Conference Program

This paper contributes to the leading theme of the conference and Section 116, by analyzing the main sources of success in Ukraine's strategic communications during the war with Russia. The information domain is a rapidly evolving area of contestation among states that deserves more study. As the case of Ukraine shows, in the era of social media, smartphones, and media-savvy political leaders, strategic communications can galvanize international opinion in favor of a state and even change the course of a military conflict. The paper will begin by defining key terms in the area of information studies, from "information warfare" to "informational statecraft," and give our rationale for choosing "strategic communications" as our key term. Next, we will examine the factors that made Ukraine's strategic communications so successful in the first year and a half of the war, going through the activities of the different stakeholders in Ukraine's information ecosystem, including the government, the media, civil society, and the population at large. The last section will attempt to extrapolate the lessons from Ukraine's success for modern-day geopolitical competition: how can democracies better compete with authoritarian regimes in the field of strategic communications? In this final section, we will also talk about some of the excesses and pitfalls of the Ukrainian strategic communications model that could serve as a warning to other democracies.

This paper examines the use and misuse of historic evidence. It addresses the persistence of historic fact that has been surpassed by legend. Using Thucydides' classic work as example and grounding their analysis in broader literature on the misuse of history, the authors demonstrate how rigor cannot be credible without richness, how myths of victory and defeat are adapted and sometimes twisted to fit comforting narratives that can shape and distort contemporary policy challenges. Standard conclusions--many of which form the foundation for enduring international relations theories--are challenged based on the evidence within Thucydides' work and the broader historical record. Like many great books, Thucydides is often read by academics and policy-makers in the search for predetermined lessons and non-existent "traps" derived from pre-selected excerpts. The clichés generated by current approaches do not provide insights into the challenges of our own time. New lessons with modern relevance are drawn from a richer, fuller understanding of Thucydides.

Conflicts in the MENA region are still ongoing in the area such as the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, Afghanistan and the threat of terrorism, the Caucasus, the Horn of Africa and Sudan, Libya, Iraq and Syria instability post-civil war, Yemen being a failed state haunted by the Houthi who stress the gulf region & threat water corridors. Iran and the threat of possessing nuclear weapons. In addition to maritime security of Suez Canal & Bab el Mandab, and the Impact of Ukraine/ Russian war on food & fuel security.

The reason for many conflicts may include its turbulent past and ongoing tensions from the international conflicts over oil and locally over water and cultural reasons. In addition to internal breaches of human rights and lack of fair distribution of development resulting in domestic volatility that has resulted in a combination of uprisings, revolutions and even civil wars impacting in one way or another virtually all states. Furthermore environmental threats MENA region is experiencing a profound number of climate impacts that could disrupt the reliability and sustainability of their essential resources.

How to win need, requires comprehending that MENA region instability & lack of security stretches across borders, therefore immediate efforts of descalation, and sincere efforts of cooperation on regional and multilateral level, uprooting the external spoilers from continuing to fuel wars & empowering human rights in the region, to absorb internal discontent.