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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