A Need for Critical Peace Education: Information Warfare, the Current Struggle Between Democracy & Autocracy

In recent years there has been a global attack on democratic nations from autocratic, authoritarian forces.  With a few exceptions (e.g., Russian aggression against Ukraine), this attack is not on the level of military force.  It is being conducted through the use of information warfare.  Information warfare has emerged as a primary type of war, which has dislodged armed military force as the primary means of pursuing political aims. It is waged through propaganda distribution systems in order to capture and the control the minds of populations. Its primary goals are polarization, division, destabilization and control. The purpose of this webinar is to explore the nature of information warfare as attempts to determine the public space of discourse necessary for democratic deliberation. The counter measure is critical peace education devoted to educating future citizens with the capacity to construct to engage in the critical scrutiny of propaganda.