Peace of Mind: Cognitive Warfare and the Governance of 21st Century Subversion

Curator note

This policy brief explores the emergence of cognitive warfare – which aims at controlling what and how an adversary thinks – and the rise on the international stage of non-kinetic means of subversion enabled by emerging technologies. It proposes the establishment of governance frameworks to regulate the use of emerging technologies for purposes of cognitive warfare with the ultimate aim of subversion. It promotes the concept of “subversion control” in order to prevent the militarisation of the mind. It further recommends the regulation of enabling emerging technologies, such as neurotechnologies and AI, while promoting the enhancement of “societal resilience”, especially in democracies, whose open and digitalised information environments make them structurally more vulnerable to the practices of cognitive warfare. Lastly, the brief seeks to promote more research into the concept of cognitive warfare itself, which will in turn assist governance efforts.