Enter the (Keyboard) Warrior, The 21st Century Tom Sawyer – Book Review

Digital Influence Mercenaries: Profits and Power through Information Warfare Author: James J.F. Forest. Publisher: Naval Institute Press. Price $ 39.95 Use the term ‘mercenary’ and you likely conjure a visage of fourteenth century condottieri contracting with Italian princes or more recently the activities of the Russian-based Wagner group. Outlawed by international convention, the classic view of a mercenary has been supplanted by the verbally awkward, but legally accurate phrase ‘private military contractor’. But while the traditional role of mercenaries occupying the physical battlespace has been limited by international treaty and convention, the virtual battlespace is condottieri of a different color.  Dr. James J.F. Forest explores the current state of activity in the digital space in his recent book Digital Influence Mercenaries: Profits and Power through Information Warfare (2022, Naval Institute Press).  In defining his terms Dr. Forest draws a boundary around the activities of these modern Tom Sawyer’s, with digital influence mercenaries being concerned with profit above all else. A specific cause or ideology is irrelevant, as long as...