Great Power Competition - Disinformation and Propaganda Remain Mostly Unanswered

Great Power Competition - Disinformation and Propaganda Remain Mostly Unanswered

Our adversaries continue to pummel us daily with varied types of disinformation and propaganda.  We’ve seen this for multiple years and decades, most notably prior to the 2016 election, and every increasing since.  We’re undertaking some efforts to preclude major impacts to our 2020 elections, but those efforts will address only parts of the foreign Cognitive War and will totally miss addressing our Domestic Cognitive War (which I’ve stated is truly the most pressing national security issue and least understood threat that faces our Republic and Democracy). 

Yet our pace remains sloth like.  Our posture highly reactive.  And our unity of effort, nearly non-existent.  I’ve been writing about the competition taking place in the Cognitive Domain pre and post my retirement from federal service in our Intelligence Community and DoD.  We continue to admire the problem, and in fact have made some great headway…tactically.  Credit where due!  And it is well deserved. 

Yet, our cognitive dissonance is evident in that as much changes, nothing changes.  While our President is truly the most effective driver of proactive influence operations – which cause others to react – the rest of our government structure remains wanting. 

Our military service cyber elements move to rename themselves “Information Operations.” While this is to be applauded, they do so mostly as “Titanium Cylinders of Sub-Excellence,” and with naming conventions not likely to follow until 2028?  My head does thus explode

There are more and more realistic views as to what it will take to effectively counter the plethora of disinformation and propaganda efforts by our adversaries.  One such event was held today, 27 Jan 2020, Great Power Competition - Disinformation and Influence Operations Seminar, by the Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA) and Virginia Tech's Hume Center for National Security and Technology.  It is an event to be applauded, having great speakers, who addressed the key issues facing us, but also left us hanging on solutions.   This was part of a four part series – and I’d highly recommend attending every one of them if you can.

As for solutions, I’ve written a fair amount about how to address the challenges in the Cognitive Domain.  I’ll point readers to my last paper I wrote for our IC, DoD, Federal, Private Sector and Academia – on the Cognitive Domain.  The paper spoke to the Future of Intelligence 2035-2050.  While it speaks to the future, I wrote it in a manner which – for those who are woke, awake, or not sleeping – will understand that its vision can be implemented today.  You can find my short talk on the paper, and the paper for download at https://nsiteam.com/future-military-intelligence-conops-and-st-investment-roadmap-2035-2050-the-cognitive-war/.

My take away from today’s INSA – VA Tech Hume Center forum are the following:

·         Our Intelligence Community is focused on election security, and disrupting adversaries. But my assessment remains much as stated in my paper -  our IC (government as a whole) lacks an encompassing strategy, approach and operational construct;

·         This is an increasing realization that a “whole of government” and “whole of society effort” are required to combat our adversary’s efforts.

·         There is also a growing understanding that this is a different type of war – a Cognitive War – for which we (US government and society) remain ill prepared to confront.

·         That this new type of war “Cognitive War” or “Information War” requires a bipartisan, long-term, strategic approach.  It requires a new operational construct.  It requires leadership, not ownership.  And it requires an understanding that this war is primarily cognitive in nature, not kinetic.

·         With very few exceptions, every effort, across government, private and public sectors remains highly reactive.

·         And our IC, DoD and Federal element have yet to come to a realization that the necessary grunt work required in laying a new foundation for battle in the cognitive domain requires that we understand, detail and grow capacity, capability and knowledge of regional cultural, political, social, etc. networks (human and material), strengths and weaknesses critical to enabling the conduct of proactive influence operations.

It is time for an overhaul of our IC, a realignment and much greater integration of our DoD services, and further integration and alignment of our Executive Branch departments on whole if we are not only to compete, but win, the Cognitive War. 

Our civil servants, public servants and private sector elements do realize the need for greater collaboration, a civil defense posture and capability, but none of them wish to mess with the culture that tends to eat those that try.  But, we must. Our Republic, our Democracy and the World’s humanity depend on us doing just that.  While we may not be the world’s policeman, and shouldn’t, we should remain the shining light on the hill.  But to do so, we must address our current significant shortfalls in fighting not only the foreign based Cognitive War, but our own Domestic Cognitive War. 

So, I’ll close by thanking INSA and VA Tech’s Hume Center for National Security and Technology for a great seminar and discussions. And, call on others to do the same. 

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