Cognitive warfare consists of any military activities designed to affect attitudes and behaviors. It is an extension of information warfare using propaganda and disinformation. NATO General Paolo Ruggiero distinguishes it from other information-related activities by its objectives, and said: "Its goal is not what individuals think, but rather, the way they think." Exponents of cognitive warfare aim to influence human thought, reasoning, sense-making, decision-making, and behavior, through the manipulation of information and use of machine learning structures which distribute information on the internet.
Concept
Definition The academic community has not yet reached a complete consensus on the definition of "cognitive warfare."Hung, Tzu-Chieh; Hung, Tzu-Wei. How China's Cognitive Warfare Works: A Frontline Perspective of Taiwan's Anti-Disinformation Wars. Journal of Global Security Studies. 2022-12, 7 (4) [February 5, 2023]. doi:10.1093/jogss/ogac016. （Original content archived on May 5, 2023.）. Oliver Backes and Andrew Swab from Harvard University's Belfer Center define cognitive warfare as "a strategy aimed at changing the way a target population thinks, and thereby changing its behavior." Alonso Bernal and others from Johns Hopkins University define cognitive warfare as "the weaponization of public opinion by external entities, with the goal of influencing the public and/or government policy, or undermining government actions and/or the stability of government institutions."Bernal, A.; Carter, C.; Singh, I.; Cao, K.; Madreperla, O. Cognitive warfare: An attack on truth and thought. NATO / Johns Hopkins University. 2020[February 5, 2023]. (original content archived on July 21, 2023). Lin Zhengrong of Taiwan's National Defense University stated that the term "cognitive warfare" first appeared in a report by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). In that report, cognitive warfare is defined as a new domain of competition that goes beyond traditional domains such as land, sea, and air. It is described as "an unconventional mode of warfare that exploits individual psychological biases and reflexive thinking, using technological networks to manipulate human cognition, induce changes in thought, and thereby cause negative impacts".Lin Zhengrong. 中共認知作戰升級──瓦解台灣人國家意志和認同 The Escalation of the CCP's Cognitive Warfare — Undermining the National Will and Identity of the Taiwanese People. *Up Media*. September 21, 2022 [February 5, 2023]. (original content archived on March 30, 2023). Major General Robert H. Scales, former commandant of the U.S. Army War College, once summarized NATO's operational philosophy by stating: "Victory will be defined more by the mastery of the human and cultural domain than by the occupation of geographic high ground."Ben Norto. Behind NATO's 'cognitive warfare': 'Battle for your brain' waged by Western militaries. *Monthly Review*. October 13, 2021 [February 20, 2023]. (original content archived on March 28, 2023). Liang Xiaobo of the National University of Defense Technology believes that cognitive warfare is an important form of public opinion propaganda, psychological persuasion, and ideological struggle, based on modern theories and science, aimed at gaining the initiative over people's thoughts, beliefs, and values.梁曉波：認知域作戰是語言對抗新的主戰場.Liang Xiaobo: Cognitive Domain Operations Are the New Main Battlefield of Language Confrontation. 中国社会科学网. China Social Sciences Net. 人民网. People's Daily Online. May 17, 2022 [February 8, 2023]. (original content archived on April 9, 2023).
According to Lin Bozhou, a scholar at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, in 1999 scholars from People's Liberation Army (PLA) academies proposed the concept of "unrestricted warfare", advocating the use of all means to enable the weak to defeat the strong and to force the enemy to concede to one's interests. In 2003, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) incorporated the "Three Warfares" theory into the Political Work Regulations of the People's Liberation Army. In 2014, military research institutions introduced the concept of "cognitive dominance", emphasizing ideological manipulation, influence operations, and strategic information warfare; this demonstrated that the CCP's use of cognitive and psychological tactics against the people of Taiwan is grounded in a certain theoretical framework.【戰略快評】洞悉中共認知作戰手法 慎防敘事陷阱. [Strategic Quick Review] Understanding the CCP's Cognitive Warfare Tactics and Guarding Against Narrative Traps. *Youth Daily*. March 8, 2023 [April 18, 2023]. (original content archived on April 23, 2023). This type of warfare is also referred to as "influence operation", "cognitive domain operations",沈伯洋. Puma Shen. 中國認知領域作戰模型初探：以 2020 臺灣選舉為例. A Preliminary Study of China's Cognitive Domain Warfare Model: The Case of Taiwan's 2020 Election 远景基金会季刊. Prospect Foundation Quarterly. January 2021, 22 (1): 1–65 [February 5, 2023]. (original content archived on March 30, 2023). or "cognitive domain warfare".陈津萍; 徐名敬. 中共「心理戰」與「認知域作戰」發展之比較研究. Chen Jinping; Xu Mingjing. A Comparative Study on the Development of the CCP's "Psychological Warfare" and "Cognitive Domain Warfare." *Fuxinggang Journal*. June 1, 2021, (118): 119–148.
Relationship to other types of warfare Scholars believe that "cognitive warfare" is a subordinate concept within the frameworks of grey-zone warfare or hybrid warfare.Reding, Dale F.; Wells, Bryan. Cognitive Warfare: NATO, COVID-19 and the Impact of Emerging and Disruptive Technologies. In: Gill, Ritu; Goolsby, Rebecca (eds.). *COVID-19 Disinformation: A Multi-National, Whole of Society Perspective*. Springer, Cham. 2022: 25–45 [February 5, 2023]. ISBN 978-3-030-94825-2. (original content archived on April 7, 2023).
Some viewpoints argue that cognitive warfare is a component of information warfare,裴洛西旋風訪台，隱形戰場挑戰才開始？Pelosi's Whirlwind Visit to Taiwan — Is the Battle on the Invisible Front Just Beginning? The Independents [*PTS News Network*]. August 17, 2022 [February 9, 2023]. (original content archived on February 9, 2023). and that information warfare itself is a part of hybrid warfare.電子看板遭親中網軍入侵 唐鳳：屬混合戰一環. Electronic Billboards Hacked by Pro-China Cyber Army, Audrey Tang: Part of Hybrid Warfare. *PTS News Network*. August 10, 2022 [February 9, 2023]. (original content archived on February 9, 2023). Some scholars conversely argue that information warfare is a subordinate concept within cognitive warfare.
Cognitive warfare may encompass multiple domains, including traditional propaganda warfare, psychological warfare, ideological warfare, and legal warfare.法智庫報告：中國影響力戰略日益俄羅斯化. Think Tank Report: China's Influence Strategy Becoming Increasingly Russia-Like. *Radio France Internationale*. September 20, 2021 [April 14, 2023]. (original content archived on March 1, 2023). Compared to "information warfare", which can target decision-makers through online social media and physical interpersonal networks (Ventre 2016; Libicki 2020; Prier 2020; Di Pietro, Caprolu, Cresci 2021), and distort and manipulate voters' cognition and emotions (de Buitrago 2019; Serrano-Puche 2021), and distort and manipulate voters' cognition and emotions, "cognitive warfare" not only focuses on media manipulation but also extends into the field of neuroscience, aiming to influence brain functions beyond conventional mass media channels. Among the various related concepts, it is currently only "cognitive warfare" that employs neuroscience as a weapon in practical applications, specifically targeting and influencing the cognitive functions of the brain.
In cognitive warfare, information serves as a weapon of combat. In such operations, information can be real or partially true and partially false; it does not necessarily have to be entirely "fake news".沈伯洋; 黄兆徽 Puma Shen; Huang Zhaohui. 人流、金流、資訊流：從俄烏戰爭拆解中共認知作戰手法與因應之道. Flows of People, Money, and Information: Analyzing the CCP's Cognitive Warfare Tactics and Countermeasures through the Russia-Ukraine War. *National Education Radio*. July 24, 2022 [February 5, 2023]. (original content archived on March 30, 2023).台灣對非洲外交有突破 中國國安部出手炮製「假新聞」力阻. Taiwan Makes Diplomatic Breakthrough in Africa; China's Ministry of State Security Fabricates "Fake News" to Block It. *Up Media*. March 30, 2023 [April 4, 2023]. (original content archived on May 30, 2023). Leaked documents from within the government or inappropriate remarks and actions by political figures can be enough to trigger social division.Johns Hopkins University; Imperial College London. Countering cognitive warfare: awareness and resilience. NATO Review. NATO. [February 5, 2023]. (original content archived on May 1, 2023). Regarding the distinction between cognitive warfare and information warfare, Rajesh Tembarai Krishnamachari states that "cognitive warfare" is a mode of operation aimed at influencing the adversary's consciousness and behavior. It involves the use of various means such as media, social media, culture, and politics to manipulate and influence both the public and the adversary's awareness. "Information warfare", as a component of cognitive warfare, focuses on the use of information and technologies—such as media, social media, the internet, and electronic and digital technologies—to impact the adversary's consciousness and behavior.Rajesh Tembarai Krishnamachari. *War Against Information*. Paper No. 967, Guest Column, *Age Terrorism*. *South Asia Analysis Group*. 2004 [June 9, 2015]. (original content archived on May 12, 2019). Liang Xiaobo and other scholars have also pointed out that cognitive warfare largely relies on language as its primary medium to exert influence.麟左马.Lin Zuoma. 俄羅斯侵烏戰爭中的認知戰，剛好可作為台灣人媒體識讀的警惕. Cognitive Warfare in Russia's Invasion of Ukraine Serves as a Timely Warning for Media Literacy in Taiwan. *Matters*. March 6, 2022 [February 19, 2023]. (original content archived on February 19, 2023) — via *Critical Review Network*.
Objectives and downstream effects "Destabilization" and "influence" are the basic objectives of cognitive warfare, which subsequently spread dissatisfaction or encourage particular beliefs and actions in a society, so that the enemy destroys itself from within; this makes it impossible to resist, deter, or divert the attacker's objectives. In addition to attempting to change the way people think, cognitive warfare also seeks to change the way the audience feels and behaves; if successful, it will likely shape and influence the beliefs and behaviours of an individual or group in favour of the attacker's tactical or strategic objectives. In the most extreme cases, it may cause an entire society to fall apart and no longer have the collective will to resist the attacker, which in turn allows the attacker to subdue the society without resorting to the threat of overt force.
Destabilization The first basic goal of cognitive warfare is to destabilize the social stability of the target population by destroying its existing unity and trust in society – through, for example, "negative emotional mobilization", causing it to become obsessed with internal problems and to lose productivity. The methods of destabilization include accelerating existing divisions within the group, or introducing new ideas and concepts to pit different groups against each other and intensify polarization.
Effect