| Description |
1 online resource (193 pages). |
|
text file PDF |
| Physical Medium |
polychrome |
| Series |
War Culture Ser.
|
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War culture.
|
| Note |
Description based upon print version of record. |
| Contents |
Cover -- Series Page -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Preface and Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Toward a Theoretical Framework of Cyberwars -- 2. Cyberwars and International Politics -- 3. U.S. Cyberoperations in the Middle East -- 4. Russian Trolls, Islam, and the Middle East -- 5. Cyberwars and Regional Politics -- 6. Arab Hackers and Electronic Armies -- Conclusion -- Appendix: Selected List of Arab Hacking Groups -- Notes -- References -- Index -- About the Author |
| Summary |
Cyberwars in the Middle East argues that hacking is a form of online political disruption whose influence flows vertically in two directions (top-bottom or bottom-up) or horizontally. These hacking activities are performed along three political dimensions: international, regional, and local. Author Ahmed Al-Rawi argues that political hacking is an aggressive and militant form of public communication employed by tech-savvy individuals, regardless of their affiliations, in order to influence politics and policies. Kenneth Waltz's structural realism theory is linked to this argument as it provides a relevant framework to explain why nation-states employ cyber tools against each other. On the one hand, nation-states as well as their affiliated hacking groups like cyber warriors employ hacking as offensive and defensive tools in connection to the cyber activity or inactivity of other nation-states, such as the role of Russian Trolls disseminating disinformation on social media during the US 2016 presidential election. This is regarded as a horizontal flow of political disruption. Sometimes, nation-states, like the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain, use hacking and surveillance tactics as a vertical flow (top-bottom) form of online political disruption by targeting their own citizens due to their oppositional or activists' political views. On the other hand, regular hackers who are often politically independent practice a form of bottom-top political disruption to address issues related to the internal politics of their respective nation-states such as the case of a number of Iraqi, Saudi, and Algerian hackers. In some cases, other hackers target ordinary citizens to express opposition to their political or ideological views which is regarded as a horizontal form of online political disruption. This book is the first of its kind to shine a light on many ways that governments and hackers are perpetrating cyber attacks in the Middle East and beyond, and to show the ripple effect of these attacks. |
| Local Note |
eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America |
| Language |
In English. |
| Subject |
Information warfare -- Middle East.
|
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Information warfare. |
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Middle East. |
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Cyberspace -- Political aspects -- Middle East.
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Cyberspace -- Political aspects. |
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Hacking -- Middle East.
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Hacking. |
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Cyberspace. |
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HISTORY / General. |
| Indexed Term |
middle east, cybersecurity, hacking, hackers, communication, politics, policies, influence, structural realism theory, political disruption, Algeria, Algerian hackers, horizontal leadership, surveillance, internal politics, opposition, ideology, government, cyber-attacks, regional politics, Arab, Russia, trolls, Islam, international, international politics. |
| Other Form: |
Print version: Al-Rawi, Ahmed Cyberwars in the Middle East New Brunswick : Rutgers University Press,c2021 9781978810112 |
| ISBN |
1978810148 |
|
9781978810143 (electronic book) |
| Standard No. |
10.36019/9781978810143 |
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