A white paper from the Information Professionals Association lays out a stark assessment: America is falling behind in the battle for influence in the global information environment. Despite dominating traditional warfighting domains, the U.S. is being outspent and outmaneuvered by adversaries like China, Russia, and Iran in the realm of cognitive warfare — the strategic use of information to shape perception, decision-making, and behavior abroad.
The report underscores that authoritarian regimes are leveraging propaganda, misinformation, and psychological operations — without the ethical or legal limitations faced by the U.S. — to undermine American interests, disrupt alliances, and fill strategic vacuums.
Click here to read the full white paper.