Transcending the Fight: Culture, Power, and Adaptation to the Information Environment

In 2007, the world saw the iphone, a revolutionary new product that connected individual people to the world wide web, giving them instantaneous access to each other and accelerating the digitization of the world. Malicious actors are now using this digitized world to project information power in order to get what they want, regardless if they are using unethical or illegal means such as cyber hacking or creating disinformation campaigns to skew voters' opinions. This poses a new challenge for national security professionals as they struggle with how to perceive the use of military force against adversaries that operate in this space. While they use cyber and disinformation against the US military, they are increasingly using those tools against the American people. This new form of power projection is growing in its use and effectiveness, disrupting basic infrastructure services, economic freedom, and distorting perceptions of what is real and what is not. Some countries are adapting to this new form of power projection better than others. Why is that? This research seeks to answer that question. It looks at government power and strategic culture as possible explanations for adapting to this new informatized world. The dissertation looks at the United States, China, Russia, and the United Kingdom and studies if they are successfully adapting to this new information environment and, if so, why? It concludes that culture is the largest factor and, for the United States, the culture of liberty (specifically the concern over individual rights) is the key reason why it has been the least adaptive nation.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Planning, Governance, and Globalization

Department dc:contributor.department

Public Administration/Public Affairs

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2026

Author dc:creator

• Katolin, Dennis William

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Peters, Joel

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Dull, Matthew Martin
• Faulkner, Brandy S.
• Ahram, Ariel I.

• information environment
• cyberspace
• IO
• military innovation
• adaptation
• government power
• strategic culture
• military culture

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

vt_gsexam:40813

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/140792