Subversion: From Covert Operations to Cyber Conflict

By Lennart Maschmeyer

In Subversion, Lennart Maschmeyer provides a powerful new theory and analysis of an age-old concept. While a strategy of subversion offers great strategic promise in theory, it faces an underappreciated set of challenges that limit its strategic value in practice. Drawing from two major cases--the KGB's use of traditional subversion methods to crush the Prague Spring in 1968 and Russia's less successful use of cyberwarfare against Ukraine since 2014--Maschmeyer demonstrates both the benefits and weaknesses of the approach. While many believe that today's cyber-based subversion campaigns offer new strategic opportunities, they also come with their own challenges. Because of these disadvantages, cyber operations continue to fall short of expectations--most recently in the Russo-Ukrainian war. By showing that traditional subversion methods remain the more potent threat, Subversion forces us to reconsider our fears of the subversive potential of cyberwar.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0197745857
• ISBN13: 9780197745854
• Release Date: April 2024
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.38 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.1" x 0.9" x 9.3"