Lexicon
How to read this page
These are working definitions for this project. They draw on strategic studies and NATO ACT literature, as well as my own essays and postgraduate research from the MSc in Diplomacy and Security Studies at Liverpool John Moores University, including focused work on cognitive warfare and disinformation, and my master’s thesis, “An Interdisciplinary Analysis of the Weaponisation of TikTok”. This is not a doctrine note. It is grounded in both theory and practice, drawing on almost two decades in international close protection, including leadership responsibility for UHNWI and diplomatic security across five continents. Where terms overlap, I indicate which layer each concept primarily targets.
- Statecraft and power (hard, soft, sharp, diplomacy)
- Strategic container (political warfare)
- Operational modes and effect layers
- Information warfare
- Psychological warfare
- Cognitive warfare
- Where the differences get unclear
- Meaning and delivery
- Narrative
- Propaganda (white/grey/black)
- Information disorder
- Disinformation, misinformation, malinformation, “fake news”
- Identity vectors
- Cultural influence, religious influence, cultural warfare, religious warfare, identity targeting, sectarianization
- Emerging mechanism (malinfluence, LLM poisoning)
- References