Samenvatting

Influence and persuasion are gaining increased attention in warfare, but often social psychology approaches remain underused or neglected while this academic field has provided useful insights into this approach, especially as a non-kinetic capability. To effectively influence and persuade, we need to understand the adversary and the specific frame of reference of the relevant audience, which can be determined through Actor and Audience Analysis (AAA), a relatively new tool that has shown promising results. Based on the results of AAA, the communicators characteristics and persuasion techniques must be tailored to the specific audience. This chapter will use delegitimisation of the adversary, specifically in the context of extremism and terrorism, as an example to demonstrate how influence and persuasion can be applied in a military context.