Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Correspondence
  • Published:

Redefining the ‘arsenal of democracy’

Nature Human Behaviour volume 6, page 756 (2022)Cite this article

Subjects

To the Editor — In December 1940, as World War II gripped Europe, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed a tense American public. He spoke of preserving liberties and freedoms, but with a caveat. Defending these principles would require “more ships, more guns, more planes — more of everything”, weapons of war that he poignantly referred to as the “arsenal of democracy” (ref. 1).

This is a term that remains as relevant now as it was 82 years ago. The only difference is that the arsenal has evolved and cyber powers now lie at the heart of military might, including kinetic conflict. Data, analytics and information have been, and always will be, central to military operations. But as technology continues to increase in sophistication and effectiveness, the cyber domain has been firmly established as the fifth domain of warfare, along with land, sea, air and space.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Mtholyke.edu. Radio address delivered by President Roosevelt from Washington, December 29, 1940. mtholyoke.edu, https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/WorldWar2/arsenal.htm (accessed 23 April 2022).

  2. Robinson, M., Jones, K. & Janicke, H. Comput. Secur. 49, 70–94 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Wheeler, T. The danger in calling the SolarWinds breach an ‘act of war’. brookings.edu, https://www.brookings.edu/techstream/the-danger-in-calling-the-solarwinds-breach-an-act-of-war/ (4 March 2021).

  4. Gibney, E. Nature 603, 775–776 (2022).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Galloway, A. ‘Hit back hard’: top cyber spy warns Russia not to send Ukraine dark. smh.com.au, https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/hit-back-hard-top-cyber-spy-warns-russia-not-to-send-ukraine-dark-20220406-p5abae.html (7 April 2022).

  6. Robinson, M., Jones, K., Janicke, H. & Maglaras, L. J. Netw. Comput. Appl. 114, 70–87 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Payne, M. Press conference. foreignminister.gov.au, https://www.foreignminister.gov.au/minister/marise-payne/transcript/press-conference-11 (26 February 2022).

  8. Australian Signals Directorate. REDSPICE. asd.gov.au, https://www.asd.gov.au/about/redspice?gclid=Cj0KCQjwgMqSBhDCARIsAIIVN1WYCjWgVIzZOVxBhAqsKkTEULP9FE6j588MnGHe042UyYRhU0JBfksaAqcdEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds (accessed 23 April 2022).

  9. Jennings, P. Xi Jinping is testing our limits on Taiwan and the West must push back. aspi.org.au, https://www.aspi.org.au/opinion/xi-jinping-testing-our-limits-taiwan-and-west-must-push-back (17 October 2021).

  10. Csis.org. Publicly reported Iranian cyber actions in 2019. csis.org, https://www.csis.org/programs/technology-policy-program/publicly-reported-iranian-cyber-actions-2019 (accessed 28 April 2022).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

    Helge Janicke & Anne-Louise Brown

Authors
  1. Helge Janicke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Anne-Louise Brown
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Helge Janicke or Anne-Louise Brown.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Janicke, H., Brown, AL. Redefining the ‘arsenal of democracy’. Nat Hum Behav 6, 756 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-022-01370-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-022-01370-2

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing AI and Robotics

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: AI and Robotics newsletter — what matters in AI and robotics research, free to your inbox weekly.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing: AI and Robotics