An Overview of the Development of the Russian Information Warfare Concept Part 1

Abstract

After the infamous cyberattacks against Estonia in 2007 and the Ukrainian conflict in 2014–2015, the Russian military theory, and in particular, Information Warfare (IW) doctrines, have come into the centre of attention. IW has played a very peculiar role in the Russian political and military theory and practice, and its current state can be regarded as a climax in its evolution. To gain an in-depth understanding of the Russian strategic thinking, the first part of this article strives to give an account of the unique nature of the Russian way of IW.