Research & Resources

Security in the New Frontier; Race, Disinformation Propaganda and the Psychology of Justification

Angela Pashayan, Graduate Research Assistant, submitted this piece of research for publication that highlights disinformation.

 

Abstract:

Security and maintaining control over Black people has been central to America’s foundation. Knowing this, national security experts should have predicted the increasing risk of social unrest in light of the political climate and the prevalence of disinformation propaganda being circulated by adversaries. I argue that the risk was known yet ignored due to a belief that measures to control blacks were justified as morally correct. To support the argument, I show how the psychology of justification intertwines with racial division and disinformation propaganda. The analysis and findings support the existence of a “blind spot” in the psyche of America's national security experts. The broader significance is how racialized thinking opened the door to a disinformation campaign, and exposed national security weaknesses in the United States. This paper will cover how America’s origins and disinformation propaganda led to a new frontier of security issues.