TY - JOUR
T1 - Targeting Ontological Security
T2 - Information Warfare in the Modern Age
AU - Bolton, Derek
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Authors. Political Psychology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Society of Political Psychology
PY - 2021/2
Y1 - 2021/2
N2 - Recent studies have made great strides looking at the implications that the human need for ontological security has for politics and International Relations. However, less attention has been paid to how actors might target this need. While Steele and Mattern both examine the possible manipulation of subjectivity, this article turns to the concept of information warfare (IW) to broaden the view of how, and to what end, this is pursued. Congruently, by elaborating upon how the digitalization of society has increased the potential to influence and manipulate cognition and emotion, OS strengthens current literature on IW. It argues that by covertly perverting the information landscape, IW can alter how events are connected to national narratives, influencing policy by making certain options appear more/less shameful, or it can unravel the bonds of society by polarizing domestic narrative debates, purposely sowing ontological insecurity. This provides a firmer understanding of the strategic implications interference can have generally and of Russia's interference into the 2016 U.S. election specifically. Therefore, by viewing facets of IW as part of a range of tactics employed to manipulate/undermine subjectivity, a more nuanced understanding of interstate relations subsequently emerges.
AB - Recent studies have made great strides looking at the implications that the human need for ontological security has for politics and International Relations. However, less attention has been paid to how actors might target this need. While Steele and Mattern both examine the possible manipulation of subjectivity, this article turns to the concept of information warfare (IW) to broaden the view of how, and to what end, this is pursued. Congruently, by elaborating upon how the digitalization of society has increased the potential to influence and manipulate cognition and emotion, OS strengthens current literature on IW. It argues that by covertly perverting the information landscape, IW can alter how events are connected to national narratives, influencing policy by making certain options appear more/less shameful, or it can unravel the bonds of society by polarizing domestic narrative debates, purposely sowing ontological insecurity. This provides a firmer understanding of the strategic implications interference can have generally and of Russia's interference into the 2016 U.S. election specifically. Therefore, by viewing facets of IW as part of a range of tactics employed to manipulate/undermine subjectivity, a more nuanced understanding of interstate relations subsequently emerges.
KW - Cyber
KW - information warfare
KW - ontological security
KW - Russia
KW - U.S.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85091785791&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/pops.12691
DO - 10.1111/pops.12691
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85091785791
SN - 0162-895X
VL - 42
SP - 127
EP - 142
JO - POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY
JF - POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY
IS - 1
ER -