Cognitive Superiority in the Context of Modern Threats
( Pp. 84-88)

The purpose of the study is to identify the structural and functional features of information and psychological impact within the framework of the new paradigm of cognitive wars, due to technological and geopolitical shifts, to achieve it, the following were used: interdisciplinary theoretical analysis in the form of a synthesis of the concepts of political science, psychology, sociology and cybernetics; systematization of doctrinal documents and study of the strategies of the United States, the EU, NATO and other states in the field of hybrid wars and strategic communications; within the framework of comparative analysis, historical and modern forms of IPV (propaganda, psychological operations, “soft power”, cognitive warfare) are compared. Case studies are the study of technologies of “color revolutions”, crowdsourcing, and deepfake. Results of the study. Historical analysis has revealed three dominant paradigms: propaganda (antiquity – 1940s) – monologue influence through the media; psychological warfare (1940s–1950s) – targeted influence on military and civilian audiences; psychological operations (1960s – early XXI century) – integration of information and military tools. Since the 2000s, a fourth paradigm has been formed, characterized by hybridization and a combination of cyberattacks, sanctions, and protest movements. There is also a globalization of the audience and a transition from influencing enemy troops to manipulating mass consciousness, including technologization and the use of Big Data for microtargeting and artificial intelligence to create simulacra, as well as cognitive warfare technologies.

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Big Data, international relations, Information and psychological impact (IPV), hybrid wars, cognitive wars, mental warfare, strategic communications, NATO, cognitive superiority, Big Data, artificial intelligence, global actors.