The World Is Not About Us: Information and Power in the Current Strategic Environment

Authors

Will Reno, Northwestern University
Jesse R. Humpal, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy

Abstract

Τhe Taj Mahal Guest House made a unique offer: Give us data, get beer.1 The Jalalabad, Afghanistan, café offered beer to anyone who brought video files, voice recordings, documents, and data dumps. The Taj shut down after Jalalabad became too hostile to outsiders, but not before its proprietors amassed extensive fine-grained data on local political and economic matters and supported projects that set up communications networks for local people. At least as important was the Taj’s role in facilitating informal personal relationships across government (foreign and local), commercial, humanitarian, and ordinary social networks. While not overtly a U.S.-led information operation, the Taj provided valuable intelligence for U.S. operations in the region. It showed how networks can be set up and used for multiple aspects of information warfare and local influence, a critical skill the United States neglected after the Cold War.

Recommended Citation

Will Reno & Jesse R. Humpal, "The World Is Not About Us: Information and Power in the Current Strategic Environment," Joint Force Quarterly 114 (3rd Quarter 2024), 92-100, https://digitalcommons.ndu.edu/joint-force-quarterly/vol114/iss2/16.