


Course webpage is here: http://peterasaro.org/courses/2026War.html
Course blog is here: http://digitalwar2026.wordpress.com/
This course focuses on exploring how digital technologies and media are transforming warfare, international conflicts, and popular uprisings and their suppression. We will explore how these technologies are changing the nature of warfare, and the rhetoric that is used to justify the development and use of these new technologies and strategies. The course critically examines the claims that technologies can produce increasingly risk-free, or even bloodless, wars, and considers how the risks of engaging in armed conflict are being redistributed. It also examines how new forms of digital and social media are being enlisted in the service of international conflicts and competition, spying and hacking. Topics discussed include the military's use of video games for recruitment and training; the role of digital media in war journalism, state propaganda and information warfare, and hackivist sites such as Wikileaks; the use of social media in both organizing and suppressing popular uprisings such as the Arab Spring; mass surveillance in the name of state security; developments in cyberwarfare; and the increasing use of military robotics, including armed drones, as well as the development of fully autonomous weapons.
You are expected to have thoroughly and thoughtfully read the assigned texts, viewed the assigned videos, and to have prepared yourself to contribute meaningfully to the class discussions. For some people, that preparation requires taking copious notes on the assigned readings; for others, it entails supplementing the assigned readings with explanatory texts found in survey textbooks or in online sources; and for others still, it involves reading the texts, ruminating on them afterwards, then discussing those readings with classmates before the class meeting. Whatever method best suits you, I hope you will arrive at class with copies of the assigned reading, ready and willing to make yourself a valued contributor to the discussion, and eager to share your own relevant media experiences and interests. Your participation will be evaluated in terms of both quantity and quality.
As this is a seminar, regular attendance is essential. You will be permitted two excused absences (you must notify me of your inability to attend before class, via email). Any subsequent absences and any un-excused absences will adversely affect your grade.
You will be required to make
weekly blog entries commenting on the readings for the week. You will be required to create an account on WordPress (if you
do not already have one), and send me an email with your LoginID and the EMAIL
ADDRESS used to create the account, so that you can
be added as an author for the collective course blog. Everyone will be posting
to a common blog page, and this will be readable by your classmates. When
writing and making comments, you are expected to treat other students with the
same respect and courtesy as you should in the classroom.
Discussion questions will be posted each week to help stimulate the writing
process. You are also expected to read the posts of your classmates, and
encouraged to comment on other people's posts each week. Posts will not be
graded (they will receive 2 {on-time], 1 [late] or 0 [not completed] points),
but I will read them and occasionally comment on them. There will be 10
posts required through the semester, thus 20 points, constituting 20% of your grade.
Comments are strongly encouraged, and you can receive up to 10 points (extra credit) for each substantial comment (paragraph or longer) that you make on someone else's post.
Blog posts will be due before the start of each class. They are time stamped when you post them, and late posts will only receive half credit (1 point). THere is no specific topic for each post, but they should express your reactions to and reflections on the readings for that week.
Research Project Idea Due: October 6
Length: 300-500 words
(approx. 1 page)
Research Project Full Proposal/Draft Due:
November 10
Length: 500-2000 words (approx. 1-4
pages)
Final Project Presentations:
December 1 & 8
Oral Presentation, 15 minutes (Powerpoint
Optional) with discussion
Final Project Due: December 11
Length (media project description): 500-3000 words (approx. 1-10
pages) + Media Project
Length (research paper option): 3000-5000 words (approx. 10-18 pages)
There will be no final exam. Instead, a final research
project will be required. There are 2 options: Research Paper Option, and Media
Project Option.
Final Project will be due after the last day of class. If that deadline will not work for you, you need to make other arrangements one week in advance, at the latest. We will set aside time in the last day(s) of class for presentations of final projects. These will not be graded but will offer an opportunity for feedback before submitting your final project.
Project topics can address any aspect of the topics and materials discussed in class. Projects should include materials beyond what is directly covered in class, as appropriate for your topic. In other words, they should require research. The blog will provide many ideas for projects, as will class discussion. You will be asked to submit a short description of your Project Idea early in the semester, and will receive feedback on it.
Later in the semester you will have to write a more formal Proposal for your project, or rough draft, based on feedback and further research. Project proposals should state the research question, problem, or phenomenon that will be the focus of your research. It should also state your thesis or position on the issue, as well as outline the argument you will use to support your position. This applies to both papers and media projects. You should also indicate the sources and materials you will consult and utilize in making your argument and producing your final project. For the Media Project Option, you should state as clearly as possible what you intend to deliver for the final draft (i.e., video length, style, format, content; website; set of infographics, etc.).
Final Project Presentations will occur on the last days of class. These should be short 5-10 minutes summary of your research paper or project, allowing 5-10 minutes for discussion. Group projects can be presented collectively.
Research Paper Option
This will take the form of a 3000-5000 word (Times
New Roman, 12pt font, double spaced) term paper. You should draw upon sources
from the course readings as well as beyond the course readings. You should cite
your sources properly.
Media Project Option
Media Projects can take the form of film and video
pieces, audio documentaries, websites, interactive media, performance pieces,
infographics, a social media campaign strategy, or other ideas. In addition to
the actual media product, you will need to submit your Idea, Proposal, and a
Final short written piece explaining your project, its motivations, methods and
what you did to realize it.
Group Project
Option
Those pursuing the Media Project Option have the further option of
participating in a group research project. For the students pursuing this
option, the process will be much the same, with the Idea being an individual
statement of what you plan to contribute to the group project, and the Proposal
and Final projects being collective efforts to realize the research project. In
addition, each person choosing this option must submit a 1-page self-assessment
of their participation in the group, due at the same time as the Final
project.
For the
Group Project Option, the topic will be to develop social media strategy and/or
media content for the International Committee for Robot Arms Control (www.icrac.net). As a co-founder of this
organization, I will provide guidance to the group. However, it is largely up
to the group to conceive and develop the project. The actual project could
range from a high-level media strategy, to infographics and clickable content,
to a social media campaign, to an audio/video or digital media project, or any
combination of these or other ideas.
Past group projects included a performance piece (with live drone and event
poster), a short documentary film, and website: https://vimeo.com/62904622.
Papers and written ideas and proposals should be submitted to me in electronic form by email (Word Perfect, MS Word, PDF, HTML and plain TXT are all fine). All assignments are due at 6pm at the start of class on the day they are due. Late final papers will not be accepted, as I must turn in grades shortly thereafter.
Compromising your academic integrity may lead to serious consequences, including (but not limited to) one or more of the following: failure of the assignment, failure of the course, academic warning, disciplinary probation, suspension from the university, or dismissal from the university.
Students are responsible for understanding the University’s policy on academic honesty and integrity and must make use of proper citations of sources for writing papers, creating, presenting, and performing their work, taking examinations, and doing research. It is the responsibility of students to learn the procedures specific to their discipline for correctly and appropriately differentiating their own work from that of others. The full text of the policy, including adjudication procedures, is found at
http://www.newschool.edu/policies/# Resources regarding what plagiarism is and how to avoid it can be found on the Learning Center’s website: http://www.newschool.edu/university-learning-center/student-resources/
The New School views “academic honesty and integrity” as the duty of every member of an academic community to claim authorship for his or her own work and only for that work, and to recognize the contributions of others accurately and completely. This obligation is fundamental to the integrity of intellectual debate, and creative and academic pursuits. Academic honesty and integrity includes accurate use of quotations, as well as appropriate and explicit citation of sources in instances of paraphrasing and describing ideas, or reporting on research findings or any aspect of the work of others (including that of faculty members and other students). Academic dishonesty results from infractions of this “accurate use”. The standards of academic honesty and integrity, and citation of sources, apply to all forms of academic work, including submissions of drafts of final papers or projects. All members of the University community are expected to conduct themselves in accord with the standards of academic honesty and integrity. Please see the
complete policy here.
You are expected to do your own writing for this class. While you may use generative AI creatively in you final project, you must carefully describe its use and your own original conrtibutions to your final project as part of your proposal and final paper. You may also use generative AI to correct and improve your grammar and use of language, but the ideas and arugments of your texts should be yours. Your weekly blog posts should be your own writing and ideas. Any and all use of generative AI should be disclosed in the assignment when you turn it in. Violation of this policy will be treated as a violation of academic integrity.
In addition to the extra points available for commenting on blog posts, there will be several events during the semester which will allow you to get extra credit points, or make-up for missed (excused) classes.
All readings will be available electronically, via the web, in PDF, MS Word, HTML, or similar format. You are welcome and encouraged to buy any of the books used.
Course Syllabus Overview
Student IntroductionsHow to create a WordPress Account, and make a Blog Entry
Watch Before Class: " Drones, Hackers and Mercenaries - The Future of War" DW Documentary, 42 min., April, 2022.
Required:
Edward
Bernays, Propaganda, Horace Liveright Inc., 1928, pp. 1-61 and
135-153. Joseph
Goebbels, "The Führer as a Speaker," German Propaganda Archive, Calvin
College, 1936. David
Vaughn, "The Master's Voice," The Guardian, October 8,
2008. Joseph
Goebbels, "Knowledge and Propaganda," German Propaganda Archive, Calvin
College, 1934. Watch:
Joachim Fest and Christian Herrendoerfer, Hitler: A Career, 1977, 160 min. Recommended: Watch:
Alvaro Longoria, The Propaganda Game, 2015, 98 min. Watch:
Leni Riefenstahl, Triumph of the Will, 1935, 110 min. Watch:
"President Biden's Remarks on Democracy," C-SPAN, September 1, 2022, 28 min. Watch:
Mark
Achbar and Peter Wintonick, Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the
Media, 1992, 167 min. Required: Will
Oremus, "The Filter Bubble Revisted," Slate, April 5,
2017. Watch:
Karim Amer and Jehane Noujaim, "The Great Hack," Netflix, 2019, 114
minutes. Watch: PBS Frontline,
"United States of Conspiracy," July 28, 2020, 54 min. Recommended: Watch: Last Week Tonight with John
Oliver , "The Sinclair Group," HBO, July 2, 2017, 19
minutes. Watch: PBS Frontline,
"American Insurrection," April 13, 2021, 84 min. Watch:
Jeff
Hancock, "The Future of Lying," Ted Talk, September 2012, 18 minutes. Watch:
Eli
Parser, "Beware Online 'Filter Bubbles'," Ted Talk, March 2011, 9
minutes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filter_bubble Required: Adrian Chen,
The Agency, New York Times Magazine, June 2, 2015. Watch: Baltic Elves Fight Kremlin Trolls,
Radio Free Europe, May 19, 2017, 3 min. Watch: Elves vs Trolls - Fighting Disinformation in Lithuania,
NATO, May 3, 2017, 2 min. Peter Elkind, "Inside the Hack of
the Century: Part 1, 2 and 3," Fortune, June 25, 2015 Watch: United States Information Agency (1984) Soviet Active Measures, 23 min. Recommended: Watch: Cyber War, Season
1, Epsiode 8, "America's Elite Hacking Force", Viceland, 23min. Watch: Nova (2015)
Cyberwar Threat, PBS, 54 min. PAYWALL Tallinn Manual for
Cyberwarfare Wikipedia,
"U.S. Cyber Command" United States Army Field
Manual on Electronic Warfare (2012) United
States Department of Defense, "Cyber Strategy" Required: Watch: BBC News, "How Ukraine and Russia are rewriting the rules of cyber war," YouTube, 9 min. Peter
Pomerantsev, "Inside the Kremlin's Hall of Mirrors," The Guardian, 9
April 2015. Massimo
Calabresi, Inside Russia's Social Media War on America, Time, May 18,
2017. Watch: NYTimes The Weekly, Episode 2: "Fake Believe", 2 min. trailer, Full episode on Hulu, 27 mins. (2019) Stuart A. Thompson, "The War in Ukraine, as Seen on Russian TV," New York Times, May 6, 2022 Recommended:
James Jones, Inside Ukraine’s Propaganda War, Frontline, March 14, 2014. Watch: James Jones, The Battle for Ukraine, PBS Frontline, Episode 13, May 27, 2014, 32 mins. Watch: "Putin's Road to War," PBS Frontline, 54 minutes, March 15, 2022. Watch: "Ukraine: Life Under Russia's Attack," PBS Frontline, 54 minutes, August 2, 2022. Required: Watch: Last Week Tonight with John
Oliver, "Israel-Hamas War," HBO, November 13, 2023, 31 minutes. Huw Lemmey
(2012) "Devastation in Meatspace," The New Inquiry, November 28,
2012. Rebeccas L.
Stein (2014) "How Israel militarized social media," Mondoweiss, July
24, 2014. Watch: DW News (2023)
Fact check: AI fakes in Israel's war against Hamas, November, 28, 2023, 7 min. Watch: "Israel-Hamas war: The latest front of cyberwarfare?," DW News, October 19, 2023, 11 min. Lucy Suchman (2024) "The algorithmically accelerated killing machine," AI Now, January 24, 2024. Recommended: Noah Sylvia (2024) "Israel’s Targeting AI: How Capable is It?," RUSI, February 8,
2024. Explore Loitering Munition Websites:
Spear VIPER (4 models).Week 3: September 15
Propaganda 2.0: Fake News & Media ManipulationWeek 4: September 22
Information Warfare & Cyberwar
Week 5: September 29
Digital War in UkraineWeek 6: October 6
Project Ideas Due
Digital War in Syria & Gaza
Spear NINOX.
Spear NINOX.
Extend WOLVERINE (video).
Extend WOLVERINE.
Elbit LANIUS.
Israeli Defense Forces_Spokesperson's_Unit
Watch: Frontline (2014) The Rise of ISIS, October, 28, 2014, 53 min.
Watch: Viceland (2016) Cyber War Episode 5, Syria's Cyber Battlefields, 23 min. Paywalled
Required:
Watch: Future of Life Institute (2017) Slaughterbots, Video, 8 min.
Watch: Future of Life Institute (2021) Slaughterbots: If human:kill(), Video, 6 min.
Watch: New York Times (2019) A.I. Is Making it Easier to Kill (You). Here's How., Video, 20 min.
Watch: Campaign to Stop Killer Robots (2022) Immoral Code, Video, 23 min.
Watch: Deutsche Welle (2022) "How AI is driving a future of autonomous warfare," YouTube, 27 min.
Listen/Read: Nahlah Ayed, "Killer robots march into uncharted ethical territory," CBC Radio, September 20, (2019), 53 min.
Recommended:
Watch: Daniel Suarez (2013) The Kill Decision Shouldn't Belong to a Robot, TED Talks, 14 min.
Watch: Noel Sharkey (2013) Toy Soldiers to Killer Robots, TEDxSheffield 2013, 18 min.
Required:
Grégoire Chamayou (2011) "The Manhunt Doctrine," Radical Philosophy, Volume 169, Sep/Oct 2011.
Watch: Frontline (2011) Kill/Capture, PBS, 53 min.
Explore: Bureau of Investigative Journalism "Drone Wars: The Full Data" website
Explore: Pitch Interactive Visualization of BIJ Drone Strike Data
Matt Taibbi, "How to Survive America's Kill List," Rolling Stone, June 19, 2018.
Recommended:
Wajahat Ali, "Drone victim: U.S. strikes boost al-Qaida recruitment," Salon, May 2, 2013.
Mark Isikoff, "Justice Department memo reveals legal case for drone strikes on Americans," NBC News, February 4, 2013. Also: Full Memo
Required:
Watch: Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras Interview
with Edward Snowden Part
I, 12 min., The Guardian, July 9, 2013, and Part
II, 7 min., The Guardian, July 8, 2013 Watch:"Life Inside China's Total Surveillance State," 8 min., Wall Street Journal, December 20, 2017. Recommended: Watch:Laura Poitras, "Citizenfour," 114 min., 2014. Peter
Maass, "How Laura Poitras Helped Snowden Spill His Secrets," New York
Times, August 13, 2013. Peter
Maass, "Q & A: Edward Snowden Talks to Peter Maass," New York
Times, August 13, 2013. Wikipedia, "National Security
Agency" Wikipedia,
"PRISM (surveillance program)" Required: Recommended: Jane Mayer (2018) "How Russia Helped Swing the Election for Trump," New Yorker, September 24, 2018. Watch:
Karim Amer and Jehane Noujaim, "The Great Hack," Netflix, 2019, 114
minutes. Required: Watch:
NOVA, A.I. Revolution, PBS, March 27, 2024, 54 min. Zuboff, Shoshana (2021). "The coup we are not talking about," New York Times, January 29 2021. Watch:
Jon Stewart, Jon Stewart On The False Promises of AI, Daily Show, April 1, 2024, 15 min. Recommended: Required: Watch:"Is an AI Arms Race Underway?" 22 min., The Stream, Al Jazeera, June 6, 2023.
Jeff Sommer, "How Silicon Chips Rule the World," The New York Times, September 9,
2022. Watch:"AI War: Ukraine v Russia the dawn of a new arms race," 8 min., Channel 4 News, July 7, 2023. Recommended: Watch:
NOVA, A.I. Revolution, PBS, March 27, 2024, 54 min.
Kevin Roose, "How ChatGPT Kicked Off an A.I. Arms Race," New York Times, February 3, 2023. Watch:"The Future of War," 16 min., The Economist, July 4, 2023. Required: Watch: The Hacktivist, Singularity University, 2023, 35 min.
Joy Neumeyer, 2024. "There Is Something Putin Can’t Control," New York Times, March 13 2024. Google Employees,
"Letter in Protest of Project Maven," 2018. Polina Godz,
"Tech Workers Versus the Pentagon: An Interview with Kim," Jacobin, June 6, 2018. Bellingcat.com, The Home of Online
Investigations. Aric
Toler, "Advanced Guide on Verifying Video Content," Bellingcat, June
30, 2017.
Annalee Newitz, "A Better Social Media World Is Waiting for Us,"
New York Times, December 1, 2019. Watch: "Battle for Hong Kong," PBS Frontline, 54 minutes, February 2, 2020. Recommended: Watch: Giorgio Angelini and Arthur Jones
(2024) The Antisocial Network: Memes to Mayhem, Netflix, 85 min. Watch: Frontline
(2011) Revolution in Cairo, PBS, 60 min. Philip
N. Howard (2011) "Digital media and the Arab spring," Reuters, February
16, 2011. Kate Conger,
"Google Employees Resign in Protest Against Pentagon Contract," Gizmodo, May 14, 2018.
Week 10: November 3
AI & Deception: Part I
Week 11: November 10
Project Drafts Due
AI & Deception: Part II
Week 12: November 17
AI Arms Races & Global AI Regulation
Week 13: November 24
Hacktivism 2.0Week 14: December 1
Presentation of Final ProjectsWeek 15: December 8
Presentation of Final ProjectsDecember 6
Final Projects Due by 8pm ET, Friday, December 11.