# Cyber War Will Not Take Place **Domain:** Cyber conflict / Security studies **Doc Type:** Developed Book and Thesis Node **Maturity:** Developed **Collection:** [[collections/Gamification|Gamification Collection]] ## Definition ***Cyber War Will Not Take Place*** is Thomas Rid's thesis that many activities labeled “cyber war” are better classified as sabotage, espionage, or subversion and do not satisfy a Clausewitzian definition of war as violent, instrumental, and political. ## Significance The thesis imposes a classification discipline on a field prone to metaphorical escalation. Network intrusion can be strategically consequential without being war; persistent competition can be real without erasing the distinction between code-mediated effects and armed violence. The title is an argument, not an empirical claim that cyber operations cannot contribute to warfare or cause physical harm. Subsequent cases should be evaluated by mechanism, effect, political purpose, integration with military action, and the legal categories actually at stake. ## Sources - Thomas Rid, [Cyber War Will Not Take Place](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01402390.2011.608939), *Journal of Strategic Studies* - Oxford University Press, [*Cyber War Will Not Take Place*](https://global.oup.com/academic/product/cyber-war-will-not-take-place-9780199330638) ## Routes [[wiki/Persistent Engagement|Persistent Engagement]] · [[wiki/Defend Forward|Defend Forward]] · [[wiki/Hybrid Warfare|Hybrid Warfare]] · [[wiki/Cognitive Warfare|Cognitive Warfare]]