Some Modern Peculiarities Of Information-Psychological WarfareSouth Front

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The art of persuading people is much higher than all other arts,

since it enables you to make everyone your slave willingly, not by compulsion.

Gorgias of Leontini

Written by Prof.Dr. Vladimir Prav exclusively for SouthFront

In developed countries, information and information infrastructure have already become critical elements. Any failures can cause large-scale disorder in public, financial and scientific administration, and even trigger military conflicts. The higher the informatization of society, the more important its information security becomes. Today, ensuring the interests and achieving the goals of the state is increasingly carried out through the organisation of information, rather than material and energy measures. In modern conditions, it is impossible to achieve a high level of information security of the state without information warfare.

A separate type of information warfare is information-psychological warfare, the objects of influence of which are the psyche (nervous system, consciousness, subconsciousness) of individual people, as well as public consciousness of various levels. Examples of the latter are the consciousness (opinion, mood) of social groups, state ideology, national self-consciousness and others.

The content of psychological warfare was vividly expressed and formulated by the ancient Chinese philosopher and military leader Sun Tzu back in the YI century BC. As part of the struggle with his opponents, he set the following tasks for his subordinates:

1) corrupt all the good things in the enemy’s country;

2) involve prominent figures of the enemy in criminal enterprises;

3) undermine the prestige of the enemy’s leadership and expose it at the right moment to public shame;

4) incite quarrels and clashes among the citizens of a country hostile to you and incite the young against the old;

5) do everything possible to devalue the traditions of your enemies and undermine their faith in their gods;

6) destroy discipline amongst the enemy troops.

The solution of these tasks made it possible to achieve victory over the enemy, avoiding direct military confrontation.

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In modern conditions the essence of information-psychological warfare is the impact on public consciousness, through manipulating people to act against their interests. Below are some effective ways of influencing people, social groups and the state as a whole.

Viral infection

A virus that infiltrates into a cell embeds itself in the controlling processes of DNA. It then releases toxins, resulting in cell death.

The role of the virus in society is played by an externally controlled “viral group” within the country. It should penetrate into the management of public consciousness, into the ideological sphere, and like a virus in DNA, be indistinguishable from its surroundings. The main mechanism of actions of the “viral group” is to create and inflate contradictions, which allows it to use many people “in the dark” when they are fighting with a competitor, actually performing tasks that are alien to them. The “viral group” is almost completely obscured; as it works in an autonomous mode, it does not need communication, as it can receive instructions from harmless publications of Western newspapers.

Persuasion

This is a direct method of influence based on appealing to people’s intellect with the use of rational arguments and logic. It is important to understand the real balance of power, the real interests of people, and it is necessary to take into account the state of public consciousness.

Big lie

The basis of this method is a big lie, which is introduced into people’s consciousness through the repetition of ordinary concepts. The receptivity of the masses is rather limited, their understanding is insignificant, but their forgetfulness is too great. In the event of political failures, an enemy is immediately sought. If there is no enemy, one has to invent one. A big lie helps buy time, and then no one remembers it.

Limited perception

A person does not have time to process all incoming information, and his working memory is limited. Therefore, he perceives excessive information as noise. On this basis, an important role is played by simple formulations, repetition, consolidation of a certain set of provisions. Periodic, successive (though empty) concepts that occupy people’s attention (for example, sovereignty, voucherization, privatization, etc.) are quite effective.

The futility of the old ideas is forgotten and everything starts again. The rapid succession of ideas and information left no time for reflection and evaluation.

Herd Sense

This method stimulates short-term preferences, the synchronization of actions, and unthinking obedience to leaders. It enables the successful promotion of racial and religious exclusivity, notions of the advantages of a specific “way of life”, and the elevation of “intellectuals” over the gray mass of “uncivilized” (that means: not capitalistic, not orientated to marginal consumption) homo sovieticus, etc.

Incomplete truth

This method entails a highly selection representation of factual content, resulting in an entirely distorted view. Any impact on existing prejudices requires a thorough account of an event, but it is always possible to isolate specific facts and reframe them to create a false picture, in accordance with the target of the propaganda. Thus, for example, in a television report, a competent editor is able to create an impression of an event that is entirely opposite to reality. The desired impression will influence an audience of many millions.

Changing the conditions of brain functioning (indirect method)

This technique involves influencing the conditions in which the brain functions, and therefore the results of brain activity. For example, the brain is chemically regulated by neurotransmitters and neuropeptides, which can be disturbed by drugs and alcohol. The consciousness of people can also be influenced by electromagnetic and acoustic fields (especially in the infra-frequency range).

Let us consider the essence of some information-psychological warfare techniques and their effectiveness, using the example of the following parable:

There was an ordinary turtle who was always carrying a heavy shell on his back. The shell pressed her to the ground, and every step was hard for the tortoise. Therefore, her life, measured by the number of these steps, was not easy. But when a hungry fox came from the neighboring forest, Turtle hid his head under the shell and calmly waited out the danger. The fox jumped around, tried the shell for a tooth, tried to turn over his victim. In short, used all the techniques inherent in the aggressor, but the tortoise thanks to the shell remained alive.

One day Fox brought a large purse and a lawyer and, sitting down next to the tortoise, asked to buy her shell. The tortoise thought for a long time, but something stopped her, and she refused the Fox’s offer. And again the craft Fox left with nothing. As time passed, the world around them changed. New means of telecommunication appeared in the forest. One day, leaving the house, the turtle saw a television screen hanging in a tree, showing flying turtles without a shell. An excited Woodpecker commented on their flight: “What lightness! What speed! What beauty! What grace!”. Every day the turtle watched one, two or three of these programs…. And then in her little head was born the thought that she is a fool to carry such a heavy weight – the shell. Wouldn’t it be better to throw it off? Life would be so much easier then. Scary? Yes, a little scary, but in the latest news, TV anchorwoman Owl said that Fox had joined the Krishnas and had already become a vegetarian.

The world is changing. The forest is also becoming quite different, there are fewer trees and original animals, and more and more stray dogs and jackals resembling each other. Why not fly? The sky – it’s so big and so beautiful! “If I give up my shell I’ll feel better at once!” – thought the Turtle. “If she gives up her shell she’ll be easier to eat!” – thought the Fox, signing the bill for another flying turtle commercial.

And one fine morning, when the sky seemed bigger than ever, Turtle took her first and last step toward freedom from her defensive system. The Turtle did not know, and will never know again, that information-psychological warfare means purposefully teaching the enemy how to remove his protective shell.

Information-psychological warfare is currently being actively conducted by the US to promote its own foreign policy initiatives in any regions of the world. It includes the following list of activities:

Official speeches in the mass media and international organizations by representatives of state structures, condemning “human rights violations” abroad;

Public support for opposition to “repressive nations”, including meetings with opposition representatives at the highest level in the White House, State Department and American embassies;

Support for “free and fair elections,” the establishment of “civil society,” and media and religious freedom;

Discrediting representatives of the authorities of “repressive regimes” by making public claims against them and announcing personal sanctions;

Media appeals to members of the international community of “repressive regimes”;

Announcing coalitions with other “democratic nations” to “promote freedom, democracy and human rights” in certain countries and regions;

Establishing and strengthening non-governmental and other organizations influencing existing international organizations to use their potential to establish “democracy in regions that lack it”;

Active promotion of American values through educational programs for international students and scholars, support for the private sector, increased channels of dialogue and counter-narratives, “to take root in the hearts and minds of people around the world”.

The elaborate and multifaceted nature of information warfare demonstrates its importance to the US government.

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NATO guidance documents adopted in 1999 define an information operation as actions taken to influence decision-making in the support of one’s own political and military objectives, by affecting the enemy’s information, information processes and control systems, while protecting one’s own information and information systems.

The goals of information-psychological operations, according to American specialists, are the introduction of alien ideological and social attitudes into the enemy’s environment, the formation of false stereotypes of behavior, and the transformation in a society’s moods, feelings, and will. It is used to impose a certain structure of the picture (model) of the world, which is designed to ensure the desired types of behavior of social groups and decision-makers. It destabilizes social life, causes distrust in the activities of the authorities and public administration, creates an atmosphere of discontent and anxiety, promotes the emergence of opposition groups and stimulates anti-government activities, whilst preparing the ground for the successful implementation of political, economic and military actions. U.S. information and psychological operations are conducted both in the sphere of interstate struggle, including armed conflicts, and in the sphere of political struggle and economic competition between states.

The most complex information-psychological operations, according to experts, are operations to change the political power in the country without the sources of external influence being detected. The main way to achieve the goal is the method of “managed instability”, which is in the service of practically all intelligence services of developed countries. The existing economic or political turmoil in the country is a condition for the success of such operations.

The scenario of the operation in such a country is as follows:

Various international foundations and public organizations financed from abroad are established. With their help, the political opposition is attracted (or created, which requires more time and money). The ideal variant is when there is a powerful opposition to the existing power, which has political weight and its own resources, the ability to influence political decision-making, and pursues its own goals when the political leadership changes. At the same time, it is guaranteed financial and political support in the international arena. In this case, the media controlled by the opposition become an instrument of operation, supported by international mass media. The information occasion of the operation is created or used, allowing it to move to the active phase. The main positive aspect of this scenario is the impossibility to prove the connection of the opposition and the population supporting it with external sources, and thus the fact that the special operation was carried out by the special services of another state.

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It should be noted that, for example, the fight against international terrorism is, first of all, nothing but an information and psychological operation, which allowed the U.S. to influence the policy of many countries, up to the point of integrating them into its foreign policy avenue, as well as to form new military-political coalitions capable of influencing the foreign policy activities of many states.

For NATO countries, the image of international terrorism is a good excuse to justify their participation in military conflicts initiated by the U.S. to the citizens of their own countries, because they are fighting not against specific peoples and countries, but against a global evil that has neither national nor territorial affiliation.

The U.S. is dependent on the cooperation of its allies, to create the image of the collective participation of the entire international community in resolving or escalating conflicts. The US covers its aggressive actions with various credibility mandates from the “international community”, represented by their allies, manipulating the principle of collective responsibility and making the most risky political decisions in association with its allies.

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It should be noted that information and psychological operations are the main tool of “color revolutions”. In the course of the psychological processing of the population during the “color revolution”, methods of gaining control over consciousness are used, the description of which is given in his publications by the famous researcher of totalitarian sects Steven Hassan. In his work “Combatting Cult Mind Control” he distinguishes three stages of gaining control over consciousness:

1) Defrosting. At this stage, a person or a group of persons is forced to give up critical perception of reality and independent thinking. At the same time, stereotypes and behavioral patterns favorable to their manipulators are imposed on them. In this case, any alternative point of view is considered as knowingly false or “coming from the devil”.

2) Change. At this stage there is an active emotional-psychological processing of the new convert in order to bring him into a state of euphoria, and this new state is interpreted as a sign of joining “higher goals” or “common cause”.

3) Freezing (preservation of new stereotypes). This stage involves abandoning the old identity and replacing it with a new identity. The person feels “spiritually reborn” as a member of the “new family of the saved.” In the name of “lofty goals” he becomes capable of self-sacrifice: giving away his property, recruiting new members, collecting donations, etc. He changes his clothes, hairstyle, language, sometimes gets a new name, and thus finally joins the new “family”.

Thus, to carry out this kind of information-psychological operation means to select input data for an individual, society and the state in such a way as to activate certain algorithms in them, and in the case of their absence to impose algorithms which determine perception, behaviour, and the processing of information.

Victory in information warfare (over the state as an information system) means: the death of individual elements of state structures (political, economic and military); the emergence of new structural elements in the state that provide security for the aggressor; the solution of previously unrelated tasks by the state in the interests of the winner, and the inability of state structures to adequately process the input data supplied by the winner. The defeated state is integrated into systems which favour the aggressor, and, consciously or subconsciously, works to ensure the aggressor’s interests.