Information And National Security

Ever since the 1990s, the information revolution has been advancing throughout the world. It imposes a wide and profound effect on international politics in which national security plays a central role. This dissertation thus intends to clarify the relationship between information and international security by examining the information strategy in the transition of the U.S. national security strategy.The end of the Cold War provokes several great changes in international politics and the U.S. national security strategy: the information revolution has been broadening and deepening in the whole world, having a lasting and profound effect on international politics and national security; the United States redefined its national interests, the security threats it faces and accessible resources, and made some consequent changes to its national security strategy; information resources and information technology play an increasingly important role in the U.S. national security strategy.These elements bring about several issues that this dissertation intends to deal with: the relationship between information and national security; the effect of the information revolution on national security; the causal relationship between the transition of the U.S. national security strategy and the changes in the field of information; the fundamental conception and specific policies of the U.S. information strategy; and how to evaluate the U.S. information strategy.At the very beginning, the dissertation sets the concept and framework of information analysis approaches; then it examines the information strategy based on national security and analyzes the information strategy in the transition of the U.S. national security strategy; the dissertation ends with a comprehensive evaluation and the main conclusion. The dissertation is composed of seven parts, including the preface, five chapters and the conclusion.The preface provides the reason for the writing of this dissertation, a review on current research of this field, and the principal viewpoints and framework of this dissertation.Chapter one, starting from the basic concept of information with the help of the information analysis approaches in international system theory, integrates relevant concepts and methodology of information science into the study of international politics;meanwhile, it puts forward some problems worthy of attention in the relationship between information and international politics, so as to set a theoretical framework for the analysis of the information strategy.Chapter two focuses on analyzing information in the context of national security. It defines the information strategy, examines the brand-new connotations of national security in the information age, and on three different levels — technology, diplomacy and defense — analyzes the information strategy based on national security.Chapter three, from the aspect of the information strategy, analyzes the transition of the U.S. national security strategy. Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has re-evaluated the security threats it faces, depending on which it redefines its national security strategy. Wherein, the impact brought about by the information revolution is one important element that forms new security threats. In the meantime, a comprehensive information strategy plays an important role in the post-Cold War U.S. national security strategy.Chapter four, from different levels of the U.S. national security strategy, examines the ideas of post-Cold War U.S. information strategy and its relevant policies, including the building and managing of an open global information system, the renovation of information in defense and military fields to get an edge over its adversaries to win the information war, and the securing of information technology and information resources as well as the protection of critical information infrastructure.Chapter five begins with a comprehensive evaluation of the information strategy in the post-Cold War U.S. national security strategy transition. It points out that, in the U.S. information strategy and the relevant policies, there are both informational advantages in each field and weaknesses in its national security. Then, depending on the U.S. information strategy, this chapter forms a framework to describe the relationship between information and national security. Last of all, this chapter demonstrates the stability of international bodies and the prospect of national security in the information age.The concluding part gives the main thesis of the dissertation and the author's innovative ideas on the subject. It also demonstrates possible theoretical and practical meanings of this dissertation for relevant studies of information and national politics, as well as the lessons China can learn and the problems that need further examination in this field of study.