MENTAL AND COGNITIVE WARFARE: ISSUES OF DEFINITION, GOALS AND MEANS

The post-Soviet phase of the hybrid war, which began on February 24, 2022, including the “hot” part on the territory of the former Ukrainian SSR, revealed to the general public the wretched and uncompromising side of information and psychological operations carried out by the enemy and directed both inward, to control its population, and outside – i.e. on us. After just a few months of operations on the territory of what turned out to be a very well-prepared enemy and the accompanying bitterness of the losses of Russian military personnel and volunteers, it turned out that the conflict exists not only on the ground, but also in our heads. The local population was subjected to the most powerful influence of unconventional psychological and information means, turning “civilians” into neo-Nazi battalions, terbats and fugitive “patriots”. How could we have missed this and how did it work?

ON THE GEOPOLITICS OF TRANSCAUCASIA

The South Caucasus poses a serious problem for Russia. However, like all neighboring countries, with the exception of Belarus. Only with Minsk are relations fundamental and reliable. Everything else is highly problematic.

It’s all about the lack of a clear strategy. Over the past 30 years, Russia has been moving simultaneously in three directions:

THE CRISIS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND TRANSPORT ROUTES OF EURASIA

Against the backdrop of another conflict in Palestine, the news that Saudi Arabia suspended negotiations with Israel became the reason for a broader interpretation of events affecting the interests of India, Iran, the EU, Russia and China. Although wars in the Middle East have always affected the whole world, especially the Eurasian region, in a certain way, this case is indeed connected with the plans of a number of states regarding both Israel and Saudi Arabia.

MIDDLE EAST: ESCHATOLOGICAL SCENARIO

Let’s try to describe one of the possible scenarios for further escalation in the Middle East.

The Palestinian uprising begins in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Fatah cannot contain the situation. Seeing how Israel is carrying out full-fledged genocide in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinians are launching a total rebellion. The IDF continues to destroy the civilian population of the Gaza Strip. Protests are growing around the world against Western pro-American liberal elites who unanimously stand for Israel. Hezbollah moves in and crowds of Arabs from Jordan break through the border cordons. The United States is launching preventive strikes on Iran, which is increasingly drawn into the conflict, and they are striking Israel. Syria enters the war, attacking the Golan Heights. There is a rapid mobilization of the entire Islamic world.

Ignoring Russian Colonialism Has Deadly Consequences

Since the Soviet days, Russia has tried to sell the story that the country is a “family of nations.” President Vladimir Putin still tires to export this narrative, as shown when an indigenous Tuvan musician represented Russia during a performance at the recent G20 summit in India. But this multicultural image does not reflect the reality faced by Russia’s ethnic minorities at home.

Iran-Backed Militias In Iraq Claim Missile Attack Against U.S. Base In Western Iraq

On October 19, 2023, Telegram channels linked to Iran-backed militias shared a statement issued by the “Islamic Resistance In Iraq,” an Iran-backed joint operations room consisting of Iraqi militias. The statement claimed responsibility for a missile attack on Ein Al-Assad base which houses U.S. forces in Iraq. The attack comes as part of the militias’ support for the October 7 attack by Gaza-based Hamas on Israel.[1]

Criticism In Lebanon: The Government Has No Authority; Iran And Hizbullah Decide On Matters Of War And Peace

The ongoing exchanges of fire between Hizbullah and Israel on the Lebanon-Israel border have increased the concern in Lebanon that the country may become embroiled in the war between Israel and Hamas.[1] Although Lebanon’s Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati repeatedly stated in the recent days that he is working to keep Lebanon out of the war, he also explicitly admitted that his government is weak, saying, “the decision regarding war and peace is not in my hands or in the hands of the government.”[2]

Hizbullah-Affiliated Lebanese Academic Sadek Al-Naboulsi Issues Direct Threat Against U.S. Forces: Hizbullah’s UAVs Can Reach USS Gerald R. Ford; Remember The 1983 Beirut Barracks Bombing

Hizbullah-affiliated Lebanese academic Sadek Al-Naboulsi warned the United States against using firepower against Hizbullah or the “resistance axis.” Speaking on an October 18, 2023 show that aired on the Lebanese Al-Jadeed TV channel, he said that the UAVs used by Hizbullah to reach Israel’s Karish gas field can reach the USS Gerald R. Ford. Al-Naboulsi said that the United States should remember what happened in the 1983 bombing of the Marine Barracks in Beirut. He added that the Islamic resistance has revived the hope that the Arabs can defeat “that entity that purports to be invincible.” Al-Naboulsi, who is a professor of political science at the Lebanese University, Beirut, called upon all Arab countries, including those that have signed peace and normalization agreements with Israel, to join a “full-on all-out war with the Israeli enemy” and drive the Americans out of the region.