by Charani LCM Patabendige
Published on Modern Diplomacy on 14th July 2024.
The human mind is a mystery surpassing horizons. What is going on in the mind of a person, the way of thoughts, and the patterns of it are hard to ascertain. Thus, even though artificial intelligence (AI) attempts to read people, and algorithms play a great role in it, still, until today, the human mind is a book unfinished. Due to the vividly complex nature of human minds, the next move is an unpredictable game. In light of this, the paper looks into how perception can wage war. By the end of the paper, the author has examined how war waged by perceptions has become a security concern.
What is perception? Perception happens by way of sense. By gathering data, the brain processes the information and forms an interpretation through awareness. This allows humans to understand, interact, and respond to information. Sensory inputs per se do not form perception; perception is like fluid, and it is subject to change. For example, background, upbringing, emotions, context, education, and culture shape perception. The very same perception is utilised by states and non-state actors to achieve their strategic military and non-military objectives.
As cited using various sources, Qureshi (2019) has finely put how Fifth Generation Warfare (5GW) happens by utilising perceptions. According to him, [5GW], “is the battle of perceptions and information. In 5GW, violence is so discreetly dispersed that the victim is not even aware that it is a victim of war and the victim is not aware that it is losing the war… 5GW is also a cultural and moral war, which distorts the perception of the masses to give a manipulated view of the world and politics. The 5GW of perception and context combines the “rage of the people” and the “rationality of the state” to form an intended outcome of warfare, rendering military command useless. 5GW exploits cultural icons and religious sentiments to defeat an opponent.”
With the above being said by Qureshi, it is evident how perception plays a pivotal role in forging relationships as well as breaching relationships among each other. Extremists, terrorists, and radicalised individuals utilise perception to wage wars by influencing thinking patterns. So how does perception do so? One way is through misperceptions; if an opponent’s intentions are read incorrectly, the defensive actions to be taken can take a wrong turn. In addition, misunderstandings due to lack of communication and lack of information literacy cause conflicts as well. Propaganda is another way perception shapes public opinion. A party can portray an enemy as a threat or a supporter as justifiable. Disinformation as well as information manipulation are also ways in which information is distorted to gain an advantage. To do this, terrorists selectively present information and provide false information, which will result in biases. The urgency, fear, and indecisiveness create erosion of public trust and the instability of a nation. Another way perceptions are used to wage wars is through stereotyping by creating generalisations, causing animosity, and justifying violence. Narratives are also used as an arm of propaganda to cause perception wars where storytelling, story creation, and amplification are used as tactics to create trauma and give rise to collective memory.
Having said how extremists, terrorists, and radicalised individuals wage wars using perception, it is also pivotal to look into what the reasons are that propel this. Why terrorism, extremism, and radicalisation occur cannot be named overnight since the list goes on. However, isolation, exclusivism, biases, manipulation, peer pressure, marginalisation, and fear factor are a few of them. In addition, historical grievances of injustice, victimhood, calls for retribution, and nationalism can also be named as reasons. Ideological wars, which are another facet, are caused due to ideological clashes such as the us vs them mentality and religious discrepancies. In addition, political, social, economic, and cultural differences are also reasons why perceptions can be utilised to wage wars. Since society is digitalised and social media is widespread, and since AI has undertaken a great proportion of thinking rather than creation, fighting perception wars is an inherently grueling task.
To counter and mitigate perception wars, it is imperative to create media, information, digital, political, legal, and economic literacy by all parties. Needless to say, these recommendations are arduous and completely dependent on many factors such as budget allocation, training, research and development, as well as political willpower. In doing that, creating awareness, fact-checking, fact verification, and correction directions should be utilised. All levels of society, including grassroots-level leaders to the top of the hierarchy, should be taken into account in the fight against terrorism, extremism, and radicalisation. Interfaith dialogue by inclusion, open communication, and addressing root causes by social, economic, political, and legal reforms as necessary and appropriate are vital tasks. Governments should also engage in counter-propaganda by way of counter-narratives and digital engagement. More importantly, since extremism, terrorism, and radicalisation are transnational, it is imperative to engage with international organisations to understand threat patterns and do the needful.
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* Ms. Charani Patabendige is an Acting Research Analyst and a Research Assistant at the Institute of National Security Studies (INSS), the premier think tank on National Security established and functioning under the Ministry of Defence) The opinions expressed are her own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Institute or the Ministry of Defence.