Ontological Foundations of Cognitive Warfare

“This study examines the ontological foundations of cognitive warfare and introduces a structure-centric conceptualisation that shifts the analytical focus from observable effects, actors, and technological instruments to the systemic conditions of cognitive vulnerability. Central to this approach is the concept of systemic invariants – epistemic, axiological, identificatory, social, and teleological structures that sustain the coherence, identity, and adaptive capacity of complex socio-technical systems.

It is argued that these systemic invariants constitute the ontological scaffolding of cognitive architecture – securing the connectivity of its components, defining the boundary conditions of adaptive transformation, and enabling coherent meaning-making and strategic self-determination under uncertainty. Cognitive warfare is reconceptualised as the deliberate targeting of systemic invariants through the exploitation of inter-layer linkages within a system’s multiplex architecture, with the strategic aim of inducing cognitive decoherence.

Within this framework, decoherence is understood as a structurally conditioned and potentially irreversible erosion of cognitive sovereignty, whereby a system loses its capacity for coherent perception and analysis of reality, development, adaptation, and self-protection as an integrated cognitive order. This multiplex perspective enables the differentiation of vulnerability logics according to the type of socio-technical system, which carries practical implications for the development of tailored cognitive protection strategies. By distinguishing cognitive warfare from information warfare at the ontological level, the proposed framework establishes a foundation for diagnosing systemic vulnerabilities and advancing proactive strategies for cognitive resilience.

Keywords: cognitive warfare, cognitive decoherence, systems invariants, multiplex networks, structural vulnerability, cognitive resilience, transmorphance, socio-technical systems, hybrid threats, information security”

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