Information As Power China??Cyber Power and America??National Security

The Information in Warfare Group of the U.S. Army War College is proud to publish “China’s Cyber Power and America’s National Security” by Colonel Jayson M. Spade. This effort represents the first research paper published outside the annual “Information as Power” student anthology as a stand-alone monograph. There are several reasons for this distinction. Spade’s work is exceptionally well-researched and written as evidenced by its receipt of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA) writing award in 2011. Additionally, the topic of cyber power and national security remains a wicked U.S. national security problem that requires thoughtful and scholarly discourse toward a possible solution. To that end, Spade masterfully pushes the body of knowledge forward in this paper.Originally submitted as a Strategy Research Project, this monograph examines the growth of Chinese cyber power and their known and demonstrated capabilities for offensive, defensive and exploitive computer network operations. Comparing China’s capacity and potential to the United States’ current efforts for cyber security, Spade highlights the degree to which the People’s Republic of China’s cyber power poses a threat to United States’ national security and offers proposals to improve future U.S. policy for cyber security and defense.Like the “Information as Power” student anthology, this paper provides a resource for U.S. Army War College graduates, senior military officers, and national security practitioners concerned with the information element of power. It is indicative of importance of the Army as a learning organization that values soldier-scholars like Colonel Spade.