U.S. efforts to counter foreign malign messaging campaigns will have marginal success, without a coordinated, integrated national information operations campaign that assesses the threat, develops effective responses, and implements aligned solutions.
Intelligence After Next: Countering Malign Messaging and Influence Campaigns—We Need a Holistic Response
To counter adversary information operations, the U.S. needs to bolster resistance to nefarious messaging, employ a methodical and anticipatory national response mechanism, and generate influence that puts our adversaries on the defensive. Our ability to impose disincentives, or cost-imposing counter-messaging strategies against adversaries, requires understanding how they perceive and calculate risks. We must be able to detect foreign influence operations, distinguish between benign and malign activity, and understand the danger imposed on the U.S., while also determining the most-effective counters. This may require an independent review effort charged with developing actionable recommendations for leveraging current capacity, reimagining our processes, and identifying innovative ways to counter and create influence.
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