Modern Information Wars Research Articles

Informational Confrontation of “MoskovskieVedomosti” Journal and European Press During Polish Uprising of 1863

In the article the author examines informational confrontation of “MoskovskieVedomosti” journal with European press during Polish uprising of 1863. In response to the aggressive anti-Russian rhetoric of the Western press, “Moskovskie Vedomosti” vigorously supported the actions of Russian administration in Poland, headed by General M.N. Muravyov. On the basis of the newspaper's publications analysis, the author reveals the main ideological and thematic directions of their statements on the Polish issue: exposes the policy of Western powers that used the situation in Poland to pressure Russia and weaken it; substantiates the the anti-national nature of the uprising, initiated by the Polish nobility and Catholic clergy; shows the formation of the rebels negative image, and exposes the falsifi cations and insinuations of the Western press. The author comes to the conclusion that the publications of “Moscow Vedomosti” during the period of military operations in Poland contributed to the formation of the consolidated public opinion in Russia, and their confrontation with the leading Western European editions can be considered as prototype of modern information wars.

New dilemmas of the «just war» theory

Referring to the classical tenets of the “just war” theory, the author also analyses its modern versions. While the research the author arrives at the conclusion that some political scientists have modernized the theory of “a just war” according to the modern times. For instance, due to the existence of new actors on the international arena, there were created a new version, which allows to include non-state actors for the analysis (which consequently led to abolition of such principles as legitimacy of authorities, “last resort” criteria and also led to the implementation of the preventive actions) as well as the principles just post bellum. It is interesting to note that some political scientists associate the theory of “a just war” with the issue of global leadership of the USA. Throughout the history the participants and the aims of the wars have undergone serious changes, so that nowadays they do not sound “just” (for example, theory of punitive war). Analyzing in detail the postulates of the theory of “just war”, the author turns to historical events - the “Arab Spring”, the confrontation between the USA and the USSR, modern information wars. The author arrives at the conclusion that the use of the theory of “just war” for the analysis of modern events remains relevant, however, requires the introduction of new postulates in the norms of the theory, in particular, the addition of the principles of jus ad bellum and jus post bellum.

The role of media culture in today's information wars

The article is devoted to the socio-philosophical analysis of the phenomenon of media culture in the context of the globalization information challenges of today. The formation of the main threats of the modern information society is revealed through the prism of the close relationship of violence, wealth and knowledge as means of implementing power relations in the geopolitical context. It was noted that at each historical stage of the global struggle for power, the most effective means of achieving power goals were strategies of information struggle aimed at manipulating public consciousness. The essential signs of information war from the standpoint of psychological, information and communication approaches are revealed. It is noted that in the society of knowledge, the information and propaganda war acquires the features of a conscious (semantic) one, therefore, in the conditions of the formation of the mass media as key producers of information products marked by certain political or economic interests, it is possible to talk about the media war as a separate technology of modern information wars. In the modern philosophical discourse, to define a special type of culture of the information age, the concept of "media culture" has become widespread, as a set of information and communication tools produced by mankind in the process of cultural and historical development, which contribute to the formation of public consciousness and the socialization of the individual. The work reveals the main functions of media culture - informational, communicative, ideological, normative and legal, motivational, integrative, culture-creating, myth-creating. The fundamental difference between media culture and traditional cultures is emphasized - the level of its technical equipment, which allows the reproduction of media culture products for almost all of humanity, acting as a regulator of its mass consciousness. The specificity of media culture is determined by its semiotic nature and the technical capabilities of the means of its implementation: high information capacity, ease and persuasiveness of perception, speed of replication of information messages, mass and accessibility. The conclusions highlight the need to introduce state programs for the development of digital and media education as an effective mechanism for countering today's informational challenges.

Кибервойна как новый вызов международному сообществу: вопросы международно-правовой регламентации

The article studies the legal, political, military-strategic issues of cyber operations in the aspect of modern information wars, and also examines multilateral approaches related to the legal regulation of cyber wars from the standpoint of the applicability of the existing principles and norms of international law or the possibility of alternative development of a special international legal regime.

Визуальная пропаганда в американской Гражданской войне 1861–1865 годов

Introduction. The article analyzes visual propaganda during the American Civil War, its goals, methods, and means for both belligerents. The problem is relevant in connection with modern information wars and is insufficiently studied in American and Russian historiography. Methods and materials. The research is based on historicism, objectivity, consistency, dialectical approach, philosophical and sociological theories that study the nature of social consciousness and the factors that influence it, namely the theory of C. Jung on the collective unconscious and archetypal images, the theory of social constructionism by P. Berger and N. Luckmann, the achievements of imagology and discursive analysis. The sources for the study were visual materials: posters, drawings, paintings, cartoons, photographs of the Civil War in the United States, placed in open access on the World Wide Web, published in illustrated periodicals: Harper’s Weekly, Frank Leslie’s Illustrated, Vanity Fair, The Southern Illustrated News, presented in book publications. Analysis. During the American Civil War, the country was split between northerners, supporters of the Union, and southerners who fought for the independence of the Confederate States. In the conditions of a military conflict, visual propaganda turned out to be most popular and effective. Its goal was to convince the warring parties of the rightness of their own cause, to mobilize society on achieving victory. In the North, the image of the enemy – “Johnny the rebel” – was constructed in order to incite hatred towards the southerners. In the South, the image of the “damned Yankee” was created. Both northern and southern visual propaganda relied on time-tested images (the image of the motherland, the warrior-defender, home and family), as well as on the collective unconscious and archetypes of consciousness associated with religious views and historical roots, used a variety of tools, techniques and methods. The most powerful means of influence were the traditions of the War of Independence, the legacy of the Founding Fathers. The use of national symbols was characteristic: Union and Confederate flags, images of presidents and military leaders. The most common means of visual propaganda were posters and leaflets, postal envelopes, banknotes decorated with patriotic symbols. Drawings and cartoons were an important means of mobilizing the population. They were placed in illustrated newspapers and magazines, and were also printed separately in the form of engravings and lithographs. Visual propaganda played on emotions, it was built on the opposition of “friend/ foe”, depicting its supporters as heroes worthy of admiration, and its enemies as insidious, cruel and cowardly. Results. Despite certain similarities in the conduct of propaganda by both warring parties, it turned out to be more comprehensive and effective in the North, which influenced the achievement of victory over the South. Key words: U.S. history, the Civil War of 1861–1865, visual propaganda, the “friend/foe” dichotomy, imagology.

Hrushevsky M. and the concept of Ukrainian unity (1917–1918)

The article reveals M. Hrushevsky's contribution to the substantiation of the concept of the unity of Ukraine. Historiography includes a wide range of publications devoted to elucidation of the phenomenon of the development by scientist and constant leader of the Central Council of a comprehensive, multifaceted, polyhedral concept of the Ukrainian national democratic revolution, while its organic, integral (though in some sense self-sufficient) component – the theoretical formation of projects to collect in a heap ethnically related branches of Ukrainianness, the territories in which they lived – much less often became the subject of special study and evaluation, freely or unwillingly moved to the periphery of the analysis. As a rule, attention shifted to the events of late 1918-early 1919, when the historical figure no longer exerted such influence on social processes as before. However, the fact remains that a prominent intellectual, impeccably possessing scientific methodology and historical data, in particular – statistics, convincingly proved that the most reliable, most logical and understandable, by the large extent and in general terms legitimate version of the constructive movement to the desired goal must be strict adherence to the ethnographic principle. On its basis, the general boundaries of the settlement of the Ukrainian ethnic group were objectively delineated and specifically calculated real proposals were formulated (such work was not simple and not momental) as to include in the revived state at the district level (of course, especially in borderline cases) historically formed lands, where the undoubted predominant array was Ukrainianness. In controversial and сontradictory situations, taking into account the dynamics of revolutionary change, local referendums and plebiscites were planned. Honest, verified, fair approaches formed the basis of the defining documents that guided the current and perspective process of formation of Ukrainian statehood – the Universals of the Central Council and the Constitution of the Ukrainian People's Republic. Theoretical hypothetical constructions were subsequently seriously confirmed in their deep essence by life practice. The author concludes that the specified aspect acquires a special sound and political relevance in connection with the modern information war, the epicenter of which has recently been more than a century of experience of Ukrainian statehood, especially its unity component.

ПСИХОЛОГІЧНІ АСПЕКТИ ІНФОРМАЦІЙНОЇ ВІЙНИ

The article has analyzed views of domestic and foreign authors on the essence and content of the concepts of "information warfare", "psychological war" and "information-psychological war" as components of a hybrid war. Within the psychological paradigm, information warfare is understood as the latent impact of information on individual, group and mass consciousness through methods of propaganda, misinformation, manipulation to form new views on the socio-political organization of society through changes in values and basic attitudes. The concept of "world psychological warfare", various theoretical approaches, tools of information and theoretical approach are considered. The tools of the information warfare against Ukraine are propaganda; manipulation; attempts to change public opinion; psychological and psychotropic pressure; spreading rumors, blocking TV and radio broadcasts; removal of Ukrainian channels in the occupied territories; disinformation and distribution of fake news; distribution of fake information. The defining features of the concepts of "information warfare" and "psychological war" are that information warfare is conducted mostly in cyberspace, while psychological – in social space. The organizational differences of the information influence of the Russian Federation in the basic training of law enforcement specialists are investigated. The main directions of work, forms of information warfare activities which were carried out by the Russian party are characterized. The main psychological challenges of modern information wars are shown. The psychological challenges caused by the war are identified, which are conditionally divided into the following four groups: challenges to Ukrainians as a community; challenges to the mental health of the individual; challenges to psychological well-being; challenges to Ukrainian psychologists as a professional community. In the course of the study, recommendations for confrontation in the information warfare were formed. The main necessary measures to counteract the information aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine are suggested.

CYBER INSURANCE: MODERN REQUIREMENTS

The purpose of this article is to outline current trends in the development of cyber insurance in the world and in Ukraine. Modern information wars and a significant increase in cyber-attacks over the past three years (2019-2021) indicate a low level of protection of critical infrastructure, data storage and personal information, so the development of cyber insurance as an effective protection tool is a priority today. Methodology. The article used methods of data analysis and synthesis to prepare the information base for defining the concept of cyber insurance; comparison of domestic and foreign publications to describe key features of cyber insurance; scientific induction and deduction to create recommendations for the spread of cyber insurance. Results. The results of the study indicate a high degree of danger of cyber risks in the modern world, as their variety is growing exponentially. That is why an effective mechanism for protecting the data of states, authorities, businesses and individuals must include cyber insurance. In addition, insurance companies need to develop policies with an individualized approach to each client, because the characteristics of digital behavior and the security state of the IT structure may differ. Practical implications. The article substantiates the provision of services to create an effective set of services against cyber risks and proposes a mechanism of interaction between insurance market participants on the vector of cyber insurance. The article classifies the main types of cyber risks for the business segment and individual clients, highlighting the most critical and dangerous ones. Value/originality. The results of the study allow insurance companies to create relevant products, prepare customers for modern challenges and prevent cyber-attacks, and government agencies to regulate relations in the field of cyber insurance.

The Effect of the Pushkin Speech in Russian Journalism

The article presents a systematic analysis of the Russian press of 1880, which actively responded to Dostoevsky’s Pushkin Speech. The interpretive boom around his speech is of particular interest for the study of the formative processes of public and national consciousness in Russia. In the history of journalism, the debates that took place at that time can be equated with modern information wars. At the same time, this episode is one of the decisive ones for the ‘Dostoevsky problem’ in criticism and, more broadly, in the Russian public consciousness. The “Pushkin Speech” was obviously of a unifying nature, but it, and even more so the 1880 “A Writer’s Diary,” caused a severe split in journalism, which reflected the mindset of the Russian society. At first, there is a change of semantic accents in telegrams and correspondence, and then the key concept of "panhumanity" is presented exclusively as a “dream” in publications opposing Dostoevsky, one that is not only incompatible with reality, but also distracts from pressing socio-economic problems. There is also an expansion in meaning in the form of the notorious “messianism” of Dostoevsky. The most commonly used concept used by journalists that are hostile to the writer is mysticism as a euphemism for faith. In parallel, a different understanding of the Pushkin speech is being formed in some publications (Mysl’, Nedelya, Novoe Vremya, a little later — Rus’). It views it as a verbalization of the national idea in its focus on the panhuman as a feasible ideal. The dispute that ensued around Dostoevsky’s speech led to the self-determination of the leading trends of Russian thought.

The Role of Mass Media in Modern Information Wars

The Role of Mass Media in Modern Information Wars

Combat narratives in the system of modern geopolitical information wars (experience of the Russian-Ukrainian hybrid information war of 2014–2021)

The relevance of the research presented in the article lies in the features and specifics of the issue of working with content in modern media. These features are the use of multidisciplinary approaches that will provide an integrated effect. One such approach is the use of the concept of “narrative” in the processes of modern information wars, both in innovative social and traditional media. Narrative is a multidisciplinary phenomenon, it is the basic unit of text formation in literary criticism, the technology of meaning formation in philosophy, the bearer of key messages in online linguistics and the means of learning about the environment in psychology. Based on the stated relevance, the main subject of the study are the processes of creating and using narratives used to exert destructive influence on Internet users. This problem is solved using such methods as: analysis and synthesis (based on the results of previous research), observation (media monitoring and identification of specific facts, trends and patterns), modeling (algorithms for the functioning of narratives). As a result of the study, the introduction of a new concept of “combat narratives” was proposed and substantiated, which is presented as destructive plots, which are divided into super narratives (main plot) and subnarratives (individual elements of the main plot). The main object of study, on the basis of which this concept is revealed, is the supernarrative “nostalgia for the USSR” and the subnarratives that accompany it. The main algorithm of penetration of destructive Russian narratives into the media space of Ukraine through three filters (Russian, pro-Russian, pro-Ukrainian mass media) was also presented. As prospects for further study of the issues presented in the article, the need for in-depth study of mechanisms for managing information processes in the media and the development of mechanisms for protection against information attacks using combat narratives. One of the basic prerequisites for such decisions is the formation of critical thinking, information stability and media literacy in the Ukrainian media environment.

Постсоветская идентичность России в концептуальных и политических «войнах памяти» (Памяти Валерия Николаевича Расторгуева) Рецензия на книгу: Национальная память в эпоху перемен / Т.В. Беспалова, С.П. Поцелуев, В.Н. Расторгуев. М.: 1000 бестселлеров, 2021

The article gives an extensive review of the collective monograph of three doctors of sci­ences who focused on the problem of the functioning of the cultural mechanism of collec­tive memory in the era of “post-truth”. The subject of the study identifies three levels: factual, revealing the process of rewriting and falsifying history; political, considering the specifics of conducting a modern information war against Russia, in which “wars of memory” represent one of the directions of political confrontation; conceptual, defin­ing various strategies for Russia’s exit from the crisis of post-Soviet identity. The review pays particular attention to the discussion at the conceptual level in substantiating the concepts of “state-civilization” and “state-nation” on the issues of understanding the place and meaning of “Russian identity” and “historical truth” in solving the problem of Russia’s exit from the crisis of post-Soviet identity.

Роль публичной дипломатии в разоблачении фальсификаций политической истории в условиях современной информационной войны

The article considers the problems of falsification of political history as an instrument of modern information war on the eve of the significant historical anniversary for Russia – the 75th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War. The author believes that it is especially important today to use the tools of public diplomacy to expose falsifications of political history and key events of the Second World War from the rostrum of world political forums and media channels. As an example, the author considers the reaction of the world community to the statements of Vladimir Putin at the Fifth International Forum in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust in Israel in January 2020, where the focus was on the role of the Soviet Union and the Red Army in the victory over Nazism.

ПРОПАГАНДА ТА ЇЇ МІСЦЕ В ПРОЦЕСІ ВЕДЕННЯ ІНФОРМАЦІЙНИХ ВІЙН. ОСНОВНІ ФОРМИ ПРОПАГАНДИСТСЬКОГО ВПЛИВУ:

Мета статті: аналіз проблем пропаганди як важливого різновиду інформаційної зброї, форм пропаганди, що застосовуються в сучасних інформаційних війнах. Емпіричну базу дослідження становлять дані соціологічних досліджень, проведених автором: анкетного опитування населення м. Запоріжжя щодо ставлення населення до проблем інформаційної війни, яку веде Російська Федерація проти України, у період проведеного дослідження (640 мешканців м. Запоріжжя з використанням квотної вибірки, 2017 р.) й експертного опитування представників ряду специфічних категорій населення: воїнів АТО, волонтерів, викладачів суспільно-політичних кафедр закладів вищої освіти (32 особи, 2016 р.).В теоретичному значенні розглянута актуальна в сучасних умовах та важлива проблема, пов’язана із роллю пропаганди як важливої зброї, що використовується в сучасних інформаційних війнах, зокрема інформаційній війні поміж Російською Федерацією та Україною. Аналізується сутність пропаганди та її можливості в процесі формування громадської думки населення, технології, що використовуються для впливу на населення супротивників в ході інформаційної війни, зокрема наводяться деякі приклади ходу такої війни поміж Російською Федерацією та Україною. Розглядаються основні сучасні форми пропагандистського впливу на населення: пряма пропаганда, джинса, пабліситі, пропаганда 2.0, особливості їх використання та ефективність.

Barriers of Meaning in the Processes of Social Adaptation of Modern Youth

The article deals with the stable senses and semantic nuances that are in the domestic information space and serve as latent ways of conducting modern information wars, as they negatively effect on the processes of social adaptation of modern youth. Features of semantic mechanisms that create a kind of barriers for the appeal of some young people to information and analytics, which explain the policy of the current government, are analyzed in the article (this is the vagueness of the term “propaganda” and transfer of values). Fashion in the information space pseudo creative techniques of attracting the audience are also considered in the article. These are “unbalanced news” that influences the moral and intellectual climate in society, as well as the exploitation of the intention “everything is bad”, which creates anxiety in the perceptions of some young people, disbelief in their own successes, negative perceptions about the country and its future. Mass development of understanding skills in the field of social communication, especially young people, is, according to the author, the important condition main condition for successful processes of socialization and adaptation of modern youth, its ability to resist “meaningful projectiles” of modern information wars.

Effects and prospects of public opinion formation in the conditions of modern information wars (based on the materials of a sociological study).

Effects and prospects of public opinion formation in the conditions of modern information wars (based on the materials of a sociological study).

MODERN INFORMATION WARFARE AND SPIRITUAL SECURITY OF RUSSIA: THREATS AND LIMITING STRATEGIES

Purpose of the study: We analyze the specifics of modern information wars and their impact on the spiritual sphere of Russian society. The innovative technologies of modern information warfare have a huge destructive potential. These technologies have an impact on the minds of people and may change their value orientations, impose alien cultural systems and destructive ideas forming models of social behavior. All that determines the need to study the main spiritual security threats that faces Russian society and strategies to resist them.
 Methodology: The methodological basis of the study is the concept of the information society, which allows understanding the specifics of new information reality. The risk logical approach is methodologically significant for the study of threats associated with the new information reality. All that gives an opportunity to analyze the new social spiritual security threats associated with development and operation of new information technologies. The theory of information warfare is conceptual for the study, as it considers the modern ways and means of information impact on individual and social consciousness. Information warfare is treated as a new type of geopolitical confrontation in the modern world.
 Results: The study concludes that in the context of modern geopolitical confrontation, the spiritual sphere of Russian society becomes one of the main objects of destructive information impact, manifested in the devaluation of traditional cultural values, introduction of Western liberal ideas, spread of mass culture and consumerism ideology. Such a destructive information impact leads to atomization of society, to a socio-cultural split on social, intergenerational and ethnocultural grounds. Substitution of the national spiritual and moral tradition with the values of Western mass culture leads not only to destruction of historically developed social behavior models but to reformatting the cultural code of society.
 Applications of this study: The results allow us to understand the destructive potential of information impact on spiritual sphere of Russian society and the need to develop an effective strategy to resist information threats that undermine the foundations of Russian statehood. The limiting strategy of information risks should include not only legal measures implemented by the state, but social reflection on the principles of transparency, borders, and mechanisms of its compliance and, above all, the mechanisms of protection from destructive impact of information for the individuals.
 Novelty/Originality of this study: The spiritual sphere of Russian society is characterized by extreme instability and lack of ideas, able to integrate it. The society faces a crisis evidenced by such trends as the mutual alienation of society and state, political indifference of citizens; weakening of social solidarity, ethnic tension, underdevelopment of civil society institutions. The main survival condition for the Russian society in new historical realities associated with globalization of the information sphere is restoration of stable spiritual life, preservation of the value-ideological core, formation of ideology shared by the majority of citizens.

Урбанонімічні акти в контексті сучасних інформаційних війн: символічна і комунікаційна функції

The study is relevant due to the need for effective diagnosis of such manifestations of the information war, they have the external form of memorial urbanonymic acts (name and renaming). Revealing of the hidden essence of an urban anonymous act is possible provided that it is properly described in terms of the social communication theory and a corresponding analysis of both the structure and functions of the act itself as well as the associated media texts. This should contribute, on the one hand, to counteract hostile acts of information war disguised as urbanonymic memorial changes, and, on the other hand, to use, consciously and systematically, similar tools of information influence. The theoretical significance of this intelligence is to expand the application field of the theory of social communication and social communication science as a whole due to urbanonymy as one of the channels of mass communication. The purpose of the research is to describe this category of urbanonymic acts, to determine their functions in the aspect of social communication, to propose the criteria for distinguishing the analyzed denominations from the general array of names and renames in urbanonymy. The study used the following methods: descriptive – to determine the type of urbannymic acts and to determine the factors that influence the acquisition of the character of the démarches to foreign countries; methods of analysis and synthesis – in order to formulate criteria for the presence in the act of signs of a foreign policy demarche; empiric analysis and structural-functional analysis – to reveal the information and socio-political context of the urbanonyma changes and to clarify their functional characteristics. As a result of the analysis of urbanonymic renamings in Ukraine during 2014–2019, criteria have been formulated which allowed to distinguish urbanonymic acts with signs of foreign policy demarche. The functions of such acts in the context of modern information wars are defined, in particular the key role of symbolic and communication functions is substantiated.

Przestrzeń informacyjna: wojna pamięci

Information space of the war memoryIn humanitarian terms, information war is an active method of transforming information space. It is about a system concept imposing model outlook to ensure the desired behaviors; the attack on structures that generate information — thought processes. In this sense, one of the varieties of modern information war was a war of memories. An arena of manifestations such conflicts may be different aspects of life. A striking example of research of a war of memories is Alexander Etkind’s project called „A Memory War: Cultural Dynamics in Russia, Poland, and Ukraine”.

“NIESPOKOJNY LOT NAD MAJDANEM” — WSPÓŁCZESNE KONTEKSTY FUNKCJONOWANIA SYMBOLU ORŁA W POLSCE I NA UKRAINIE

У статті здійснено спробу простежити актуалізацію символіки тварин, зокрема символу орла, у сучасному суспільному дискурсі; репрезентовано намагання проаналізувати специфіку породження нового семантичного наповнення символу орла, його нових асоціативних зв'язків, виявлених в епоху динамічних соціально-політичні змін, що спроектовано передусім на події, пов’язані з Революцією гідності в Україні 2013–2014 років. Увагу акцентовано на ролі в цьому процесі літературної традиції. Проаналізовано також, як використовується символіка орла в умовах сучасної інформаційної війни.