The Strategic Communication Ricochet: Planning Ahead for Greater Resiliency
By Alicia Wanless & Michael Berk
March 07, 2018
A common response to the rising use of information as a weapon is to counter such attacks with more strategic communication—as if volume is the answer. The problem with this response from established actors, such as governments and militaries, is that it continues to perceive communications as a one-sided, outbound process, rooted primarily in the message itself (its truthfulness, for example) and the strategic needs of the communicator. Unfortunately, in a hyper-connected world, one can no longer just put messaging out there. Once a message is pushed out, control of it is lost, and an adversary can and will subvert and shatter it into myriad distortions that ricochet back and hurt the sender. Likewise, any actions on the ground contradicting the messaging, will also be used to attack the sender aiming to erode public faith at home by exploiting hypocrisy, creating ambiguity and, ideally, disrupting decision-making. Due to theater engagements, militaries have been grappling with information warfare and related challenges. While there is still room for improvement, the key lessons from these engagements must be pushed up to a national security strategic level if societies are to become more resilient in facing the threats posed by information warfare. This article explores what the evolving information environment means for strategic communications planning and leadership in conflict scenarios, as well as what it means for liberal democracies.
https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2018/03/07/the_strategic_communication_ricochet_planning_ahead_for_greater_resiliency_113163.html
