Why civilians don't defer to military preferences about cyber strategy like they do for other domains.

Do civilians defer to military preferences about U.S. cyber strategy? The civil-military relations literature has only cursorily addressed this question. This article aims to fill this gap. I argue that three factors affect the prospects of civilian deference: secrecy, the relative bureaucratic powe...

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Publicado en:Journal of Strategic Studies Vol. 48; no. 6/7; pp. 1280 - 1323
Autor principal: Lonergan, Erica D.
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Taylor & Francis Ltd Dec2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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        atl: Why civilians don't defer to military preferences about cyber strategy like they do for other domains.
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        au: Lonergan, Erica D.
        affil: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
      su:
        Civil-military relations
        United States. Strategic Command (2002- ). Cyber Command
        Computer network security
        Rational-legal authority
        Cyberspace operations (Military science)
        Information warfare
        Military policy
        United States
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        subj:
          United States
          Civil-military relations
          United States. Strategic Command (2002- ). Cyber Command
          Computer network security
          Rational-legal authority
          Cyberspace operations (Military science)
          Information warfare
          Military policy
      keyword:
        civil-military relations
        cyber strategy
        Cybersecurity
        military strategy
        U.S. Cyber Command
      ab: Do civilians defer to military preferences about U.S. cyber strategy? The civil-military relations literature has only cursorily addressed this question. This article aims to fill this gap. I argue that three factors affect the prospects of civilian deference: secrecy, the relative bureaucratic power of U.S. Cyber Command, and the influence of civilian industry. Taken together, these factors make civilians less likely to excessively defer to the military. I examine more than a decade of strategy, doctrine, and public discourse among U.S. civilian and military leaders about military cyber power, and find limited evidence of excessive civilian deference.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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