The Dilemma of Cognitive Warfare in the Digital Age: Strategic Insights from the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression to Modern Information Warfare

Curator note

During the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, the Communist Party of China constructed an asymmetric information warfare system through intelligence transmission, public opinion mobilization, and innovation in code-breaking on the hidden front. Based on military archives and interdisciplinary theories, and combined with contemporary cognitive warfare cases, this paper explores the transformation logic of traditional strategies in the context of digital technology. The research shows that decentralized intelligence networks, mixed information dissemination strategies, and the ideological encoding of cultural symbols are of great significance for addressing new threats such as deepfakes and algorithmic manipulation. It is recommended to build a modern cognitive defense system from three dimensions: independent technological innovation, strengthening of cultural identity, and ethical norm constraints, providing historical inspiration and practical paths for safeguarding national ideological security.