PROACTIVE MEASURES TO AVOID SIGNIFICANT DISRUPTIONS TO NATIONAL ELECTIONS & SUBVERSION OF NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
The Greatest Threat: Unnecessary Panic.
·
98%
of Americans and world-population will feel none to minimal impacts.
·
The threat we face
is expanding, but the primary threat is not the virus, (see above), it is our
reaction.
o
The threat comes in
many forms including disinformation, propaganda and continued variety of
asymmetric measures.
o
Our adversaries seek
to incite varied levels of confusion and panic, severely disrupt our economy,
military deployments and readiness, destroy our citizen’s trust in government,
and sow the seeds for continued chaos.
The Greatest
Challenges: The
Cognitive War, a primarily information war, as we remain ill prepared to fight
and win in the Cognitive Domain.
·
This Cognitive War
is not new, nor are disinformation or other asymmetric measures. What is
different is our adversaries continue to advance using a whole of nation
approach, while we continue to admire
the problem.
·
Our
reactive posture is, put simply, a loser.
We inherently understand that if you’re only playing defense (and
reacting), and have no offense you’re chances of a positive outcome decrease substantially.
·
Our
federal national security apparatus was built and remains stuck in the
industrial age. It operated effectively for
its original purpose. That purpose has
been served.
The Required
Approach: A Whole
of Nation – realign, build and deploy enabling capabilities.
·
Covid-19:
Proactive efforts that mitigate, counter and defeat the spread of
disinformation and propaganda.
·
National
Elections: Proactive preparation to accommodate and inform the public on the
key facts, means, methods, etc. to ensure fullest participation across all
states, regions, localities. Arm our citizens to discern fact from fiction.
·
Build
the factory floor needed for proactive influence operations in this Cognitive War.
a.
Build
off of the whole of government/ national effort being used to respond to the
Covid-19 pandemic and build a parallel level of effort and national strategy to
operate in the Cognitive Domain.
b.
Begin
immediate realignment of our Intelligence Community and DoD / greater federal
national security apparatus to build and deploy the necessary infrastructure
and capabilities to fight this war.
The United States
is faced with a complex challenge. We are under persistent attack from our
adversaries in the information environment and other asymmetric measures, for
which we remain largely unprepared to respond other than with short-term tactical
efforts. We lack a whole of nation
approach, strategy and limited means to conduct a sustained and comprehensive
strategy of proactive influence measures against one, let alone multiple,
adversary. But, it’s possible to change
that dynamic.
We must begin
driving “proactive” influence operations – in simple terms, driving others to
react to us. We can do this in the open, against regimes, specific individuals
or companies or we can do it in the darkness.
Both approaches are necessary.
It is not only critical to eliminating the threat, it is critical to the
long-term survival of our Republic.
© 2020, All Rights
Reserved, Edward L Haugland
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