Advanced technologies in the contemporary society enable many social problems to be resolved. However, due to the imperfect nature of social relations in human society, these technologies are very often used against human security and public interest. One of the most obvious and dangerous expressions of such usage is the activity of terrorist organizations, which potentially threatens the very foundations of democracy and social security This book is a first attempt to analyse the current practice and future risks of high-tech psychological warfare waged by terrorists on a national and cross-border basis. An international team of authors from eleven countries assesses the quantitative and qualitative development of the psychological impact of terrorists on their target audiences, taking into account the wider context of global social, economic and political shifts and acute geopolitical contradictions. The book also presents new understandings on methods of countering the psychological impact of terrorists on modern society. These methods include a wide range of technical and social tools - from philosophical concepts and cultural theories to the use of artificial intelligence to prevent terrorism and ensure psychological security of society and its progressive democratic development. It should be clarified that the implementation of advanced technologies by terrorists in the broad sense of the word is based on the contradictory social role of these technologies today and in the foreseeable future.

A must-read for every concerned citizen, this absorbing book goes inside the mind of the psychological terrorist to look at what motivates him to act and to choose the weapon he does. Created by a team of experts in military science and psychology, this timely study is the first comprehensive treatment of the tactical and psychological use of weapons of mass destruction. The book introduces the term "weapons of mass psychological destruction" (WMPD) and draws from examples and case histories to examine the minds of the terrorists who choose these weapons, not for maximum killing, but for maximum psychological harm to the greatest number of people. This groundbreaking work identifies the recruiting practices that create psychological terrorists, revealing how these fanatics are "made," who becomes one, and why. Emerging trends in WMPD tactics and new technology in the field are detailed, as are related ethical issues, psychological reactions to WMPD, and the role religion may play in the choice of weapons. The innovative strategies and policies that can be used to predict, identify, and prevent disasters employing WMPD are outlined as well. Readers will also learn how the media is unknowingly used as a WMPD, and how terrorists employ social media to launch targeted psychological attacks.

The Oklahoma City bombing, intentional crashing of airliners on September 11, 2001, and anthrax attacks in the fall of 2001 have made Americans acutely aware of the impacts of terrorism. These events and continued threats of terrorism have raised questions about the impact on the psychological health of the nation and how well the public health infrastructure is able to meet the psychological needs that will likely result. Preparing for the Psychological Consequences of Terrorism highlights some of the critical issues in responding to the psychological needs that result from terrorism and provides possible options for intervention. The committee offers an example for a public health strategy that may serve as a base from which plans to prevent and respond to the psychological consequences of a variety of terrorism events can be formulated. The report includes recommendations for the training and education of service providers, ensuring appropriate guidelines for the protection of service providers, and developing public health surveillance for preevent, event, and postevent factors related to psychological consequences.

This report explores Chinese military thinking about next-generation psychological warfare, with a special focus on the applications of emerging technologies and implications for the United States. As the U.S. military increases its focus on China, it is important to understand how Chinese psychological warfare capabilities may evolve and what this would mean for Chinese strategic behavior in a crisis or conflict.

The United States has struggled to define its approach to what has been called the "information battlefield" since the information era began. Yet with the outbreak of the war on terror, the United States has been violently challenged to take a position and react to the militants' use of emerging information technology. Ideological demigods operating against the United States now have unprecedented channels by which to disseminate their message to those targets who are uncertain, sympathetic, or actively supportive of their philosophy. From the caves of southeastern Afghanistan to the streets of Baghdad, "the message" has dominated the thinking of those who perpetrate horrific acts of violence, whether in the name of ideology, ethnic and sectarian partisanship, or religion. This anthology is divided into four sections: geopolitical, strategic, operational, and tactical. The geopolitical perspective covers world politics, diplomacy, and the elements of national power, excluding military force. The strategic view examines where the violence has begun and the military element of power. The operational perspective handles the campaigns to accomplish a specific purpose on the world stage--for example, as in the Iraq campaign. The tactical level takes the individual's role into account. Because the nexus of information conflict is most easily seen in the world's contemporary violent confrontations, this anthology reflects the experience and lessons learned by military personnel who have managed these difficult issues. With a foreword by Colonel H. R. McMaster, U.S. Army, the author of Dereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam.

Written by a group of distinguished security experts, these eight previously unpublished papers focus on the hostile actions of the Soviet Union against the West in the form of psychological operations, power politics, and blackmail. Addressing military professionals, strategists, and international security specialists, the contributors examine the most effective measures the United States and its allies can take to counteract such measures. This is particularly important in the Gorbachev era, when Western security is perhaps more than ever dependent upon knowledge of Soviet psychological operations and political warfare. The book also explores the background of East European resistance to Soviet dominance and the subsequent Soviet countermeasures. Wide-ranging in coverage, the papers explore psychological operation in the United States, Poland, West Germany, France, and Latin America. Following the editor's introduction to psychological operations, the contributors address such topics as the history and future of U.S. military psychological operations, new thinking and influence activities in the Gorbachev era, terrorism as a political strategy, and contemporary insurgent political and psychological warfare. A case study of the Polish experience illustrates communist regimes' psychological warfare against their own societies. The remaining papers discuss psychological operations and political warfare in long-term U.S. strategic planning, the French experience with Soviet hostile actions, and the argument that psychological warfare is no longer necessary in the age of perestroika and glasnost. The contributors are united in their belief that psychological operations and political warfare will not be eliminated by the sweeping changes affecting the Soviet Union and that the Western democracies are by their very nature particularly vulnerable to such operations. However, given the changing nature of external threats to the West, the contributors call for a reevaluation of strategy in the area of psychological operations, political warfare, and low intensity conflict.