STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION - OPPORTUNITY AND NECESSITY IN THE CONTEXT OF EXPANSION AND DIVERSIFICATION OF HYBRIDITY

Authors

  • Bogdan ȚUȚUIANU

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53477/1841-5784-21-23

Keywords:

Strategic Communication; information; hybridity; disinformation; information environment.

Abstract

In an era of internet, highly developed technology, and hugely exploited and omnipresent information environment, communication in the field of defence and security has acquired remarkable significance. In an age of expansion and diversification of the hybrid phenomenon, of an assertive geopolitical competition based in large measure on any methods and means employed so as to ensure the fulfilment of own state interests, it is easy to notice the use of media and social networks more than any time before, in order to influence and even manipulate public opinion meant to change perceptions, mislead, polarize and divide. This gave rise to the necessity of emergence of strategic communication concept, developed in the western world, including at the level of North Atlantic Alliance in order to support the achievement of security goals of the Alliance and the Member States. The present article is a plea for raising awareness upon the increased importance of strategic communication, at military and political levels, in the context of expansion and diversification of hybrid phenomenon as a reality that needs revealing and countering, when coming from our opponents, and used for reaching own goals.

References

Aday, Sean, Māris Andžāns, Una Bērziņa-Čerenkova et al. 2019. Hybrid Threats: a Strategic Communication Perspective, 9-23. https://stratcomcoe.org/pdfjs/?file=/cuploads/pfiles/2nd_book_short_digi_pdf.pdf?zoom=page-fit.

Cullen, Patrick J., Erik Reichborn-Kjennerud. 2017. Understanding Hybrid Warfare, 4-9 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/647776/dar_mcdc_hybrid_warfare.pdf.

Farwell, James P. 2012. Persuasion and Power. The Art of Strategic Communication, Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press.

Grimes, David Robert. 2017. Echo chambers are dangerous – we must try to break free of our online bubbles, https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2017/dec/04/echo-chambers-are-dangerous-we-must-try-to-break-free-of-our-online-bubbles

Holtzhausen, Derina and Ansgar Zerfasss (Eds.). 2015. The Routledge Handbook of Strategic Communication, London: Routledge. Taylor and Francis.

Holtzhausen, Derina, Jami A. Fullerton, Bobbi Kay Lewis and Danny Shipka. 2021. Principles of Strategic Communication, London: Routledge. Taylor and Francis.

Joswiak, Rikard. 2020. NATO Stoltenberg Blasts Chinese, Russian Disinformation About Coronavirus. https://www.rferl.org/a/nato-s-stoltenberg-blasts-chinese-russian-disinformation-about-coronavirus/30579874.html

Kreps, Sarah. 2020. The Role of Technology in Online Misinformation, în Foreign Policy, https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/The-role-of-technology-in-online-misinformation.pdf.

Monaghan, Sean, Patrick Cullen, Njord Wegge. 2019. Countering hybrid warfare, 35. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/784299/concepts_mcdc_countering_hybrid_warfare.pdf.

Nothhaft, H., Schölzel, H. 2015. “(Re-)Reading Clausewitz: The strategy discourse and its implications for strategic communication”, în D. R. Holtzhausen & A. Zerfass (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Strategic Communication, New York: Routledge.

Ondrejcsák, Róbert, Tyler. H. Lippert (Eds.). 2019. PANORAMA, NATO at 70: Outline of the Alliance Today and Tomorrow. https://www.stratpol.sk/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/panorama_2019_ebook.pdf.

Paul, Cristopher. 2011. Strategic Communication. Origins, Concepts and Current Debates, Santa Barbara, California: Praeger.

Popp, George & Astorino-Courtois, Allison. 2021. Effective Communication. Lessons Learned from Those Outside the US Government and Military. Effective Communication: Lessons Learned From Those Outside the US Government and Military | NSI (nsiteam.com).

Stavridis, James. G. 2007. Strategic Communication and National Security in Joint Forces Quarterly, 46(3), 4-7.

*** Brussels Summit Declaration, issued by the Heads of State and Government Participating in the Meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Brussels 11-12 July 2018, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, 11 July 2018. https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/official_texts_156624.htm.

*** Brussels Summit Communiqué, issued by Heads of State and Government participating in the meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Brussels 14 June 2021, Press Release (2021) 086, 14 Jun. 2021. https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_185000.htm?selectedLocale=en.

*** Defence Strategic Communications, The official journal of the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, Volume 9, Autumn 2020. https://stratcomcoe.org/pdfjs/?file=/cuploads/pfiles/full_journal_web_dsc_vol_9_jan2021-1.pdf?zoom=page-fit.

*** Joint Communication to the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, Action Plan against Disinformation, Brussels, 5.12.2018 JOIN(2018) 36 final J. https://eeas.europa.eu/sites/default/files/action_plan_against_disinformation.pdf.

*** NATO, Keynote speech, by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the opening of the NATO, Transformation Seminar, 25 Mar. 2015, Last updated 19 May. 2015. NATO - Opinion: Keynote speech by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the opening of the NATO Transformation Seminar , 25-Mar.-2015.

*** NATO 2030: United for a New Era. Analysis and Recommendations of the Reflection Group Appointed by the NATO Secretary General, 25 November 2020. https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/2020/12/pdf/201201-Reflection-Group-Final-Report-Uni.pdf.

*** NATO, The Secretary General’s Annual Report 2020. https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/2021/3/pdf/sgar20-en.pdf#page=8.

https://www.stratcomcoe.org/publications

Downloads

Published

2022-05-05

How to Cite

ȚUȚUIANU, B. (2022). STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION - OPPORTUNITY AND NECESSITY IN THE CONTEXT OF EXPANSION AND DIVERSIFICATION OF HYBRIDITY. Strategic Impact, 81(4), 47–60. https://doi.org/10.53477/1841-5784-21-23

Issue

Section

DEFENCE AND SECURITY CONCEPTS