ICS co-organized the workshop for policymakers and researchers on the cybersecurity and cognitive warfare. The workshop was organized together with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung. Thank you very much for an excellent cooperation!

Cognitive warfare has emerged as a significant challenge to democratic states and societies, encompassing threats across different domains. It influences, among other things, the boundaries of cybersecurity. Cognitive warfare is usually seen as an attempt to exert a comprehensive influence on how the targeted object(s) shape perceptions, opinions, and behaviors. It exploits psychological, informational, and technological vulnerabilities, and leverages emerging technologies to disrupt societal cohesion and undermine national security.

The closed-door seminar convened a group of experts to discuss the evolving landscape of cognitive warfare, including its intersection with cybersecurity, identify emerging threat vectors, and explore strategies to strengthen multidimensional defenses. The discussion should contribute to the definitional delineation and the conceptualization of how cognitive warfare should be perceived by Germany to set specific policy recommendations. The outcome of the discussion would be used for drafting the academic article (in cooperation between the IFSH and the KAS).