Cognitive Warfare in the Post-Truth Era: The Crisis of Power and Public Opinion

In the post-truth era, information manipulation has become an important tool for changing the world's political power structure and governance model. The core of cognitive warfare is to influence hostile societies and decision-makers by manipulating information dissemination and constructing narrative frameworks. The rapid development of information technology and the diversification of media have made cognitive warfare more precise and effective. This article analyzes Russia's strategy of reshaping its international influence through the spread of false information, cyber intervention, and narrative manipulation, and explores Ukraine's strategic practice of using social media to construct battlefield narratives and mobilize international support. These approaches not only reflect the dual role of cognitive warfare in domestic stability and international opinion formation but also emphasize the unique status of cognitive warfare as a strategic tool for asymmetric competition among great powers. Combining the theoretical framework of offensive realism, this article analyzes how cognitive warfare has become an important tool for major powers to compete with international forces through non-traditional means. The study also reveals how the technological modernization of post-truth epistemic warfare exacerbates social divisions, challenges the basic mechanisms of democratic governance, and has profound implications for international power structures.