Military Leadership in the Context of Challenges and Threats Existing in Information Environment

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to present the role of a military leader in engaging the challenges and threats existing in the I nformation Environment (IE). Military leadership is crucial for the functioning of a particular form of hierarchical institution, namely the armed forces, in their external surrounding called O perational Environment (OE). A specific type of O E is I nformation Environment (IE) characterized by the three dimensions: physical, informational and cognitive. Moreover, its characteristics include the occurrence of a number of challenges and threats. The most important challenges include: overabundance of information, unstructured information, problematic value of information and low information-related competences of its users. I n turn, the most important of the threats identified in the I E are disinformation and propaganda. The role of an effective leader is to prevent, and if it is impossible, to alleviate the consequences of the challenges and threats that may disrupt or even prevent the achievement of the objectives set by an organisation.