Political Warfare: Strategies and Tactics in Military Science

By Fouad Sabry

What is Political Warfare

Political warfare is the use of hostile political means to compel an opponent to do one's will. The term political describes the calculated interaction between a government and a target audience, including another state's government, military, and/or general population. Governments use a variety of techniques to coerce certain actions, thereby gaining relative advantage over an opponent. The techniques include propaganda and psychological operations ("PsyOps"), which service national and military objectives respectively. Propaganda has many aspects and a hostile and coercive political purpose. Psychological operations are for strategic and tactical military objectives and may be intended for hostile military and civilian populations.

How you will benefit

(I) Insights, and validations about the following topics:

Chapter 1: Political warfare

Chapter 2: CIA cryptonym

Chapter 3: Psychological warfare

Chapter 4: Black propaganda

Chapter 5: Unconventional warfare

Chapter 6: 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état

Chapter 7: Active measures

Chapter 8: Operation Neptune (espionage)

Chapter 9: Subversion

Chapter 10: Office of Policy Coordination

(II) Answering the public top questions about political warfare.

Who this book is for

Professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and those who want to go beyond basic knowledge or information for any kind of Political Warfare.

• Language: English
• Publisher: One Billion Knowledgeable
• Release date: May 27, 2024

Book preview

Chapter 1: Political warfare

Political warfare is the employment of hostile political measures to force an adversary to comply with one's wishes. The phrase political refers to the planned contact between a government and a target population, such as the government, military, or general populace of another state. Governments impose restrictions on behavior using a number of strategies in order to obtain the upper hand over a rival. Propaganda and psychological operations (or PsyOps), which serve military and national aims respectively, are among the strategies. There are several facets to propaganda, as well as a hostile and forceful political goal. Psychological operations may be used against hostile military and civilian populations to achieve strategic and tactical military goals.

The coercive aspect of political warfare results in the destruction or weakening of an adversary's political, social, or societal consensus, and compel an action that is in a state's best interest.

Political conflict may involve violence, economic pressure, subversion, and diplomacy, but the use of words is its main component, images and ideas".: 151 Generally, Political conflict is distinguished from other conflicts by its hostile intent and potential for escalation; however, the loss of life is an accepted result.

Political warfare is the use of every tool a nation has at its disposal, short of going to war, to achieve its goals. Effective policy firmly explained is the best political weapon, Political conflict also includes violent acts committed by one party to gain an unfair advantage or dominance over another.

between countries, It may result in the overthrow of the government, the open incorporation of the victimized state into the political system, or the expansion of the aggressor's power complex.

Rivals within a state have also displayed this aggressor-victim dynamic, which may involve assassination techniques, paramilitary activity, sabotage, coup d'état, insurgency, revolution, guerrilla warfare, both civil war.

When a government is overthrown by foreign military or diplomatic involvement or through clandestine means, this is known as foreign infiltration or liberation. The ultimate goal of the campaign is to seize power over the political and social system of another country. The aggressor's national troops or a pro-aggressor political faction within the target state could be in charge of the campaign. Three steps are involved in the aggressor's expansion of control over the victim, according to Paul W. Blackstock:

The breakdown of the victim's political and social structure to the point that the foundation of national morale is torn apart and the state is unable to withstand further interference is referred to as forced disintegration or atomization. The aggressor may take advantage of the inevitably present conflicts within various groups, including those of politics, class, ethnicity, religion, and race. This idea is related to the split and conquer tactic.

Defection and subversion: Defection is the transfer of the loyalties of significant political and social groups within the victimized state to the political or ideological causes of the aggressor, while subversion is the undermining or detachment of the loyalties of these groups within the victimized state..

A transitional form of political warfare, paramilitary operations range from small-scale acts of violence with rudimentary organizational structures (such as sabotage) to large-scale conventional combat. There are several stages to the transition and escalation, which are influenced by tactical and strategic goals. Small group operations, rebellion, civil war, infiltration, and subversion are all examples of paramilitary actions.

An organized, lengthy political warfare tactic used to undermine and overthrow a legitimately elected government, occupying force, or other political authority.

Political conflict has a long history that dates back to antiquity. The ancient Chinese military strategy book The Art of War by Chinese general and strategist Sun Tzu encapsulates it: Therefore, defeating the enemy's army without engaging in combat is the pinnacle of perfection, not achieving 100 victories in 100 fights. The military specialist captures the enemy's walled towns without launching an attack, subdues the enemy's armies without engaging in combat, and overthrows the enemy's state without waging protracted war. It continues to be a potent symbol in Christianity.

Before they could compete with other national actors in the international arena, China's political leaders of this century had to first build a nation. Therefore, insofar as the Chinese Communist Party and the Kuomintang adhered to a political warfare concept during their early years of conflict, the concept was equally concerned with establishing national identity and eliminating domestic foes as it was with China's capacity to compete in the global arena.

The Soviet Union remained dedicated to political conflict along traditional authoritarian lines throughout the Cold War and persisted in using propaganda for both internal and external audiences. Soviet active measures, for instance, include:

Against both domestic and foreign enemies, Soviet intelligence carried out Campaign Trust, a counterintelligence operation.

The operation, This was a 1921–1929 period, create a fictitious underground anti-Bolshevik movement, Central Union of Monarchist Russia, MUCR (Монархическое объединение Центральной России, МОЦР), which allegedly intended to plot a coup against the Soviet authorities.

The Trust sought to spread the idea that the Soviet Union would give up its revolutionary tactics and that communism had ended in Russia.

The phony anti-Bolshevik dissidents who produced bogus intelligence reports were assisted by Western intelligence services.

The goal of the operation was to locate genuine dissidents and anti-Bolsheviks, both locally and globally.

Russian expatriate leaders were captured, killed, and the anti-Soviet movement as a whole was demoralized by the operation.

The Rumor Campaign: In October 1985, the Soviet weekly Literaturnaya Gazeta brought attention to