Homeland Security Today announced the addition of columnist Ajit Maan, Ph.D., an internationally recognized security and defense analyst and narrative strategist to its suite of expert commentary on urgent homeland security issues. Her new column titled “Narrative & National Security” will discuss narratives actively being used by our enemies and how to identify and undermine them.
“We are seeing the manipulation of narrative sway American attitudes, perceptions, and actions more and more. We are thrilled for the collaboration with Dr. Maan and her colleagues to help leaders, educators, and policymakers understand the nature of the narrative being used to manipulate our citizens, and how we can combat the deleterious impacts of campaigns of misinformation, manipulation, and divisiveness,” said Kristina Tanasichuk, Executive Editor, Homeland Security Today. “We are proud to continue bringing the homeland community the foremost leaders in the nation to share advice, experience, and tangible suggestions on how we can – and must – work together to protect America.”
The column will feature original work by Dr. Maan and by guest experts in narrative strategy focused on identifying active narratives, who is behind them, and what strategies they are deploying to manipulate and muddy facts to the detriment of America.
“The relevance of narrative to national security is increasingly acute as dependence on trusted information deepens. We need to understand the power of narrative if we are to defend our democratic values from weaponized information, both foreign and domestic,” added Brigadier General Thomas Drohan a contributor and former Permanent Professor and Head, Department of Military & Strategic Studies at the United States Air Force Academy and currently Director of the International Center for Security and Leadership at JMark Services Inc.
Dr. Maan originated the groundbreaking theory of internarrative identity, a road map for resilient identity created out of personal and cultural conflict. Her work has had far-reaching implications for conflict resolution and community engagement in hostile environments. Dr. Maan’s work is frequently referenced in academic literature and it has been the subject of international as well as multi-disciplinary scholarship including the multi-authored scholarly monograph, Representations of Internarrative Identity. Her work is also used as instructional material within defense and security institutions worldwide.
Dr. Maan’s research and her books, such as Counter-Terrorism: Narrative Strategies, Soft Power on Hard Problems (edited with Amar Cheema), and Narrative Warfare, focus on deconstructing dominant and coercive narratives. Her column at Homeland Security Today will educate and demonstrate how certain narrative structures lend themselves to manipulation and how the weaknesses of those structures can be exploited.
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