Propaganda as the leading method of cognitive warfare

   The war of the XXI century is a combination of methods of traditional warfare and a more promising cognitive war in terms of costs and results, which is waged for the consciousness of an individual and society as a whole. The main method of cognitive warfare is propaganda, which has been improved thanks to the technological capabilities of the modern era. At the same time, the fundamental meaning of the propaganda method remained unchanged – the impact on a person's consciousness in order to change his attitudes and behavior with a predetermined result.

   The purpose of the study is to consider the features of the propaganda method in the conditions of cognitive warfare.

   The following research methods were used in the work: structural method, institutional analysis, as well as a network approach. As a result of the conducted research, it was concluded that currently one of the most effective methods of influencing consciousness is propaganda, which has many techniques to achieve the desired result. At the same time, total digitalization and increasing globalization trends increase the potential of cognitive warfare methods, making it a promising (compared to traditional warfare) direction in achieving superiority in the international arena in the near future.

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