INTRODUCTION: THE ROLE OF RUSSIAN INFORMATION WARFARE

Abstract

The German general, professor of political science, and progenitor of the Bundeswehr leadership concept of Innere Führung, Wolf Graf von Baudissin (1907−1993), reached a striking conclusion a result of his deliberations on the nature of war. He found that war is a spiritual activity by nature and the underlying reasons for war can be attributed to clashing worldview. In this conflict, the country or alliance of countries with the superior worldview will emerge victorious. Baudissin further proposed that the victor will be the western worldview. As bold as this assertion may be, the most surprising feature to emerge from his reflections is that Baudissin does not place any importance on armaments races or technological supremacy, but rather emphasized the mental dimensions of conflicts. Thus it is the smarter, and not the stronger who will win. In this war of worldviews, supremacy is achieved by adopting a correct leadership philosophy. Although Baudissin was reflecting on his own era, the developments that have occurred over the last decades confirm his theories with astonishing precision. It is therefore, possible to apply his findings to more recent conflicts as well. When considering that in the war between worldviews “only such armed forces will survive that are composed of free citizens and that operate in accordance with the democratic order of a state”.1 It becomes evident that a military organization must be aligned with traditional Western humanistic and democratic values of peace, freedom, and responsibility. It is only then can it achieve military superiority. A soldier is only as strong as the society that they defend. A society must be in harmony with its armed forces if a soldier is to be effective.