Communication Lessons from the Ukraine War: The Strategies, Narratives, and Implications of the Information Warfare

In the context of the war in Ukraine, various forms and means of communication have been utilized by actors involved in and impacted by the conflict, with differing target publics and degrees of effectiveness, yet with an overall sense that an information warfare is taking place. This special issue seeks to make a contribution to the understanding of the strategic communication practices related to armed conflict, and in particular of the premises, patterns, and outcomes of the information warfare pertaining to the war in Ukraine. Specifically, the articles in this special issue make sense of aspects of the information warfare by focusing on: a) communication lessons from the Ukraine war in regard to the effectiveness of strategies and narratives employed in situations of armed conflict and particularly in the information warfare component of conflict, and b) ethical implications of communication campaigns and propaganda in times of war, specifically related to how we identify and address the alarming issues related to the spread of misinformation and disinformation.