The Cipher Brief: National Security news, analysis and expert commentary.

America’s adversaries are fighting a war designed to shape what people see, believe, share—and ultimately do.

Russia, China and Iran are investing billions of dollars in influence operations intended to divide Americans, weaken alliances and alter real-world decisions, often without firing a shot. Artificial intelligence is now giving those campaigns unprecedented speed, scale and precision.

In this episode of The Cipher Brief’s State Secrets Podcast, Suzanne Kelly speaks with Shawn Chenoweth, the National Security Council’s Director for Cognitive Advantage, about the escalating war for perception. Chenoweth explains how foreign powers exploit legitimate grievances, amplify American voices and manipulate social media networks to influence public behavior—sometimes without the people involved realizing they are being used.

They also examine why America abandoned much of its influence infrastructure after the Cold War, how adversaries may be targeting opposition to U.S. data centers and AI development, and why determining who controls the information environment could become one of the defining national security contests of our time.

As Chenoweth warns, America is taking “face shots every day” in this arena—and it is time to start fighting back.