The Postmodern Challenge: Informational Power in Limited Conflict and Competition

Strategists must understand the importance of information as a tool of influence within the realm of international conflict. Over the past few decades, changes in the information domain have profoundly impacted how the United States must look at the informational element of national power. While it is relatively straightforward that changes in news media, advances in communication technology, and the distributive nature of social media have changed how many within the interconnected global commons consume information, what is more difficult to understand is how individuals or groups interpret this information. Epistemological perspectives help shape an individual's understanding of the nature of knowledge and its fundamental role in constructing a view of the world. Today's strategist primarily views the world through a modernist lens based on objectivity, reason, and universality. The postmodern perspective which is growing more significant sees truth and knowledge as subjective, non-rational, and context-specific. This paper proposes that postmodern thought challenges the United States' ability to successfully utilize the informational instrument of national power by reshaping the information environment, particularly in engagements short of state-on-state open conflict. In this arena, narrative battle reigns supreme, supported by postmodern thought's challenge to objective truth, its rejection of sweeping metanarratives, and its championing of localized narratives focused on deconstructing oppressive power dynamics. In response, this paper recommends strategists view the information environment through a lens that balances modern and postmodern perspectives as a means to inform educational, structural, and doctrinal changes for future narrative battle in limited conflict and competition.