The power of information in today's uncertain world of decision-making

Alberto Mudjadjo"

Nowadays, the lack of certainty has been an element that is seen in several approaches, and is therefore a critical element that is increasingly growing, from the moment in which problems become more complex. Information that is not clear and does not offer confidence, even the abundance of information that comes from various sources, can cause certain doubts in those who have the power to make decisions, thus making it difficult to make decisions quickly and appropriately, since the leader must decide at the right time. Nowadays, similar to what is happening in the operational theatres in Africa, the whole world has witnessed hybrid wars, where the enemy is multifaceted, thus requiring military leaders to have psychological preparation that goes beyond battlefield tactics, also encompassing other social and political areas of military action. This complexity and difficulty in decision-making is even more evident with the excess of information circulating in the media, as well as the scarcity of it. For example, one of the attacks that took place in Congo this year, carried out by the M23 group, which resulted in the deaths of military personnel and civilians. As a result, the Defence and Security Forces (FDS) found themselves in a dilemma: on the one hand, there was a need to respond to the attack, on the other hand, there was pressure from public opinion due to the number of civilian casualties as a result of the attack. In this context, there is a war of narratives (the FDS with a modus operandi to be followed, and the idea formulated by public opinion), where this war can hinder or limit the freedom of action in conducting operations by the military leader. Therefore, the action of the FDS requires a broad perception of the complex of Civil-Military Relations (CMR), where it is not enough to simply follow in detail what is written in the tactics manuals, but rather a need to take into account some political and psychosocial aspects of the actions to be employed by the force. In this way, uncertainties must be reduced, and a relationship of trust must be established between the leader and his subordinates in order to achieve the objectives set. The diverse ways in which life-or-death decisions are made make the decision-making process even more complex. Military leaders are often faced with the idea of having to protect their forces and achieve their intended objectives simultaneously, in accordance with the provisions of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) regarding the laws of war. On the battlefield, military leaders must strictly adhere to their responsibility to protect and to protect civilians. The first would be the psychological “baggage” that military personnel must carry in their code of conduct to safeguard the lives of civilians in a war environment, a signed obligation. The second would be along the same lines of thinking about how to proceed in a hostile environment to help civilians involved in the conflict. It is extremely important to have a more prepared modern military leader, not only in tactical action, but also at other levels, because the dynamics of modern conflicts (hybrid wars) go beyond the battlefield and end up influencing the minds of combatants and civilians, whether directly or not affected by the conflict. As I said before, a lack or excess of information can result in decisions being based on incomplete or misleading data due to disinformation. Current threats such as cyber, hybrid conflicts and the international environment challenge military leaders to adapt to forms of warfare for which they have not traditionally been trained. The scarcity of information and resources forces military leaders to do more with less, often under intense pressure. This pressure often affects leaders because of the way information travels today and is disseminated quickly. Therefore, every decision that is taken can immediately be evaluated by public opinion (the power of the media), not only at a regional or national level, but also internationally, making it clear that information is very powerful when it comes to some war material.It is worth noting that this discovery of the importance of the media (the power of information) for many terrorist attacks is not new. Long before that, Al-Qaeda had discovered the importance of the Internet and satellite television, and Bin Laden once stated that “rhetoric and satellite propaganda can be on par with bombs and cruise missiles”. For this reason, this organization invested so much in advertising and the media from the beginning, knowing the potential of these components, in what they could create in people, and this became worse when they lost their base in Afghanistan, thus becoming a more virtual organization. According to Lynch (2006: 50), “Al-Qaeda’s media strategy is inseparable from its political strategy, with terrorism and its action working alongside the objective of strengthening Islamic identity and confronting that identity with that of the West”.

2025/12/3