Commentary: Winning Africa's info war

摘要

It is tempting to think of information operations as something you do with a device. Buy the right technology and you have the solution. This, we think, would be a mistake in the case of U.S. and allied information operations in Africa. Technology is invaluable to sound, competently conducted information operations (IO) designed to sway opinions, but the challenge is not, at its root, a technological one. It is a human challenge. Essentially, IO is marketing, and like all good marketing, good information operations will draw from a deep, locally informed understanding of a culture. The information mission facing Africa Command (AfriCom) is an unusually tough one because of the diversity of cultures and the discrepancy of technological development among African countries and even within them.