cognitive warfare

Cognitive warfare, a concept gaining traction in geopolitical discourse, involves influencing the perceptions and decision-making of adversaries. Recent calls from Chinese scholars, including Wang Wen and Ding Zhuang, urge Beijing to develop a more assertive 'spear' for cognitive warfare amidst escalating great power rivalry. This highlights a growing strategic focus on information and psychological operations. Concurrently, the partial lifting of internet restrictions in Iran has exposed significant public discontent over severe food inflation, with price increases for staples like vegetable oil, chicken, and rice reaching hundreds of percent annually. While not directly linked as a cognitive warfare event, the Iranian situation illustrates how information control and public sentiment can become focal points in international relations, underscoring the broader relevance of understanding and potentially influencing public perception in times of conflict or tension.