System Perturbation: A situation that causes a break down in, or invalidation of, a system level rule-set Rule-Set: The underlying principles (groups of rules) that define and govern norms of behavior and conduct. Fifth Generation Warfare (5GW): The strategic mindset...

• Micropowers and the Art of 5GW

  Or is that, 'the Arc of 5GW'?On Coming Anarchy:"Swish for Saakashvili""Becoming a Micropower""Georgia: Little Engine that Can?"On ZenPundit:"Chirol's Micropower"On Global Guerrillas / John Robb's Weblog:"Can Georgia become a MicroPower?""More on Micropowers" Some interesting 5GW-related discussion .........

• "Where is the 'war' part?"

  A commenter at John Robb's Weblog asks the question, If 5GW is getting others to do what you want them to do of their own free will (though maybe that is not the best definition?), where is the "war" part?...

• Welcome to the World of 5GW

  First off I would like to give a big thanks to Tom Barnett, Zenpundit, TDAXP, Purpleslog, John Robb and many others (especially Curtis Weeks!) for setting the perfect stage to introduce Dreaming 5GW. We couldn’t have arranged it better ourselves...

• Surround Sound: Follow-up

  Lots of interesting commentary on 5GW over the last day.  It is this type of chatter, more than anything, that led me to question Dan's assessment that "The American System of Government is as brilliant at defending itself from 5GWs...

• Dreaming 5GW: In Surround Sound

  First, I would like to welcome visitors to Dreaming 5GW, a new cooperative blog focusing on various theories of fifth generation warfare.Over the course of the last year and a half, I've been both, intrigued by various blogospheric discussions concerning...

• Al-Qaida Goes 5GW -- or not

  A 5GW operation will create conditions and contingencies to avoid detection by hiding among the crazies. I can see where parts of an operation might purposely be exposed and then linked with false information and crazy theories to discourage real...

• 5GW in Disinformation, Etymology, and Network Centrality

  Humans have been organizing themselves into complex social networks simce they emerged from the stage of tiny hunter-gatherer bands. They did so "naturally" and unconsciously without understanding how this pattern mirrored that of other complex systems....There are already attempts to...

• New 5GW Wikipedia Article

  Today I discovered a visitor referred from the Norwegian version of Wikipedia to my post "5GW and Christianity."  The article is on fifth-generation warfare and includes links to tdaxp, ZenPundit, Global Guerrillas, PurpleSlog, and Coming Anarchy.  (All of which can...

• Lind, Robb, Dan, PurpleSlog, CGW

  PrefaceAs regular readers probably already know, debate over the characterization of John Robb's "Global Guerrillas" has been spotlighted in various places around this tiny section of the web.PurpleSlog initiated the recent debate in "Am I Understanding the Gist of the...

• The Thunder Pig Thunders

  ...after getting a little hot air from Michelle Malkin: "Michelle Malkin uses 5GW to strike back" --Michelle Malkin has a new weapon in her arsenal. It is called Hot Air, yeah right, like a hydrogen bomb emits hot air! Her...

• On China and Hard/Soft Power

  An interesting cross-view of China's increasing global influence can be found at The Council on Foreign Relations:  "China's Soft Seduction."  Much of the information is not new, although perhaps more focus on individual perspectives may be occurring.  Interestingly, the article's...

• Unto the Next Generation

  While bouncing the ball between 4GW and 5GW theory has proven more than interesting for me -- and may prove quite useful in "negotiatiing" the future -- it's important to remember that force warfare has a long history for a...

• Observing the Maturing World

  Introduction In the second installment of this series on Rethinking the OODA -- "EBO is Everything in War -- Almost" -- I made some claims which will further bear on the subject of the generations of warfare as conceived by...

• EBO is Everything in War -- Almost

  Effects Defined Effects consist of a full spectrum of outcomes, events, or consequences that result from a particular action. An effects based approach to operations stresses the value of connecting all actions (political, diplomatic, economic, and military) to operational and...

• Rethinking the OODA

  "First, does the word orientation in the phrase ['homosexual orientation'] match up with the orient of OODA? "Most gays who use the phrase actually use it to describe the physical being (or preconditions) rather than as we might use the...

• Skinning the Gap

  The concept of progress acts as a protective mechanism to shield us from the terrors of the future.[--from "Collective Sayings of Muad'Dib" by the Princess Irulan (Frank Herbert, Dune)]Elsewhere in Dune, Muad'Dib is said to be half-ogre, who ordered battle...

• Ideas Requiring Attention

  It's nice to know that while I piddle about, dependable bloggers continue their heroic output.Mark Safranski of ZenPundit has been reexamining globalization and the problems that come with globalization -- "Network Theory, 'Noise' and Al Qaida" and "PNM Theory and...

• Punditry and 5GW

  I will want to take a closer look at this topic.  I once remarked that, "We certainly cannot discount the possibility of a messianic politician, celebrity, or religious figure for a 5GWarrior — nor, some powerful celebrity scoundrel, who offers...

• Pattern Recognition

  Yesterday, while earning a little cash as an election judge in a local election, I had the opportunity to begin reading a book I've owned for about six months but had put off reading: Pattern Recognition, by science fiction and...

• Initiating 5GW

  "Truly formless 5gw," Younghusband on Coming Anarchy"5GW: Soundless + Formless + Polished + Leading," Dan on tdaxp"Riding the Tiger," Chet Richards"Emergent Intelligence in Open Source Warfare," John Robb on Global GuerrillasAnd on Phatic Communion:"5GW Effectors""(Blog Notice) 5GW""Limitations of 5GW""5GW Tutorial"5GW:...

• Hugo Chavez: 5GWarrior

  The title of this entry may be misleading, but only because it's sensational. Actually, an entry on NewsHog by Cernig suggests a possible attempt at psychological and economic warfare by Venezuela, through the wholly state-owned oil company CITGO: It seems...

• 5GW Tutorial

  At one of the online poetry workshops I occasionally visit, the moderator, Rob Godfrey, made a parenthetical comment while discussing the political after-effects of Katrina: (obviously it would have been very easy for terrorists to blow/breach the New Orleans levees)....

• Limitations of 5GW

  Preamble: Auden, Emerson There are two kinds of political issues, Party issues and Revolutionary issues. In a party issue, all parties are agreed as to the nature and justice of the social goal to be reached, but differ in their...

• 5GW Effectors

  effector A molecule, chemical, or structure that regulates a pathway by increasing or decreasing the pathway's reaction rate. An organ (a gland or muscle) that becomes active in response to nerve impulses. A nerve fiber that terminates on a muscle...