Radical War and Cognitive Warfare: A Case Study of the 2021 Israel-Hamas Conflict

Abstract

The proliferation of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies has produced a new form of warfare and altered the nature of war. Cognitive warfare ��� a set of tactics that pairs powerful technology, like artificial intelligence, with traditional science and sociocultural knowledge to disrupt, distort, or alter a target���s cognition - best articulates this change. While cognitive warfare accurately explains the novel tactics on the battlefield, it is inapplicable when deciphering the ���radical��� change that brought about a new ecology of war. Therefore, this thesis pairs cognitive warfare with Radical War ��� a war framework predicated on constant interaction between humans and technology to achieve data, attention, and control. The perpetual interaction between subjects necessarily dissolves traditional hierarchies of violence, transforms war into a mass-participative endeavor, and empowers asymmetric forms of warfare. By connecting cognitive warfare and Radical War, this thesis develops The Radical House Model, which serves as an analytical tool when examining the 2021 Israel-Hamas Conflict. The findings show how cognitive warfare acts as a force multiplier and targets the cognition of individual decision-makers, organizations, or entire populations. Threats to cognition security will only increase as new technologies continue to improve and disseminate. The Radical House Model offers a new way to view, understand, and potentially mitigate threats

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