PSY-OPS FOR THE NEXT
GENERATION OF WARFARE

Colonel (Ret) Dr. Widura Imam Moestopo, M.Si.

06 July 2022, 14.30 – 16.30 WIB

The military world in general is facing a shift in the threat of war. The shift from conventional warfare to asymmetric warfare or non-military warfare and cyber warfare which is more dangerous than conventional warfare. This is an implication of very rapid technological developments, especially media and information technology. The rapid development of technology certainly has an impact on the role and ability of a country’s defense in responding to threats. One of the important skills in this case is PSY-OPS (psychological operation). In the military world the term Psychological Operations (Psy-Ops) is used to describe a systematic and scientific effort to embrace the hearts and minds of the targeted population within the framework of troops conducting military operations or actively. As a non-lethal attempt to capture “hearts and minds”, psychological warfare usually uses propaganda to influence its targets’ values, beliefs, emotions, reasons, motives, or behavior. In this courseware, participants are invited to know what psychological operations are, their characteristics and the study of psychological operations activities. Psychological operations is a term that has long been used to describe the use of psychological principles and concepts through the use of selected media and messages to influence targets. In general, psychological operations are related to the planned use of information to influence human attitudes and behavior with the aim of supporting state goals. In its activities, psychological operations involve aspects of information, communication, and behavior.