Smoke and mirrors: Building EU resilience against manipulation through cognitive security

Curator note

Generative-AI, deepfakes and psychomet-
ric profiling provide adversaries like Russia
with unprecedented opportunities to shape
perception and behaviour. So far, the EU
response has only addressed these critical
cognitive dimensions tangentially.
› Building on earlier work – such as NATO’s
conceptualisation of cognitive warfare –
the cognitive security framework shifts the
focus from enemy tactics to the EU’s wid-
ening security deficits. It zeroes in on psy-
chological vulnerabilities – such as cogni-
tive biases and emotional contagion – that
hostile actors actively exploit. Russia’s war
against Ukraine offers ample examples of
the associated risks.
› The urgency of EU action on cognitive
security is clear. A three-tier roadmap –
strategic, operational and tactical – can
help the EU and Member States both better
understand cognitive risks and build re-
silience. The EU must integrate cognitive
security into its defence frameworks, en-
suring preparedness in an evolving threat
landscape.