The whole "transformation" and "network centric warfare" push in the US Department of Defense last decade under [Cebrowski][1] and Rumsfeld invoked a heap of dubious interpretations and purported applications of nonlinear phenomena (perhaps most notably when 9/11 was referred to as a "system perturbation"). See [here][2] for an introductory overview.

  [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_K._Cebrowski
  [2]: http://www.seanlawson.net/?p=772