Ethical Psychological Warfare Guide - Source Excerpt 02 - The Just War Tradition: Theological Origins and Modern Translation
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| Doctrinal Terminology | Definition and Strategic Context | Ethical and Operational Implications |
| :---- | :---- | :---- |
| **Psychological Operations (PSYOP)** | Planned operations conveying selected information to influence foreign emotions, motives, and reasoning.6 Reinstated department-wide in 2025\.6 | Acknowledges the inherently adversarial and psychological nature of influence. Requires strict oversight to prevent ethical breaches regarding civilian manipulation. |
| **Military Information Support Operations (MISO)** | Utilized from 2010 to 2025 to describe PSYOP activities, intended to sanitize the function and remove menacing public connotations.5 | Reflected an institutional desire to align influence with diplomatic and supportive narratives, minimizing the perception of psychological aggression. |
| **Operations in the Information Environment (OIE)** | The integrated employment of multiple information forces to affect drivers of behavior, moving beyond isolated specialized units.9 | Broadens ethical responsibility to all commanders and forces operating within the information space, necessitating widespread ethical training. |
| **Cognitive Warfare** | The systemic weaponization of cognition to reshape meaning-making processes, targeting trust, autonomy, and perception.12 | Raises the most severe ethical concerns regarding the total erosion of human autonomy, epistemic security, and psychological health.13 |
## **The Just War Tradition: Theological Origins and Modern Translation**
The rigorous ethical evaluation of modern psychological operations is inextricably linked to the Just War tradition. This foundational framework of international political and theological ethics traces its origins through the Pax Romana and the legal theories of the statesman Cicero, finding its most robust early articulation in the theological treatises of St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas.14 Aquinas, in his seminal *Summa Theologiae*, systematized the doctrine by establishing that a morally permissible war requires legitimate authority, a just cause, and a right intention aimed at advancing good or avoiding evil, rather than seeking vengeance.15 Over centuries, this tradition has evolved into two primary, interdependent components: *jus ad bellum*, which dictates the moral justifications for initiating armed conflict, and *jus in bello*, which provides the ethical guidelines for combatant conduct within the conflict itself.16 Applying these physical, kinetic frameworks to the non-kinetic, deeply psychological domain requires a profound conceptual translation.
### ***Jus ad Bellum*****: Last Resort, Proportionality, and the Non-Kinetic Alternative**
Under the strictures of *jus ad bellum*, the principles of legitimate authority, just cause, right intention, reasonable hope of success, macro-proportionality, and last resort govern the ethical initiation of hostilities.15 Information warfare and psychological operations uniquely interact with the principle of "last resort." Traditional ethical interpretations dictate that all peaceful alternatives—including diplomacy, economic sanctions, and strategic negotiations—must be entirely exhausted before a sovereign state may ethically resort to lethal physical violence.15 In this specific context, psychological warfare serves as an absolutely critical intermediary step. By deploying aggressive influence operations to deter an adversary's aggression, undermine their military morale, or compel their surrender prior to an invasion, a state fulfills its ethical obligation to vigorously pursue non-kinetic means before initiating physical bloodshed.15
Furthermore, psychological operations inherently align with the *jus ad bellum* requirement of proportionality, which mandates that the overall destruction and suffering caused by a war must not outweigh the strategic good achieved by fighting it.17 Because psychological warfare theoretically produces no direct physical casualties, structural devastation, or environmental ruin, it is frequently viewed by ethicists as a highly proportional and morally preferred instrument of statecraft.15 However, as these operations scale into the globally connected digital environment, the calculation of proportionality becomes exceedingly complex. Ethical practitioners must carefully war-game and anticipate the second- and third-order effects of their campaigns. A psychological operation that successfully destabilizes an adversary's military command structure might also trigger unintended, catastrophic societal panic, mass displacement, or complete economic collapse.15 Therefore, ensuring that the psychological damage inflicted remains strictly proportional to the strategic good achieved is a continuous ethical burden.15
### ***Jus in Bello*****: Discrimination, Non-Combatant Immunity, and Double Effect**
The ethical complexities of psychological warfare become most pronounced within the realm of *jus in bello*, which demands strict, unwavering adherence to the principles of discrimination—distinguishing absolutely between lawful combatants and protected non-combatants—and micro-proportionality within tactical engagements.21 The principle of non-combatant immunity asserts that civilian populations must never be the deliberate targets of military force, coercion, or violence.23
When applying the concept of non-combatant immunity to psychological operations, ethicists and military planners encounter a critical, often unresolved dilemma. Military doctrine frequently and explicitly identifies foreign civilian populations as primary target audiences for influence operations. These campaigns are intended to build support for friendly strategic objectives, counter adversary propaganda, or actively incite the local population to oppose and oust an enemy government.25 While traditional, permissive military doctrine does not classify non-lethal, informational persuasion as a violation of non-combatant immunity, stricter philosophical interpretations equate certain forms of deception directly with physical coercion.24 Ethicists such as Sissela Bok compellingly argue that deception intrinsically impairs a civilian's ability to perceive reality, effectively forcing a decision upon them by corrupting their fundamental cognitive data.24 From this perspective, utilizing a civilian populace as a conduit for military deception—manipulating their beliefs to achieve a tactical advantage over an enemy force—explicitly treats those civilians as assets of traditional military value, representing a clear, undeniable violation of non-combatant immunity.24
When military commanders attempt to justify the deception of civilians on utilitarian grounds—arguing, for example, that a deceptive narrative will ultimately save thousands of lives by ending a conflict swiftly—they must grapple with the theological and philosophical doctrine of double effect.15 The doctrine of double effect posits that there is a morally relevant difference between the "intended" consequences of an act and the "unintended" but foreseen consequences.15 However, intentionally deceiving a civilian population cannot be justified under double effect if the deception itself is the primary mechanism utilized to achieve the good end; the immoral act of lying cannot be the direct cause of the moral victory.15 To remain ethically sound under *jus in bello*, psychological operations must demonstrate "right intention." Campaigns must be waged exclusively to advance the common good, mitigate physical conflict, or defend against unjustified aggression.15
Moreover, ethical information strategy demands a deep, respectful "cultural attunement".15 Operations must align with the cultural values, shared identities, and local mythologies of the target audience. Ethnocentric messaging that ignores local context or violates the dignity of the population invariably alienates audiences and constitutes a moral failure.15 The fundamental right to truthful information, as articulated in theological texts such as the Catholic Catechism, asserts that society's right to information is firmly founded upon the principles of truth, freedom, and justice.15 Psychological operations that systematically deploy falsehoods against civilian populations inherently violate this fundamental human right, regardless of the operational utility.15
## **The Legal Architecture: International Humanitarian Law and Information Operations**