General
With the evolution of the world, warfare technologies have also evolved. Gone are the days when the States used to have conventional wars. Technological innovation has changed the war strategies. One such aspect is the global shift from Kinetic warfare towards the non-Kinetic one.
Propaganda, misinformation, and disinformation have always been part of political warfare. Social media and other new platforms have given it a new life. It has given currency to fakery to obfuscate truth. We live in a world, where all wars will begin as cyber wars.
1st to 5th Generation Wars
- First Generation: Ancient battles were fought on horses and muscle power till the 19th century.
- Second Generation: Also called industrial war after the invention of musket rifles and breech loading weapons.
In 1st world war, linear and positional war was fought called Trench War.
- Third Generation: In the 2nd WW, modern technology, German Blitzkrieg mechanized forces dominated the battles.
- Fourth Generation: It saw improved ground, naval and airpower with high-tech, supplemented with guerrilla warfare, information war and psychological operations.
- Fifth Generation: A mix of kinetic and non-kinetic forces, with emphasis on indirect strategy of high-tech, social engineering, misinformation, cyber war.
21st Century: The Era of Non-Kinetic Warfare
The 21st century is the era of kinetic warfare. Instead of destruction or physical degradation of an adversary via military means, non-Kineticism focuses on exploiting the already present fault lines to critically affect the nation without any physical involvement.
Aims or goals to be achieved in both kinds of warfare are the same. However, they both differ in their strategy to realize the aims.
Non-Kineticism involves virtual and smart means like cyberspace, proxies, media wars, propaganda setting, intelligence operation, economic and trade wars, mainly to achieve the desired results.
Information Warfare
In contemporary times, information warfare is the most eminent phenomenon in war studies. It is the type of war in which information technology and cyberspace is used.
Information warfare is a term with wide interpretation. It is a multi-faceted doctrine challenging almost all the political, economic, social, cultural, ideological aspects of national power.
Information activity is not only limited to the state actors, but it is also used by the non-state actors.
Cyberspace and Psychological War
With technological innovation, cyberspace has become the new battleground of the time.
It is a psychological war which affects the general psyche of the populace by inculcating anti-state narratives in their minds, which then becomes the reason for national chaos.
Application of Information Warfare
Many States, explicitly the Western States, are using this warfare technique to maintain their hegemony across the globe. West has always kept on mingling in the external and internal affairs of her political opponents.
The US being the most technologically advanced state, enjoys the privilege of her position. She has played a massive role in world politics with the help of her information manipulation skills.
The West has however, traditionally blamed the victim countries. Among all, they have kept on accusing Russia for indulging in information warfare.
Russia’s Belated Defense
After the shrinking of USSR into the Russian Federation in 1991 and up till 2008, Russia did not react to the information war of the western agencies. It realized the danger after the color revolution in Georgia in 2008. After another color revolution in Ukraine in 2014, the Russian government took a serious notice against foreign intrigues.
Hybrid War
Hybrid Warfare came to prominence in the 21st century. The “Age of Globalization” has opened up many new technical and communication options and shrunk distances.
This new form of warfare, avoiding a clear differentiation between war and peace, soldiers and civilians, is practiced by all sides of the different divides.
By combining kinetic operations with subversive efforts, the aggressor intends to avoid attribution, or retribution.
Hybrid warfare employs means other than conventional military troops, tactics and strategies. It includes the employment of irregular military and paramilitary forces like guerrillas, militant groups. ISIS, Al Qaeda, Hamas, Houthis, Hezbollah, TTP, BLA.
Use of non-violent means by civilian institutions include psychological assaults using ethnic, religious or national vulnerabilities, provocateurs operating behind enemy lines, economic assaults through sanctions, boycotts and punitive tariffs, so as to weaken the enemy economy.
Cyber assaults are made on elections and referendums. Big data is used for manipulation of referendums like Brexit, regime changes, and a vast selection of propaganda warfare via electronic and social media, TV channels and publications.
Conducted by both state and non-state actors, Hybrid warfare is typically tailored to remain below obvious detection and response thresholds. It relies on speed, volume and digital technology that characterizes the present Information Age.
The relative novelty of hybrid warfare today lies in the ability of an actor to synchronize multiple instruments of power simultaneously, and exploit creativity, ambiguity, and the cognitive elements of warfare.
Diplomacy, Deception, Intrigues, Conspiracies, False flag operations are as much involved in this new type of warfare as fake news.
Renowned Strategists
Sun Tzu’s book “Art of War” written in the 5th century BC, describes methods of intelligence gathering behind enemy lines and methods of guerrilla warfare. The work has influenced many war strategists in East Asia from Mao Zedong to Ho Chi Minh.
The Indian ‘Artha Shastra’ (2 century BC) is a textbook of statecraft and political economy that provides a detailed account of intelligence collection, processing, consumption, and covert operations, as indispensable means for maintaining and expanding the security and power of the state.
Chanakya in 4th century BC was an expert in underhand tactics and was instrumental in glorifying Chandra Gupta Maurya Empire glorious.
Machiavelli in 15th/16 century, laid the foundations of power politics.
Military concepts and doctrines of Carl Clausewitz are still read and quoted by miliary strategists.
Philosophy of Minister of propaganda of Hitler, Joseph Goebbels was to repeat lies so many times to obfuscate truth.
One major ‘false flag operation’ by the British secret service was launched by Lt Thomas Edward Lawrence, under the guise of ‘Lawrence of Arabia’. He successfully incited the Arab tribes to revolt against the Ottoman Empire and helped to Balkanize the Arab world into many small states that could be played against each other.
Closer to our time is the British “Great Game” that aimed to stop the Russian advance in Central Asia, and defend the British colonial holdings in the subcontinent.
The Russian military saw Hybrid Warfare as a Western plot against the new Russia-China axis, and to prevent implementation of Eurasian concept, and Russia’s return as a global power.
Television with a 49% rating, is still the most popular platform for news consumption.
News websites are at 43%, in which major content is of fake news to mislead.
Facebook is a crucial weapon of intelligence for Israel’s Mossad. It keeps a watchful eye on Palestinian’s life and steals important data from target individuals. Mossad has created a myriad of Facebook accounts, and each hired officer runs a few of them.
- Misinformation: False information is spread randomly without specific objectives.
- Disinformation: It is intended to mislead the followers and general public through fake news under an agenda of changing beliefs, attitudes, perceptions and behavior.
India’s Propaganda War
The South Asian region is one of the most unstable regions in the world. This is primarily because of the hostile relations between India and Pakistan.
India has all along employed subversive and Chanakya tactics to keep Pakistan politically unstable and economically weak.
For well over two decades, India subjected Pakistan to sustained proxy war and disinformation campaigns using Afghan soil.
Prime Minister Modi’s BJP government has used it as a strategic weapon to attain its strategic objective of damaging Pakistan.
Indian Chronicles
A European organization EU Disinformation Lab released a report in 2021, which revealed that for years India was involved in subversive activities against Pakistan.
‘Indian Chronicles’ exposed a network of fake media organizations and NGOs in Brussels and Geneva, that remained involved in anti-Pakistan propaganda at various international forums for 15 years.
Hundreds of long-dead organizations, stolen identities, and fake media outlets mostly linked with Delhi-based Srivastava Group were used by India to build a negative image of Pakistan in front of the EU and the UN.
The EU Disinformation Lab report uncovered 265 fake websites that were being run by a ghost company.
These websites were spreading false information about Pakistan in nearly 65 countries.
A total of 500 local media outlets operating in 95 counties produced negative content about China and Pakistan.
Hybrid War against CPEC
The CPEC has become the hub-center of China’s One Belt One Road connectivity. Pakistan through which the CPEC traverses from Kashgar in China to Gwadar seaport, has become the super magnet and is attracting countries of South Asia, Central Asia, Middle East, Africa, and Europe towards it to draw economic benefits.
The US and its strategic allies India and Israel, instead of joining the CPEC for their own betterment and for the progress for the whole of Eurasia, are averse to CPEC since it will undercut their hegemonic ambitions. The trio is hell-bent to sabotage it.
Apart from proxy war, keeping the Line of Control in Kashmir ablaze, and resorting to Water terrorism to dry up Pakistan, India, helped by its partners, resorted to Misinformation and Disinformation campaigns to defame Pakistan, China and CPEC.
Scuttling of CPEC in their view would weaken China-Pakistan bondage.
The trio have failed in achieving any of their objectives outlined against Pakistan during the 20-year war on terror. But they have not given up, since successful culmination of CPEC would be a big setback to their global ambitions.
Pakistan’s Position in Digitalized War
Pakistan is facing internal as well as external problems to achieve her longing aims of prosperity and growth. She has fault lines which can be exploited by the rival countries with the help of propaganda.
This information warfare makes it easy for the regional and extra regional powers to covertly interfere in Pakistan’s national affairs.
Fake News is an Epidemic
British journalist Alan Rusbridge has recently opined that that fake news is an epidemic that is out of control. His inquest revealed that two-thirds of people cannot differentiate between good and bad journalism. Students get news from social media platforms of Facebook, Instagram, Reditt and Tik-Tok. He suggested everyone to get inoculated.
His probe revealed that 4.75 bn items are shared by Facebook users daily, 500 mln on Twitter, 95 mln on Instagram, 35 mln on Tik-Tok, one mln on Reddit. The news is accepted by receivers as gospel truth.
Opinionated Newspapers/Magazines. Each newspaper or magazine have leanings. They are left-wing or right-wing and are sponsored and funded.
What can Pakistan do?
How can Pakistan Defend herself against this threat of Information War?
As now, non-Kineticism has replaced Kineticism. In this era of multi-pronged non-Kineticism, Pakistan needs to be more vigilant.
It is the time to concentrate more on the unconventional defense mechanism, instead of the conventional ones.
For Pakistan, it is important to understand the character of Hybrid Warfare, its underlying ideology and forms, in order to be able to devise appropriate answers to it.
Currently, information supremacy has become the vital part of the national power, which dictates the national leaders to formulate a more pragmatic national security policy.
Most of the States, including Pakistan, are working to formulate comprehensive and prudent security and strategic policies to counter this non-kinetic warfare.
Since Pakistan is facing information war waged by India and the West, its print and electronic media has to act more responsibly.
Though there is now a very credible regulation of media, the media outlets must further verify any suspicious news first before breaking it.
In order to avert these threats, Pakistan primarily needs to focus on the existing fault lines, be it economic, political, cultural or ideological, and should formulate a comprehensive policy to defend her national interests.
Pakistan should go for the creation of Information Technology Specialized Branches, explicitly for the purpose of defending the country against slow poisoning information warfare.
There is a dire need for an upgraded and modernized IT and communication setup to secure the critical infrastructure of Pakistan, or else it can be easily manipulated by the rivals.
Pakistan being at home in conventional warfare technologies, should sharply focus on this new war doctrine, and master this art of war by strengthening her technological control and command system.
All out efforts are needed to galvanize the youth, and to change their course towards constructive and productive channels. They should become fake news busters.
The declining moral turpitude will have to be refurbished to restore our old ethics, morals and values.
Media Literacy a Compulsory Subject
Denmark has made it part of curriculum. Germany and Sweden have taken this subject seriously.
In Pakistan, media literacy should become a compulsory subject for students. They should be taught the skills to bisect truth from falsehood, identify misinformation and fake news.
Conclusion
To conclude, I would say that fake news has become a cancerous disease, that’s out of control, and must be controlled.
Virus of Covid was controlled through vaccines. We all need to be inoculated against misinformation and disinformation.
