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Ready Player One: Jason Bourne Meets Dungeons and Dragons

There is a lot to unpack in Ready Player One. Especially when considering the book is a selection to the Commandants Reading List. In fact, questioning the relevance of this book on the list is fair. What does the story of a bunch of computer geeks solving irrelevant riddles while playing 80’s era video games in a virtual world have to do with fighting and winning wars?  

In arguably the seminal work on the theory of American military strategy, Russel Weigley explores that since the American Revolution,  The American Way of War is a progressive reduction of the use of human combatants in the pursuit of state objectives. He frames military activity as but one aspect of “all-inclusive planning for the use of total resources to advance the national interests.” (p. xix). The consequence of such strategic thought has led to a robust defense industry combined with international alliances and treaties created to diminish the threat of nuclear war, maintain open access to global commons (sea and air lanes), and balance any potential global competitor to the United States. Until now, this model has proven successful. But how does the future battlefield complicate this existing hegemony?   

Cyberspace alters the concept of geography as a limiting or enabling factor for nation states. Cyberspace is why Estonia can have an oversized role as a contributor in the NATO alliance. It is why Russia, a country in demographic decline with the GDP equivalent to New York state, can punch well above its weight on the global stage, and it is why China is able to advance its military capability at a stunningly accelerated pace. Why do entities compete in cyberspace? Nobody dies there, at least not immediately. It is the politically convenient battlefield for democracies and non-state actors alike, far from headlines where the bloodshed is non-existent, but a reduced number of combatants still use force to compel the enemy to their will.  

Ready Player One combines the two concepts. The OASIS is a virtual domain absent of geographic limitations, and the combatants face very little, if any, actual physical harm. Nevertheless, the consequences of existing in this impersonal domain have real-world implications. The automation of nearly every aspect of a future society nearly eliminates the need for skilled human labor, or actual human connection. The associated apathy, unemployment, and dependency on network access contribute to mass decline in the robustness of a population which turns to drugs, crime, and of course virtual reality. Control of this virtual domain is as important as controlling any sea lane or air corridor.      

It is not controversial to state that cyber is here to stay and the vulnerabilities of cyberspace are a threat to the global information commons. From Chinese Huawei to Facebook to your local bank, multiple public and private entities have access to data that has the potential to alter all of our lives. Gaining access to and protecting this information is the new global common—one that will be competed for. Ready Player One assists the reader to think about this virtual place where computer geeks become SOCOM warriors whose loyalty and skills can determine the success or failure of our society. Ready Player One provides a unique, and constructive contribution to thinking about the future and is a valuable selection in the Commandants Reading List.

–Lt Col Brad Fultz