How has information warfare evolved over time?

Doug Casey: Information has always been, and still is, the single most important factor in any conflict.

Information, or intelligence in the military vernacular, allows tiny forces to conquer huge forces or to avoid destruction by larger forces. It's the key to guerrilla warfare, knowing where the enemy is and what he's thinking. Intelligence allows you to strike when and where the enemy is weakest. It can be a 10-1 force multiplier.

This is why spies and traitors are so important. Spies, who typically gain trust and then betray their victims, are usually morally despicable as individuals; they, justifiably, can expect no mercy if discovered. But they're critical to successful warfare; a good spy, or a traitor, can be worth many thousands of soldiers.

This is why governments gather huge amounts of data on both potential enemies and their own citizens. Government and its various praetorian agencies—the CIA, FBI, NSA, Military Intelligence, and many others—are naturally paranoid, especially of domestic threats (including each other) which they can't readily identify.

Though both are important, I would rather have good information than good material when it comes to war. But intelligence agencies have become so large, aggressive, and secretive since World War 2 that they've become extremely dangerous and counterproductive. They're now semi-independent powers unto themselves. When it comes to actionable intelligence useful to defend their country, they've become Byzantine bureaucracies—very expensive but practically worthless.