STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS IN THE ARMED FORCES: CHALLENGES AND DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVES
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54658/ps.28153324.2026.16.2.pp.43-63Keywords:
strategic communications, armed forces, ; hybrid warfare, information environment, national securityAbstract
This article examines the theoretical and practical dimensions of strategic communications as an essential component of contemporary military operations. It explores the concept of strategic communications within the context of the armed forces, tracing its evolution and examining its role in strengthening national security. The study analyzes the core components of military strategic communications, including information and psychological influence, public affairs, civil-military cooperation, and operations in the information environment. It identifies the principal challenges to the effective implementation of strategic communications in the armed forces, including the absence of a unified doctrinal framework, insufficient personnel training, and the lack of a systematic approach to communication planning. Drawing upon the experience of NATO member states and the current practices of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the article proposes key directions for improving the strategic communications system. Particular attention is devoted to the role of strategic communications in the context of hybrid warfare and information confrontation. The findings may serve as a basis for further reform of military communication structures, the development of doctrinal and policy documents, and the professional training of military communication specialists.
Downloads
References
Barovska, A. V. (2015). Strategic communications: NATO experience. Strategic Priorities, (1), 147–152.
Bjola, C., & Pamment, J. (Eds.). (2019). Countering online propaganda and extremism: The dark side of digital diplomacy. Routledge.
Bolt, N. (2011). The violent image: Insurgent propaganda and the new revolutionaries. Columbia University Press.
Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, National Security and Defense Council. (2020). Указ Президента України № 392/2020 «Про Стратегію національної безпеки України» [Decree of the President of Ukraine No. 392/2020, "On the National Security Strategy of Ukraine"].
Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, National Security and Defense Council. (2021). Указ Президента України № 121/2021 «Про Стратегію воєнної безпеки України» [Decree of the President of Ukraine No. 121/2021, "On the Military Security Strategy of Ukraine"].
Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, National Security and Defense Council. (2021). Указ Президента України № 685/2021 «Про Стратегію інформаційної безпеки України» [Decree of the President of Ukraine No. 685/2021, "On the Information Security Strategy of Ukraine"]. https://www.president.gov.ua/documents/6852021-41069
Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. (2024). Постанова № 1028 від 6 вересня 2024 р. «Про перейменування Міністерства культури та інформаційної політики України» [Resolution No. 1028 of September 6, 2024, "On renaming the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine"].
Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. (2025). Постанова № 1396 від 29 жовтня 2025 р. «Про перейменування Міністерства культури та стратегічних комунікацій України» [Resolution No. 1396 of October 29, 2025, "On renaming the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine"].
Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security of Ukraine (SPRAVDI). (n.d.). Універсальний інструмент: посібник з розробки комунікаційних кампаній [Universal tool: A guide to developing communication campaigns]. https://spravdi.gov.ua/universalnyj-instrument-czentr-strategichnyh-komunikaczij-vypustyv-posibnyk-z-rozrobky-komunikaczijnyh-kampanij/
Detector Media. (2026). Центру стратегічних комунікацій та інформаційної безпеки 5 років [The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security turns 5]. https://detector.media/infospace/article/248734/
Ecker, U.K.H., Spearing E.R., DiResta R., & Lewandowsky, S. (2026). Misinformation as strategy: Epistemic consequences and the undermining of shared truth. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2026.06.009
Ehrl, M. (2023). Understanding Russia’s Disinformation Narratives about Ukraine: A Ratio-Oriented Approach to Strategic Crisis Narratives. ESSACHESS. https://doi.org/10.21409/QW1H-BD11
Gorbulin, V. P. (2017). World hybrid war: Ukrainian front [Monograph]. National Institute for Strategic Studies.
Hallahan, K., Holtzhausen, D., van Ruler, B., Verčič, D., & Sriramesh, K. (2007). Defining strategic communication. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 1(1), 3–35. https://doi.org/10.1080/15531180701285244
Holtzhausen, D. R., & Zerfass, A. (Eds.). (2015). The Routledge handbook of strategic communication. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203094440
Karpchuk, N., Yuskiv, B., Shuliak, A., & Fedoniuk, S. (2023). Стратегічні комунікації ЄС [EU strategic communications]. Vezha-Druk.
Kyiv International Institute of Sociology. (2025). Омнібус, листопад–грудень 2025 р. [Omnibus survey, November–December 2025] [Data set].
Law of Ukraine. (2018). Про національну безпеку України [On national security of Ukraine] (with amendments).
Mammadov, R. (2026). Sincere or Strategic: Probing Russian Journalists’ True Convictions Behind Ukraine War Coverage. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 0(0).
Ministry of Defence of Ukraine. (2020). Strategic Communications Doctrine of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. https://mod.gov.ua/en/about-us/ministry-staff-en/department-of-strategic-communications
National Academy of the Security Service of Ukraine. (2024). Стратегічні комунікації в умовах війни: погляд від волонтера до науковця [Strategic communications in wartime: A view from volunteer to scholar] [Collective monograph]. https://msj.ukma.edu.ua/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Stratehichni_komunikatsii_v_umovakh_hibrydnoi_viiny_-pohliad_vid_volontera_do_naukovtsia.pdf
NATO Standardization Office. (2022). AJP-10.3, Allied joint doctrine for military public affairs (Edition A, Version 1).
NATO Standardization Office. (2023a). AJP-10, Allied joint doctrine for strategic communications (Edition A, Version 1).
NATO Standardization Office. (2023b). AJP-10.1, Allied joint doctrine for information operations (Edition A, Version 1).
NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence. (2020–2024). Annual reports and research papers on strategic communications. https://www.act.nato.int/article/nato-stratcom-coe/
NATO. (2021). NATO warfighting capstone concept. NATO.
NATO. (2022). NATO 2022 strategic concept. https://www.nato.int/en/about-us/official-texts-and-resources/official-texts/2023/03/03/nato-2022-strategic-concept
NATO. (2023). A comprehensive and coordinated approach to strategic messaging. NATO Review.
Nye, J. S. (2011). The future of power. PublicAffairs.
Paul, C. (2011). Strategic communication: Origins, concepts, and current debates. Praeger.
Paul, C., & Matthews, M. (2016). The Russian "firehose of falsehood" propaganda model: Why it might work and options to counter it. RAND Corporation. https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PE198.html
Pocheptsov, G. G. (2008). Strategic communications: strategic communications in politics, business, and public administration. Alterpres.
Pocheptsov, G. G. (2015). Contemporary information wars. Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
Popova, T. V., & Lipkan, V. A. (2016). Strategic communications: A dictionary (V. A. Lipkan, Ed.). FOP O. S. Lipkan.
Pynnöniemi, K., & Tolvin, A. (2025). Reconstructing Kremlin strategic deception: the logic of disinformation narratives during the first phase of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Journal of Slavic Military Studies, 38(3), 299–320. https://doi.org/10.1080/13518046.2025.2548727
Rid, T. (2020). Active measures: The secret history of disinformation and political warfare. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Salnikova, O. F., Izhutova, I. V., & Kushnir, V. O. (2020). Fundamentals of strategic communications in national security and defense [Textbook].
Storozhenko, L., & Petkun, S. (2021). Strategic communications: Conceptual approaches and basic principles. Society. Document. Communication, (11), 386–403. https://doi.org/10.31470/2518-7600-2021-11-386-403
Syvak, T. (2018). Theoretical analysis of the concept of "strategic communications" in public administration. Теорія та історія державного управління.
Syvak, T. V. (2019). Strategic communications in the system of public administration of Ukraine [Monograph]. NAPU.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Kateryna Tiazhkorob
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
