Dr. Asma Shakir Khawaja, Executive Director, CISS AJK, was invited as a speaker at the 7th CISS Workshop for Trainers on Strategic Matters 2026, where she delivered an insightful lecture on Cognitive Warfare and Deterrence.
Key Highlights:
➡️ Cognitive warfare influences epistemology, perception, narratives, social cohesion, legitimacy, and the will to act, making the human mind both the new strategic depth and an enduring battlefield.
➡️ She traced the evolution of cognitive warfare from PSYOPs to AI-enabled influence, highlighting how identifying societal fault lines, seeding narratives, and repeatedly reinforcing them can shape a nation’s thought processes.
➡️ Dr. Khawaja also highlighted the risks posed by cognitive warfare, including blurred thresholds, proxy conflicts, AI-compressed decision windows, deepfakes, and incoherent human–machine signalling, all of which can increase uncertainty and the risk of inadvertent escalation.
➡️ In a nuclear environment, cognitive warfare can deepen internal instability, weaken institutional cohesion, demoralise societies, and legitimise grey-zone activities, thereby multiplying the risks of miscalculation and escalation.
📌 Cognitive warfare can generate enduring strategic effects, making it a significant force multiplier in contemporary conflict.
