Psychological warfare, also known as psychological operations (PSYOP) or information warfare, is the use of various techniques, such as propaganda, persuasion, and manipulation, to influence the thoughts, beliefs, and actions of individuals or groups. The goal of psychological warfare is to alter the behavior and perceptions of the target population in order to achieve the desired outcome.
There are several methods of psychological warfare, including:
- Propaganda: the use of media, such as radio, television, newspapers, and social media, to disseminate information and ideas that support a particular point of view.
- Persuasion: the use of psychological techniques, such as persuasive messaging and social influence, to change people’s attitudes and beliefs.
- Manipulation: the use of deception, manipulation, and covert operations to achieve a desired outcome.
- Cyber operations: the use of cyber tools and techniques to disrupt, deny, degrade, or deceive an enemy’s ability to operate.
- Strategic communication: the use of various forms of media and messaging, in coordination with other military operations, to influence the attitudes and perceptions of target audiences.
Psychological warfare can be used in various situations, such as military conflicts, political campaigns, and counterterrorism operations. It can be used to demoralize an enemy, gain the support of the population, or disrupt an enemy’s ability to operate.
Importance of Psychological Warfare:
Psychological warfare is considered an important tool in shaping the perceptions and behavior of target populations in order to achieve a desired outcome. It can be used in both offensive and defensive operations and can be an effective way to influence the attitudes and beliefs of individuals or groups without the use of physical force.
- Military operations: Psychological warfare can be used to disrupt the enemy’s ability to operate by spreading disinformation, creating confusion, and undermining morale.
- Political campaigns: They can be used to influence public opinion and shape the perceptions of voters in order to gain support for a particular candidate or party.
- Counterterrorism operations: These can be used to counter extremist ideologies and discourage individuals from joining terrorist groups.
- Cyber operations: Psychological warfare can be used in cyber operations to influence the behavior of target audiences and disrupt the enemy’s ability to operate.
- Strategic communication: It can be used to shape the perceptions of target audiences and influence their attitudes and beliefs in order to achieve a desired outcome.
In addition, psychological warfare can be used to create an information advantage over an enemy, by shaping the narrative, influencing the perceptions of the target population, and undermining the enemy’s ability to operate effectively.
A War of the Mind
As a non-lethal effort to capture “hearts and minds,” psychological warfare typically employs propaganda to influence the values, beliefs, emotions, reasoning, motives, or behavior of its targets. The targets of such propaganda campaigns can include governments, political organizations, advocacy groups, military personnel, and civilian individuals.
Simply a form of cleverly “weaponized” information, PSYOP propaganda may be disseminated in any or all of several ways:
- Face-to-face verbal communication
- Audiovisual media, like television and movies
- Audio-only media including shortwave radio broadcasts like those of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty or Radio Havana
- Purely visual media, like leaflets, newspapers, books, magazines, or posters
More important than how these weapons of propaganda are delivered is the message they carry and how well they influence or persuade the target audience.
Three Shades of Propaganda
In his 1949 book, Psychological Warfare Against Nazi Germany, former OSS (now the CIA) operative Daniel Lerner details the U.S. military’s WWII Skyewar campaign. Lerner separates psychological warfare propaganda into three categories:
- White propaganda: The information is truthful and only moderately biased. The source of the information is cited.
- Grey propaganda: The information is mostly truthful and contains no information that can be disproven. However, no sources are cited.
- Black propaganda: Literally “fake news,” the information is false or deceitful and is attributed to sources not responsible for its creation.
While grey and black propaganda campaigns often have the most immediate impact, they also carry the greatest risk. Sooner or later, the target population identifies the information as being false, thus discrediting the source. As Lerner wrote, “Credibility is a condition of persuasion. Before you can make a man do as you say, you must make him believe what you say.”
PSYOP in Battle
On the actual battlefield, psychological warfare is used to obtain confessions, information, surrender, or defection by breaking the morale of enemy fighters.
Some typical tactics of battlefield PSYOP include:
- Distribution of pamphlets or flyers encouraging the enemy to surrender and giving instructions on how to surrender safely
- The visual “shock and awe” of a massive attack employing vast numbers of troops or technologically advanced weapons
- Sleep deprivation through the continual projection of loud, annoying music or sounds toward enemy troops
- The threat, whether real or imaginary, of the use of chemical or biological weapons
- Radio stations were created to broadcast propaganda
- Random use of snipers, booby traps, and improvised explosive devices (IEDs)
- “False flag” events: attacks or operations designed to convince the enemy that they were carried out by other nations or groups
In all cases, the objective of battlefield psychological warfare is to destroy the morale of the enemy leading them to surrender or defect.