Cognitive Warfare in 21st Century Great Power Competition. Framing of Military Activity in the Black Sea

Abstract

The Pivot to Asia first signaled and then the December 2017 US National Security Strategy ushered in the era of renewed great power competition, a global strategic environment in which great powers compete for influence and in which the leveraging of new and disruptive technologies, globalization, climate change and a global pandemic have added to the complexity and fluidity of strategic imperatives of nation states and alliances. The nature of war has remained the same, nevertheless, the character has evolved, perspectives on what constitutes war in its entire spectrum have taken on different meaning for different actors. One particularly complex dimension of great power conflict is cognitive warfare in all its manifestations. The article is looking to analyze the way the framing effect, a cognitive bias, has been leveraged as a means of perpetrating cognitive warfare in the Black Sea by reframing historical events of the last century in order to influence both individual and group beliefs and behaviors to favor or legitimize tactical as well as strategic objectives in great power competition.