Search

Begin New Search Topic Energy Publication Year within 5 Years

251. An easy target? Types of attack on oil tankers by state actors

Author:
Maciej Hacaga
Publication Date:
03-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Security and Defence Quarterly
Institution:
War Studies University
Abstract:
There was a huge reaction to the attacks that took place in the Gulf of Oman in May and June 2019 but, in fact, attacks on oil tankers are a century old problem. Oil tankers appear to be easy targets because of their size and cargo. The main objective of this paper is to analyse the effectiveness of different types of attack on oil tankers that have been undertaken since widespread use of oil began. A comparative case-study approach was adopted to evaluate the effectiveness of different types of attack on oil tankers over the long-term, namely the last century. It briefly reviews the destructiveness of three anti-tanker campaigns during the two World Wars. They are subsequently compared with two post-1945 sets of attacks in the Persian Gulf region – the Tanker War of the 1980s and the 2019 attacks. The scale of damages inflicted by attacks on oil tankers is varied. The experience of both World Wars shows their effectiveness. However, post-1945 events do not provide confirmatory evidence. The main difference is the scale of hostile activities. It is not the characteristics of tankers that make them easy targets but political conditions (war/peace state of international system) that enable the application of weapons and tactics that bring about a different scale of destruction.
Topic:
Security, Oil, International Security, History, Maritime, Economic Security, and Energy
Political Geography:
Persian Gulf

252. Components of defence strategies in society’s information environment: a case study based on the grounded theory

Author:
Erja Birgitta Mustonen-Ollila, Martti Lehto, and Jukka Heikkonen
Publication Date:
03-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Security and Defence Quarterly
Institution:
War Studies University
Abstract:
The goal of this study is to explore the components of defence strategies faced by society in its information environment, and how these strategies are inter-related. This qualitative in-depth case study applied past research and empirical evidence to identify the components of defence strategies in a society’s information environment. The data collected was analysed using the Grounded Theory approach and a conceptual framework with the components of defence strategies and the relationships between these components was developed using the Grounded Theory. This study shows that the goal of politically and militarily hostile actors is to weaken society’s information environment, and that their operations are coordinated and carried out over a long time period. The data validates past studies and reveals relationships between the components of defence strategies. These relationships increase confidence in the validity of these components and their relationships, and expand the emerging theory. First, the data and findings showed 16 inter-connected components of defence strategies. Second, they showed that the political, military, societal, power, and personal goals of the hostile actors carrying out cyber operations and cyber attacks are to weaken society’s information environment. Third, they revealed that cyber operations and cyber attacks against networks, information and infrastructures are coordinated operations, carried out over a long time period. Finally, it was revealed that the actors defending society’s information environment must rapidly change their own components of defence strategies and use the newest tools and methods for these components in networks, infrastructures and social media.
Topic:
Security, Oil, Maritime, and Energy
Political Geography:
Global Focus