The Strategic Landscape and Russian Influence

The Cognitive Crucible is a forum that presents different perspectives and emerging thought leadership related to the information environment. The opinions expressed by guests are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of or endorsement by the Information Professionals Association.

During this episode, Dr. Randy Rosin returns to the Cognitive Crucible to discuss the “trippy” topic of reflexive control. Soviet influence practitioners favor an indirect approach. Reflexive control is the process of conveying the basis of decision-making from one person to another.

Research Question: Randy Rosin suggests an interested student examine: How can reflexive processes be applied in the creation of strategies to obtain desirable results in scenarios of either conflict, competition, or cooperation?

Resources:

• Cognitive Crucible Podcast Episodes Mentioned
  • #7 Randy Rosin on Russia and Applied Cybernetics
  • #100 Rand Waltzman on the Metaverse and Immersive Virtual Reality
• Propaganda Universe: Propaganda has become the dominant form of public discourse in the information age. Propaganda Universe is dedicated to helping citizens, journalists, scholars, and policy-makers understand the nature of propaganda, disinformation, and information warfare in order to identify and resist manipulative communication. Preserving our ability to think independently, both as individuals and as a society, is crucial to being able to decide what is in our own best interests and not those of others.
• Norbert Wiener
• Heinz von Foerster
• Dialectical Materialism
• Digital Forensics Research Lab
• Diane Chotikul, The Soviet Theory of Reflexive Control in Historical and Psychocultural Perspective: A Preliminary Study, July 1986.
• Russian Operations in Georgia: Lessons Identified Versus Lessons Learned by Keir Giles
• Cyberwar: How Russian Hackers and Trolls Helped Elect a President: What We Don't, Can't, and Do Know by Kathleen Hall Jamieson
• Structure of Awareness: Symbolic Language Human Reflection by Vladimir A. Lefebvre

Link to full show notes and resources

Guest Bio: Dr. Randy Rosin is a faculty member of the National Intelligence University in Bethesda, Maryland who teaches courses in propaganda, foreign information and cyber strategy, cyber threat intelligence, denial and deception, and leadership. He is a 32-year active-duty Army veteran who has served in combat arms, psychological operations, information operations, as a middle eastern foreign area officer, and in human intelligence operations. Notably serving as the information operations chief in Iraq, at US Central Command, and as the Senior Defense Official and Defense Attaché in Yemen.  His research interests are on the confluence of technology and manipulative communication with a particular focus on the development of information-based theoretical frameworks.

About: The Information Professionals Association (IPA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to exploring the role of information activities, such as influence and cognitive security, within the national security sector and helping to bridge the divide between operations and research. Its goal is to increase interdisciplinary collaboration between scholars and practitioners and policymakers with an interest in this domain.

For more information, please contact us at communications@information-professionals.org.

Or, connect directly with The Cognitive Crucible podcast host, John Bicknell, on LinkedIn.

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