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Information Operations: The New Frontier in Full-Spectrum Warfare is a continuing education course taught by Chris Paul through the Organizational Effectiveness Institute. It will be held September 20-21 in Washington, DC. From the course description:

Information Operations (IO), as currently practiced by the U.S. Military, encompass a broad range of capabilities designed to inform, influence, persuade, or deceive target audiences, and a collection of technical capabilities focused on impacting systems for storing or transmitting information. Formally, IO capabilities include Psychological Operations, Electronic Warfare,Computer Network Operations, Operations Security, and Military Deception. The relationships between the IO capabilities and other activities including conventional military operations, related and supporting capabilities, and strategic communication are not always well understood, nor are they optimally organized for specific undertakings. This class explores these relationships and presents clear definitions for all the elements as they appear in the formal doctrine, and as they function in practice. The implications of the different approaches are discussed in depth.

You will benefit by enhancing your understanding of the:

• History and evolution of IO and its component capabilities.
• Practice and the potential of IO capabilities.
• Ways to organize IO and how these impact relationships between capabilities and operational effectiveness.
• Power of information for influence in pursuit of campaign objectives.
• Efforts related to IO, such as public affairs, strategic communication, and public diplomacy.

The course outline and online registration is available here.

Chris Paul is Full Social Scientist at the RAND Corporation, frequent contributor to MountainRunner, colleague, and author of the textbook Information Operations: Doctrine and Practice.

A call for papers:

The Electronic Journal of Communication has an upcoming special issue entitled “Social Media in News Discourse.”

A call for papers:

Information warfare, cyber-operations, and information security are areas of specialized research covering multiple areas of expertise. This conference is designed to bring together conceptualists, operators, and researchers to exchange and explore ideas covering these areas. Past conferences have attracted participants from all over the globe, providing for a rich environment of idea exchange.

What: 6th International Conference on Information Warfare and Security
When: 17-18 March 2011
Where: The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA

Conference Chair: Dr. Julie Ryan, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA

Program Chair: Dr. Edwin Leigh Armistead, Edith Cowan University, Australia

Keynote Speaker: Matthew A. Stern, General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, USA

Details can be found at the event’s website.

The IO Institute, in partnership with the MountainRunner Institute, presents a conference on Influence & Fighting Propaganda on October 13-14 at the Turning Stone Resort in Verona, NY.

The Information Operations Institute of the Association of Old Crows cordially invites you to attend a conference focusing on influence and propaganda.  Influence - what are influence factors, who can be influenced, how and why can people or groups be influenced, what are different approaches to influence and how is influence accomplished and how is it different at the personal level all the way to the national level?   Propaganda - what it is, enjoy a presentation of real examples of famous propaganda by infamous propagandists, discuss how we counter it, is it still going on today, how do we fight misinformation and how do we disseminate a meaningful message avoiding the label of propaganda?

On October 13 and 14, at the Turning Stone Resort in Verona, NY. Check below for the agenda. Online registration will be available soon.

The Now Media training seminar by the MountainRunner Institute is nearly full. This all-day event takes place next week, July 6, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Tickets are still available, but not many. More information and registration can be found here: http://nowmedia.eventbrite.com.

As a special offer (and in part online experiment), I've made two tickets available at a special lower-than-the-now-expired Early Bird rate. Use the link above and enter the discount code "M100" or click here to register now to receive the discounted rate. These tickets are first come, first served, so if the website disallows the use of the code, these two particular tickets are already gone.

Whether or not you will be attending the event, please take a moment to fill out a pre-event survey to help us shape this fourth-generation event.

Visit http://nowmedia.eventbrite.com for more information on the seminar.

Early Bird pricing for next week's symposium "Now Media: Engagement based on Information not Platforms" has been extended through this Wednesday. Sign-up now to guarantee a spot for you and possibly your team (group discounts are available).

This one-day event, presented by the MountainRunner Institute with the support of InterMedia, will develop greater understanding of today's global informational and physical environment. Topics will include the cross-over of new to old media by Wikileaks (see the network diagram above developed by Ali Fisher of Mappi Mundi and Ali's most recent post on MountainRunner), the cross-over from old to new media with the example of General McChrystal and the Rolling Stone, shifting from "target audiences" to "relevant participants," and frank discussions on the organizational, doctrinal, and legal challenges (real and imagined) facing the US today.

Registration and more information may be found here.

Update: Interestingly, the Rolling Stone article has created increased interested in General McChrystal's father, which in turn led to significant interest in a quote the late Major General Herbert McChrystal here at MountainRunner.

Team USA lost to Ghana in the World Cup in a contest that went into extra time. The referring was not quite the factor it was in previous games, but the referee yesterday should have warned and even penalized Ghana for delay of game and pretending to be fouled. He did neither but in the end, that did not change the fact Team USA could not put the ball in the net, despite several good opportunities to do so.

South Korea, another team I hoped would make it to the next round, was also defeated.

Also depressing is the nominees for the Broadcasting Board of Governors have yet to be confirmed by the Senate. Senator Lugar’s report and Huffington Post article on the BBG has apparently had no effect on the primary opposition, which is still apparently Senator Tom Coburn. Hopefully the nominees will be confirmed immediately when the Senate returns.

Finally, my vacation in Hawaii is sadly coming to an end. However, on the brighter side, within hours of my return to the mainland, I’ll be on a plane to the 9th Annual Information Operations Europe Conference in London where I will speak on Tuesday about the convergence of old and new media. My presentation will focus on Wikileaks as an online propagandist whose products and influence transcend mediums as well as the timely if unfortunate example of the General McChrystal / Rolling Stone story.

Lastly, the upcoming seminar Now Media: Engagement Based on Information not Platforms takes place July 6 in Washington, DC. There is still space so sign up now. I will extend the “Early Bird” pricing to Wednesday, June 30. On July 1, the price goes up $100.

Lastly, you may have heard that the US military has renamed Psychological Operations (PSYOP) to Military Information Support Operations (MISO). Soup (and other) jokes aside, here is the memo from the Department of the Army that describes the change with the “direction and consensus of our most senior military leadership.”

On July 6, 2010, the MountainRunner Institute, a not-for-profit non-partisan think tank, with the support of InterMedia, presents a one-day training event to prepare you and your organization for today's cyber and non-cyber challenges. Now Media: Engagement Based on Information not Platforms will help you gain a better understanding of the capabilities, capacities, and authorities necessary to be effective in today's global informational and physical environment. Registration and more information may be found here.

Topics include:

• The Convergence of "old media" and "new media" into Now Media;
• Mobilizing and even creating "diasporas" that facilitate engagement pathways and challenge traditional views of nationalism;
• Moving from "target audiences" to "relevant participants";
• Adversarial use of online media;
• Frank discussions on the organizational, doctrinal, and legal challenges (real and imagined) facing the US today.

Date: July 6, 2010 
Time: 8:30a - 5p (light breakfast at 8a, lunch and refreshments will be provided) 
Location: National Press Club in the McClendon Room 
Cost: $300 before June 27, $400 June 28 and after; group discounts are available for 3 or more; credit cards are accepted.

Speakers:

• Matt Armstrong, President, MountainRunner Institute; publisher of the blog MountainRunner.us
• Adam Pearson, White Canvas Group; 
• Duncan MacInnes, Acting Coordinator, Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State
• A representative from InterMedia;

Attending the second half of the event are four Indonesian bloggers, including the "father of Indonesian blogging", that are in the United States under the auspices of the Department of State's International Visitor Leadership Program.

Questions should be directed to Matt Armstrong at blog@mountainrunner.us.

Register today.

The 9th Annual Information Operations Europe takes place 29-30 June 2010 at The Bloomsbury Hotel in London. The conference will provide information operations case studies from Afghanistan, future plans from the UK and an examination of New and Social Media from the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence, the US Defense Department, NATO, and Canadian Forces, and others.

Day One – 29 June – starts with three keynotes from the UK MoD followed by 40 minute presentations by Sarah Nagelmann and Matt Armstrong. The UK MoD presentations look at the purposes, capabilities, and challenges of strategic-level information and influence operations. Sarah will discuss the new media strategy for NATO SHAPE and EUCOM. Matt will discuss the modern Now Media environment, with attention to Wikileaks, an interesting non-state global influencer.

Other presenters on Day One include Matt Bigge (“Technology Based. Human Enabled: The Future Of Cultural Information Engagement”), George Stein (“The Influence And Intelligence Opportunities Of Virtual Worlds”), Ed O’Connell (“Informal Network Analysis And Engagement In Conflict Zones”), and David Campbell (“Innovative Use Of The Media For Outreach In East Africa”).

Day Two – 30 June – is heavily focused on Afghanistan, with case studies and lessons learned.

See also:

• Now Media: Engagement based on Information not Platforms, a training event on July 6 by MountainRunner Institute

We live in a complex world. Concepts of "foreign" and "domestic" are merely myths as traditional gatekeepers and barriers of information are bypassed or manipulated as today's battlefields over minds or territory are increasingly transparent. The past walls - be they costs, political, cultural, or geographic - are crumbling, circumvented, or simply gone. This has democratized influence, as well as destruction and disruption, as individuals and non-state actors can wield strategic power on par, and too often in excess of, with states.

On July 6, 2010, the MountainRunner Institute will, with the support of InterMedia, present a one-day training event to prepare you and your organization for today's environment. Titled Now Media: engagement based on information not platforms, this discussion is designed to help you gain a better understanding of the capabilities, capacities, and authorities necessary to be effective in today's global environment. While the emphasis is on actors and audiences relevant to national security, knowledge from the course will be readily applied in other areas. More information can be found here.

Topics include:

• The Convergence of "old media" and "new media" into Now Media;
• Mobilizing and even creating "diasporas" that facilitate engagement pathways and challenge traditional views of nationalism;
• Moving from "target audiences" to "relevant participants";
• Adversarial use of online media;
• Frank discussions on the organizational, doctrinal, and legal challenges (real and imagined) facing the US today.

Date: July 6, 2010
Time: 8:30a - 5p (light breakfast at 8a, lunch and refreshments will be provided)
Location: National Press Club in the McClendon Room
529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor, Washington, DC 20045 (map)

Cost: $300 before June 27, $400 June 28 and after; group discounts are available for 3 or more; credit cards are accepted.

Speakers: Matt Armstrong, President, MountainRunner Institute; Adam Pearson, White Canvas Group; a representative from InterMedia; and a special guest.

To register, send an email to Matt Armstrong at blog@mountainrunner.us.

MountainRunner is in the United Kingdom for the Wilton Park conference “Public Diplomacy: Moving from Policy to Practice?” As the event is under Chatham House Rule, I will not tweet or blog about it. I’m looking forward to the next several days, which will include presentations and discussions with: Jeremy Browne, Minister of State, UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office; Judith McHale, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs; Stefanie Babst, Deputy Assistant Secretary General, Public Diplomacy Division, NATO; Jimmy Leach, Head, Digital Diplomacy, UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office; Peter Horrocks, Director, BBC Global News; Jan Melissen, Head, Clingendael Diplomatic Studies Programme (CDSP), Netherlands Institute of International Relations; Simon Anholt, and others. See the program here.

I considered renaming the blog “Fell Runner” while in the UK, but no…

Related:

• The need for a national strategy for Communication & Engagement
• National Security Strategy punts on strategic communication and public diplomacy
• State Department’s 2010 framework: Public Diplomacy: Strengthening US Engagement with the World
• Event: Now Media: engagement based on information not platforms
• National Security will require Smarter Networks by Ali Fisher
• Understanding State's Budget Woes
• Social Media Strategy for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

On July 6, 2010, the MountainRunner Institute will, with support from InterMedia, present a one-day training event titled Now Media: engagement based on information not platforms. Whether you call it strategic communication, public diplomacy, public affairs, signals integration, or global engagement, this event is designed to help you gain a better understanding of the capabilities, capacities, and authorities you need to be effective in today's global environment. While the emphasis is on actors and audiences relevant to national security, knowledge from the course will be readily applied in other areas. More information can be found here.

Topics include:

• Convergence of "old media" and "new media" into Now Media;
• Mobilization and even creation of "diasporas" through increasing access to information, ease of travel, fragmentation of social groups and decreasing demands on assimilation;
• Adversarial use of online media to engage and influence audiences and media;
• Identifying and understanding relevant audiences and measuring communication impacts;
• Frank discussions on the organizational, doctrinal, and legal challenges (real and imagined) facing the US today.

Date: July 6, 2010

Time: 8:30a - 5p (light breakfast at 8a, lunch and refreshments will be provided)

Location: National Press Club in the McClendon Room
529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor, Washington, DC 20045 (map)

Cost: $300 before June 27, $400 June 28 and after
Group discounts are available for 3 or more; credit cards accepted.

Speakers: Matt Armstrong, President, MountainRunner Institute
  Adam Pearson, White Canvas Group
  + representative from InterMedia
  + former leader of State Department's public diplomacy operations

To register, send an email to Matt Armstrong at blog@mountainrunner.us.

Additional sponsorship opportunities are available.

On May 25, 2010, the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations will hold a business meeting at the Capitol Building in S-116 at 2:15 p.m.

Presided by Senator John Kerry, the meeting will go over the following legislation:

• S 3317: Haiti Empowerment, Assistance and Rebuilding Act of 2010
• S 3193: International Cyberspace and Cybersecurity Coordination Act of 2010
• S 3104: A bill to permanently authorize Radio Free Asia, and for other purposes
• S Res 469: A resolution recognizing the 60^th Anniversary of the Fulbright Program in Thailand
• S Res 532: A Resolution recognizing Expo 2010 Shanghai China and the USA Pavilion at the Expo

The meeting will also review two nominations for the Broadcasting Board of Governors:

• Michael P. Meehan to be a Member for a term expiring August 13, 2010
• Dana M. Perino to be a Member for a term expiring August 13, 2012

If nominations are approved, all eight BBG nominees' names will be on the Senate floor, subject to the final step in the confirmation process.

The 9th Annual Information Operations Europe will take place June 29-30, 2010, at The Bloomsbury Hotel in London. The agenda for the first day is here and the second day is here. There will be a pre-conference war game on the 28th. In the lead up, the conference organizers created a document center (or centre) at www.info-opseurope.com that includes:

• 3 podcast interviews: Matt Armstrong, Strategist and Lecturer; Bob Bevelacqua, Vice President of Programs at Leonie Industries; Simon Bergman, Managing Director, Information Options
• 15 reports from the U.S. Army War College, including: Bullets and Blogs - New Media and the Warfighter; Learning to Leverage New Media - The IDF in Recent Conflicts; You Tube War - Fighting in a World of Cameras in Every Cell Phone and Photoshop on Every Computer
• and more at www.info-opseurope.com.

I’ll be on the first panel discussion on the 29th with

• Major General Gordon Messenger, Chief of Defence Staff, Strategic Communications Officer, UK MoD
• Air Commodore Robert Judson, Head of Targeting and Information Operations, UK MoD
• Brigadier Mark Van der Lande, Head of Defence Public Relations, Directorate General and Media Communications, UK MoD
• Sarah Nagelmann, Strategic Communications Advisor to US European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe, NATO

Later the same day I present “Understanding and Engaging Now Media.”

If you’ll be there, let me know.

Today at The George Washington University in Washington, DC: Policy, Operations and Knowledge Transfer in Post Conflict Environments: Security and Safety in a Changing World. Speaking at the event are Doug Brooks, president of International Peace Operations Association and African security issues specialist, and Tom Seal, former Deputy Director
of the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement who managed programs in Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. Hosting is Larisa Breton.

Today: May 12th 2010 at 5:00 to 6:30 pm
At: The Marvin Center, 800 21st Street NW, Conference room 310

RSVP to Larisa_b@gwmail.gwu.edu.

See also:

• The Role of Culture in Conflict Prevention and Resolution

By Chris Dufour

This week kicks off the second year of AOC's InfoWarCon in Washington, DC. Subtitled "Future Warfare Today: The Battle for Information & Ideas", the three-day gathering sports luminaries from different information disciplines beyond information operations, or IO. Joel Harding, the director of AOC's IO Institute, has put together an agenda with panelists from across the spectrum of informational engagement: strategic communication, public diplomacy, public affairs, technology, and emerging media. The stated purpose of InfoWarCon is to advance the discourse about the evolving role of information in warfare of today and tomorrow, especially the kind where explosions, in the case they actually occur, are shaping events in support of information activities.

InfoWarCon provides the necessary forum to discuss the real and perceived differences and similarities between information warfare and communication in a modern competitive landscape where information, not platforms, matter most. This environment is one where dissemination and reception are increasingly disassociated from geography as audiences are less likely to be contained within the borders of traditional nation-states.

The opportunities and threats of this modern environment can reduce autonomy, empower, or both. Typically, the empowerment to the non-state actor, whether a group or individual and the restriction on acting unilaterally is on the state. The easy answer for this situation is agility to operate in today's dynamic, fluid, and hyperactive information environment. No longer do major powers solely rely on direct force-on-force combat to achieve strategic objectives. Similarly, non-violent communications campaigns conducted by private organizations or individuals can no longer succeed without considering the competitive information landscape.

InfoWarCon will provide the opportunity to discuss the issues related to this evolutionary, perhaps even revolutionary, environment and the resulting splintering of doctrine and perceptions of influence.

If you’ll be in DC May 12-14, consider attending InfoWarCon, the “edgy, provocative, and evocative” conference on strategic communication and public diplomacy (even though State will be minimally represented… last year there were objections from the Truman building that “war” was in the event’s title) and cybersecurity / cyberwarfare. Checkout the agenda.

Unfortunately, due to a schedule conflict on my side, I am no longer chairing the initial plenary discussion on cyber and social media as I noted earlier. I’ll still be in DC that week, but I won’t be at InfoWarCon until the last day.

The UK-based Defence IQ has announced the date and venue for the 9th annual Information Operations Europe conference. The event will take place June 29-30, 2010, at the Bloomsbury Hotel in London. The agenda is available.

Topics include:

• Media in Modern Warfare, by Major General Gordon Messenger, Director of Strategic Communications, UK MoD
• UK’s Influence Capability, by Air Commodore Robert Judson, Head of Targeting and Information Operations, UK MoD
• Where Counterinsurgency meets Culture, by Eric Sutphin, Chief Target Audience Analyst, Combined Joint Psychological Operations Task Force, ISAF HQ, NATO
• Audience Engagement in Afghanistan, by Maryann Maguire, Director of Communications (DCSU), Afghan Specialist Joint Implementation Team, UK MoD
• Countering Violent Extremism, by James Barber, Information Operations Division, HQ US Africa Command
• Influence and Intelligence Opportunities of Virtual Worlds, by Professor George Stein, Cyberspace & Info Ops Study Centre, Air War College, US Air Force
• Future of Cultural Information Engagement, by Matt Bigge, CEO, Strategic Social

I will be there and will present on Now Media (tentatively 4p of Day 1) and participating on a panel (11.40a Day 1) with:

• Air Commodore Robert Judson, Head of Targeting and Information Operations, UK MoD
• Brigadier Mark Van der Lande, Head of Defence Public Relations, Directorate General and Media Communications, UK MoD
• Sarah Nagelmann, Strategic Communications Advisor to US European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe, NATO

The 2010 installment of InfoWarCon will be May 12-14 in Washington, D.C., at the Washington Convention Center. According to the organizers,

This is not your typical conference. This is edgy, provocative and evocative.

The agenda is here. Noteworthy is that Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Judith McHale is expected to speak on day 2, May 13, at 8:00a-8:30a. Her predecessor, Jim Glassman, spoke at the 2009 event.

Also listed on the current agenda are Price Floyd, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, and Dana Priest, The Washington Post.

I am moderating the panel “The Power of Cyber and Social Networking” and, rumor has it, appearing on another panel at InfoWarCon. See you there.

Iran's Blogosphere and Grassroots Voices: Risks and Rewards of Engagement

Date: Monday, April 12, 2010
Time: 9:00a – 12:30p.
Location: George Washington University, Jack Morton Auditorium, 805 21st St NW, Washington, DC 20052 
Co-sponsors: Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) & Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication (lPDGC), George Washington University (GWU).

RSVP by e-mail to ipdgcbbgiran@gmail.com, or by phone to the BBG Office of Public Affairs at 202-203-4400.

Please contribute your thoughts, before and during the conference, to our global online discussion:

http://www.gwu.edu/~ipdgc/events/iran-blog/index.cfm (homepage)
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Irans-Blogosphere-and-Grassroots-Voices-Risks-and-Rewards-of-Engagement/108225475873166?ref=ts (Facebook)
www.twitter.com/ipdgc (Twitter)

The agenda is below.