The Cognitive Crucible is a forum that presents different perspectives and emerging thought leadership related to the information environment. The opinions expressed by guests are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of or endorsement by the Information Professionals Association.
During this episode, Dr. Ajit Maan and Mr. Paul Cobaugh of Narrative Strategies discuss the importance of narrative–especially when it comes to operationalizing influence.
Resources:
Link to full show notes and resources
Guest Bio: Dr. Ajit Maan is a security and defense policy analyst and a specialist in narrative strategies in radicalization processes. She is also the author of seven books & is the CEO|Founder of Narrative Strategies. Mr. Paul Cobaugh retired from the US Army as a Warrant Officer after a distinguished career in the US Special Operations Counter-Terrorism community, primarily focused on mitigating adversarial influence and advancing US objectives by way of influence. She is also an adjunct professor at the Joint Special Operations University (JSOU)
Ajit Maan, Ph.D. is a security and defense policy analyst and a specialist in narrative strategies in radicalization processes.
She is Professor of Practice at the Center for the Future of War and Member of the Brain Trust of the Weaponized Narrative Initiative at Arizona State University, as well as Affiliate Faculty at George Mason University’s Center for Narrative Conflict Resolution.
She is the author of seven books including Internarrative Identity: Placing the Self, Counter-Terrorism: Narrative Strategies, Narrative Warfare, Plato’s Fear and Co-Editor of Soft Power on Hard Problems: Strategic Influence in Irregular Warfare. Her articles have appeared in Foreign Policy, The Strategy Bridge, Small Wars Journal, Real Clear Defense, Stars and Stripes, The Indian Defense Review, Indian Military Review, Defense, Intelligence Norway, and other policy and military strategy journals.
Mr. Paul Cobaugh retired from the US Army as a Warrant Officer after a distinguished career in the US Special Operations CT community, primarily focused on mitigating adversarial influence and advancing US objectives by way of influence.
Throughout his career he has focused on the centrality of influence in modern conflict whether it be from extremist organizations or state actors employing influence against the US and our Allies.
Post military career he accepted the position of VP at Narrative Strategies, a US based Think-Do Tank which specializes in the non-kinetic aspects of conflict. He believes that Narrative Strategies’ cutting-edge focus on leading with non-kinetic influence is the future of national security efforts.
He is the author of Modern Day Minutemen and Women or how to save the 2020 Elections. He has also co-authored, Narrative Warfare, Primer and Study Guide and Soft Power on Hard Problems, Hamilton Publishing, 2017.
About: The Information Professionals Association (IPA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to exploring the role of information activities, such as influence and cognitive security, within the national security sector and helping to bridge the divide between operations and research. Its goal is to increase interdisciplinary collaboration between scholars and practitioners and policymakers with an interest in this domain.
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