ABSTRACT
This chapter defines the nature of information war, and focuses on three aspects of the conflict in Georgia: the new media environment in which it took place; some of the key ways in which it was conducted before, during, and after the conventional conflict occurred. It also explains the Russia-Georgia information war and how other governments engage in this kind of conflict in the future. Russia began with enormous advantages in the information war: it had more channels, more money, and more influence with those reporting on the conflict. The Moscow commentator Lev Rubinshtein argued, shortly after the end of the conflict on the ground, that Russia's invasion of Georgia had highlighted the fundamental difference between Moscow's propaganda now and Soviet propaganda in the past. The Russia-Georgia information war offers at least five general lessons for countries that may find themselves engaged in similar struggles in the future.
