warfare, covert operations, espionage, cyberwarfare, or proxy wars. Conventional warfare is declared war between states in which nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons are not used or see limited deployment. Cyberwarfare involves the actions by a nation-state or international organization to attack and attempt to damage another nation's information systems. Insurgency is a rebellion against authority, when those taking part in the rebellion are not recognized as belligerents (lawful combatants). An insurgency can be fought via counterinsurgency, and may also be opposed by measures to protect the population, and by political and economic actions of various kinds aimed at undermining the insurgents' claims against the incumbent regime. Information warfare is the application of destructive force on a large scale against information assets and systems, against the computers and networks that support the four critical infrastructures (the power grid, communications, financial, and transportation). Nuclear warfare is warfare in which nuclear weapons are the primary, or a major, method of achieving capitulation. Total war is warfare by any means possible, disregarding the laws of war, placing no limits on legitimate military targets, using weapons and tactics resulting in significant civilian casualties, or demanding a war effort requiring significant sacrifices by the friendly civilian population. Unconventional warfare, the opposite of conventional warfare, is an attempt to achieve military victory through acquiescence, capitulation, or clandestine support for one side of an existing conflict. Aims Entities contemplating going to war and entities considering whether to end a war may formulate war aims as an evaluation/propaganda tool. War aims may stand as a proxy for national-military resolve. Definition Fried defines war aims as "the desired territorial, economic, military or other benefits expected following successful conclusion of a war". Classification Tangible/intangible aims: Tangible war aims may involve (for example) the acquisition of territory (as in the German goal of Lebensraum in the first half of the 20th century) or the recognition of economic concessions (as in the Anglo-Dutch Wars). Intangible war aims – like the accumulation of credibility or reputation – may have more tangible expression ("conquest restores prestige, annexation increases power"). Explicit/implicit aims: Explicit war aims may involve published policy decisions. Implicit war aims can take the form of minutes of discussion, memoranda and instructions. Positive/negative aims: "Positive war aims" cover tangible outcomes. "Negative war aims" forestall or prevent undesired outcomes. War aims can change in the course of conflict and may eventually morph into "peace conditions"