The ``conditional study" of network communication seeks to map the space of communication problems through the lens of reductions, both in code design and in outer capacity bounds. For example, to show that the capacity region for one network communication problem is a subset of the capacity region for another, it suffices to show that from any code for the first network one can build a corresponding code of the same rate for the other. In such, our understanding of one network communication problem is ``conditioned" on the understanding of others. 

In this talk I will discuss recent results and open problems in the conditional study of network communication (in the context of network coding, index coding, secure and reliable communication, zero error communication, and more).