Democratic Immune System Already Citadel Hybrid W
Why Is the U.S. so Susceptible to the Information Aspects of “Hybrid Warfare?”
Conspiracy theories, racial tension, partisan divides, all of these
fractures in American society are exploited by our adversaries and
internal actors? Why is the United States and its population so
vulnerable to the spread of such information? Why have the “attacks”
been so successful?
400 Words – 3 Citations
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Conspiracy theories, racial
tension, partisan divides, all of these fractures in American society
are exploited by our adversaries and internal actors. Why is the United
States and its population so vulnerable to the spread of such
information? Why have the “attacks” been so successful?
Conspiracy theories have been defined many ways but the general idea
or definition is that there is some sort of secret plot being carried
out by a powerful group or individual who are aiming to achieve some
dark or sinister goal. A these conspiracy theories have existed since
the beginning of time just in different ways and has maybe not been as
widespread as it is now. Social media has added fuel to the fire in
terms of allowing the entire world in on these “secret” plots that
sometimes its hard to figure out what’s the truth and what’s not. I
believe that the best way to hopefully grasp why the US population is so
vulnerable to conspiracy theories and how our adversaries use it
against us, we first must understand why people believe these theories
in the first place. “People are drawn to conspiracy theories in
order to satisfy or in an attempt to satisfy three important
psychological motives. Epistemic motives, existential motives, and
social motives” (Douglas, 2021). Epistemic meaning that people have a
want and need to know the truth. There is a desire to have the right
information. Existential motives, at their most basic level, refer to
people’s need to want to be safe and secure in their own homes and
worlds that they live in. Lastly, social motives refer to one’s need to
want to feel good about themselves as an individual within the groups
that they each belong too. So, to feel like you have access to
information like CT’s that other people might not have helps gives you a
self-esteem boost.
These are the reasons why our population, and honestly, any
population is so easy to exploit because everyone has a want and need to
be “in the know” of information that others don’t have. Therefore, when
we think of any governments exploitation of another and their use of
any form of propaganda, all they are trying to do is undermine
their adversaries whether it be through hybrid warfare or for example,
psychological warfare.
These attacks are only successful, I believe, because American
society has yet to really address the fractures that we do have. Racial
tension and partisan divides are happening everywhere but its always
been on such a huge display in the U.S., especially in recent years,
because of the rhetoric that has come from our country as it pertains to
our allies and adversaries alike. “When Russian operatives infected our electoral process with online propaganda aimed
at sowing discord in our politics, they found our democratic immune
system already severely weakened by division and distrust” (O’Dear,
2018). Its clear that until we can get ourselves together and be more
founded in where we stand, ultimately these attacks will continue to
happen.
Works Cited:
O’Dear, Craig, and Neal Simon. “We’re So Divided We’re Helping Our Enemies.” USA Today,
Gannett Satellite Information Network, 27 Feb. 2018,
www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/02/27/america-crumbling-political-division-independents-like-us-can-fix-craig-odear-neal-simon-column/372822002/.
Mills, Kim I., and Karen Douglas. Speaking of Psychology: Why People Believe in Conspiracy Theories, with Karen Douglas, PhD, American Psychological Association , Audio Podcast Series. Jan. 2021.