Cognitive Warfare - Diplomacy or ?

[Kirkhill]

China's upset.

CO of puny American destroyer not showing appropriate fear of majestic Chinese carrier. And he is pointing the soles of his boots at it.

What really stoked ire in l’affaire Mustin, it seems, was the casual attitude Briggs struck toward a jewel in the crown of the PLA Navy fleet and a bearer of “China’s dream,” Xi Jinping’s grandiose project for rejuvenating the nation following its long “century of humiliation” at the hands of seaborne conquerors. Meh, the Mustin officers seem to say. Briggs is seated in the skipper’s chair; he has his feet up and appears utterly unconcerned by the nearby carrier.

Chan quotes Lu Li-shih, a former instructor at the Taiwan Naval Academy in Kaohsiung: “In the photo, Commander Briggs looks very relaxed with his feet up watching the Liaoning ship just a few thousand yards away, while his deputy is also sitting beside him, showing they take their PLA counterparts lightly.” Lu’s verdict: “This staged photograph is definitely ‘cognitive warfare’ to show the U.S. doesn’t regard the PLA as an immediate threat.”

(China) wages what Chinese officialdom calls “three warfares” against opponents on a 24/7/365 basis, executing legal, media, and yes, psychological operations to shape opinion in the Chinese Communist Party’s favor.

Time for Cognitive Warfare Against China?

Trolling is an underappreciated part of great-power strategic competition at sea. The U.S. Navy needs to do it more. Seize the initiative.

www.19fortyfive.com

Short form, IMO, we don't know nuffink for sure.

All of our information, and the other guy's, is compromised.

 

[CBH99]

Chan quotes Lu Li-shih, a former instructor at the Taiwan Naval Academy in Kaohsiung: “In the photo, Commander Briggs looks very relaxed with his feet up watching the Liaoning ship just a few thousand yards away, while his deputy is also sitting beside him, showing they take their PLA counterparts lightly.” Lu’s verdict: “This staged photograph is definitely ‘cognitive warfare’ to show the U.S. doesn’t regard the PLA as an immediate threat.”

That right there is quite the presumptuous statement...

Yes, that could be it. Pose for the photo in that precise way, hoping that if the enemy see's it, their ego will be offended.

OR, given that neither side is in a place to engage each other tactically in this photo, or that radio traffic between the two vessels was professional, or there were no provocations from either side, the CO and XO decided to enjoy the view while both vessels carried on their ways.


I'm guessing it's the latter...

 

[Brad Sallows]

Naw, if other navies wanted to be offensive, they'd let it be known the COs were wearing a special pair of unwashed boots reserved for visiting dog off-leash areas while ashore.

 

[a_majoor]

This isn't cognitive warfare against China, it is Chinese cognitive warfare.

Consider:

OR, given that neither side is in a place to engage each other tactically in this photo, or that radio traffic between the two vessels was professional, or there were no provocations from either side, the CO and XO decided to enjoy the view while both vessels carried on their ways.

So the US makes nothing of this, but it becomes an event played up by the Chinese press. Who are the target audiences? Certainly painting the USN as being unprofessional helps the Chinese, and is possibly part of a continuing Chinese propaganda effort - much like their earlier musing about sinking two US aircraft carriers. That placed a "price" in the minds of Americans for contesting China's claims in the South China Sea. Now we see them painting the USN as being unprofessional - how could such boobs who sail around with their feet up in the air be able to protect their aircraft carriers?

It is probably not so simple - multiple target audiences are being engaged, and it isn't clear if the same message is being sent to everyone (or alternatively everyone is understanding the message the same way).

How we would message the Chinese would have to be very different and sustained over a long period of time, and even figuring out how to message the Chinese would be difficult considering the CCP controls most of the channels of communication. If the action of the USN was deliberate, then it succeeded brilliantly. Otherwise, we may be dealing with something else.

 

[a_majoor]

Interesting follow up to this topic - the use of "unconscious reprogramming" to affect populations:

Unconscious Reprogramming: The Deepest Form of War

Hijacking the kernel of our human operating system

pjmedia.com

 

[FJAG]

"Cognitive warfare"? "Unconscious Reprogramming"? Showing my age again but in my day all of that and more just came under the term "propaganda".

I guess that just isn't a fancy enough word anymore.

 

[Kirkhill]

How else are you going to get promoted if all your new ideas are ancient ones repackaged?

 

[TangoTwoBravo]

Its a great picture - well framed and captures the setting and time. But don't think for a minute that the CO is not paying attention.