# Netwar **Entity class:** Information-age conflict concept ## Definition **Netwar** is a concept developed by [[wiki/John Arquilla|John Arquilla]] and [[wiki/David Ronfeldt|David Ronfeldt]] for conflict conducted by networked organizations whose distributed structure, communications, doctrine, and social ties differ from conventional hierarchy. It includes militant, criminal, activist, and other networked actors. ## Relevance to this collection It supplies a strategic ancestor to [[wiki/Terrorist Network|Terrorist Network]], [[wiki/Network-Centric Conflict|Network-Centric Conflict]], and [[wiki/Counterterrorism Predictive Graph|Counterterrorism Predictive Graph]]. ## Relationships - **master collection:** [[collections/Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and the Intelligence Environment|Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and the Intelligence Environment]]. - **intellectual neighborhood:** [[wiki/Intellectual Neighborhood of the Counterterrorism Collection|Intellectual Neighborhood of the Counterterrorism Collection]]. ## Sources / Provenance - [RAND, *Networks and Netwars: The Future of Terror, Crime, and Militancy*, 2001](https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/www/external/congress/terrorism/phase1/netwars.pdf). **As of:** 2026-09-23