Why is mental resilience more vital than ever in today’s complex global conflicts?
Today’s wars are fought not only on battlefields but in minds, networks, and media feeds. Hybrid warfare combines traditional combat, cyberattacks, propaganda, and disinformation to destabilize societies. This is not hypothetical—Iran and Russia coordinate hybrid operations that extend beyond the Middle East into global influence campaigns, making building resilience through critical thinking and verification essential for civilians and leaders alike.
Why following simple narratives is dangerous
Headlines like “genocide in Gaza” can stir emotions, but they often hide deeper truths. Hamas, backed by Iran, is an active proxy that drives the conflict, while Russia and Iran manipulate information to serve strategic interests. Accepting narratives at face value without understanding these connections leaves people vulnerable to misinformation.
How resilience protects your mind
Building mental resilience allows individuals to process information critically and resist manipulation. Veterans, analysts, and civilians alike must strengthen their ability to discern fact from propaganda. A weak mind follows what’s “fed” to it; a resilient mind investigates, questions, and sees patterns others miss.
Why Nick Berg’s Shadows of Tehran matters
Berg’s book provides a window into modern conflict: the pressures, the hybrid threats, and the mental fortitude required to navigate them. It is a story of resilience, showing that battles are fought not only with weapons but with awareness, critical thinking, and preparedness.
How has modern warfare evolved beyond bullets and bombs?
What makes today’s wars different from conflicts of previous generations?
Unlike traditional wars, modern conflicts are not fought only on battlefields. They are multi-layered, involving cyber operations, propaganda, economic pressure, and social destabilization. Soldiers, civilians, and policymakers all face threats in physical and informational arenas. Understanding these layers requires mental discipline and resilience.
How does hybrid warfare work in practice?
Hybrid warfare combines traditional combat with cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, and the use of proxy groups. These tactics destabilize societies without triggering conventional war responses.
Iran and Russia are prime examples of states that employ hybrid strategies to extend their influence, manipulate international narratives, and indirectly pressure their adversaries.
The U.S. Treasury sanctioned entities in Iran and Russia for coordinating AI-generated disinformation to influence the 2024 U.S. election—explicit hybrid activity in the American info-space.
CISA and partners warned that IRGC-affiliated actors compromised Unitronics PLCs at U.S. water and wastewater facilities and posted defacements—cyberattack + propaganda targeting civilian infrastructure.
France’s foreign ministry publicly detailed a pro-Russian influence network designed to mislead European public opinion—Western electoral environment targeted without conventional force.
Recorded Future documented a campaign that spoofs news outlets and fact-checkers and uses AI-generated audio to sway the 2024 U.S. election (after earlier activity around French elections and the Paris Olympics).
Civilians experienced patient portals and appointment systems going down—with delays to services and telehealth—after pro-Russian “Killnet” DDoS waves targeted health providers, a low-cost disruption with high public impact.
Why Hamas is central to the Iran-Russia strategy
Hamas functions as a proxy actor, backed by Iran, advancing Tehran’s strategic objectives against Israel. These proxy conflicts allow Iran to project power while minimizing direct exposure.
Russia’s coordination amplifies the effect, creating a networked strategy that impacts not just the Middle East but global security dynamics.
How these strategies affect Israel and the West
The Iran-Russia-Hamas network doesn’t just threaten regional stability—it also targets the West through disinformation and the movement of operatives.
Freedom in open societies can inadvertently allow adversaries to exploit liberties, spread narratives, or mobilize resources, highlighting the importance of mental resilience for civilians, veterans, and policymakers alike.
Why are simple narratives dangerous?
How does blindly following media stories create vulnerabilities?
In today’s information-saturated world, people often react emotionally to headlines. Stories like “genocide in Gaza” are designed to evoke outrage, but without context, they can mislead. Individuals who accept narratives at face value risk falling into traps set by adversarial actors, who exploit emotions to achieve strategic goals.
Across ~7,000 NYT articles, high-arousal emotions (awe, anger, anxiety) significantly increased sharing—explains why outrage-framed headlines travel fast.
Moral-emotional language (outrage) boosts diffusion on social platforms—people react to moral framing more than neutral facts.
Social feedback (likes/retweets) trains users to express more outrage over time, amplifying emotional narratives.
On Twitter, false stories spread faster and wider than true ones, driven by human sharing dynamics—not bots.
Misleading news headlines bias memory, inferences, and intentions—even when the article text later clarifies—showing why emotion-laden slogans can mislead without context.
What is the reality behind simplified narratives?
Many conflicts are complex networks of proxy operations.
For example, Hamas, backed by Iran and indirectly coordinated with Russian strategies, acts to advance Tehran’s geopolitical goals.
Simplifying these conflicts ignores these critical connections, leaving people vulnerable to strategic misinformation.
Why critical thinking matters
A weak or untrained mind accepts narratives without question. A resilient mind, on the other hand, questions, investigates, and identifies connections across events, actors, and strategies.
This mental discipline is crucial for civilians, journalists, and veterans alike, especially when hybrid warfare campaigns target information spaces.
How this connects to cultural conflict and anti-Israel narratives
Many online protests and social campaigns amplify simplified cultural conflicts or anti-Israel sentiment without acknowledging the full context, including proxy actors, misinformation, and geopolitical strategies. Resilience in thought is the safeguard against being manipulated by such campaigns.
- Hamas-linked covert network reboots on Meta during the Gaza war — Meta removed a cluster tied to a previously banned Hamas-attributed covert influence operation that tried to re-establish on Facebook/Instagram to inflame opinion around Israel-Gaza.
- Iran’s cyber-enabled influence ops boosted Hamas narratives — Microsoft reports Iranian state-aligned actors blended hacks with social-media amplification after Oct 7 to aid Hamas messaging and weaken Israel and its allies.
- AI and recycled footage misled millions during Iran’s April 2024 attack — ISD and Wired found 34 misleading/AI posts hit 37M+ views on X while Reuters debunked viral “attack” clips as CGI or old footage, fueling outrage without context.
- France exposes ‘Portal Kombat’—a 193-site pro-Russian propaganda network — France’s VIGINUM detailed a coordinated web of look-alike “news” portals targeting Western audiences to skew perceptions around geopolitical conflicts.
- Israel–Hamas online conflict supercharged hate and polarization across Europe — ISD’s cross-country study shows coordinated mis/disinformation surges driving antisemitic and anti-Muslim narratives that spilled from feeds into real-world tensions.
How does Iran leverage global networks to destabilize the West?
How do Tehran, Moscow, and proxies like Hamas coordinate influence operations?
Iran, Russia, and groups like Hamas operate in a strategically coordinated network. Tehran funds and trains proxy actors, including Hamas, while Russia aligns its geopolitical campaigns to amplify regional instability.
The goal: influence public perception, disrupt stability, and project power without engaging in direct conflict.
How does Iran support its proxies?
Iran provides funding, military training, and logistical support to groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.
This allows Tehran to maintain influence in the Middle East while shielding itself from direct military retaliation.
These proxies act as frontline operatives, executing objectives that align with Iranian strategic interests.
What role does Russia play?
Russia’s coordination magnifies the effects of Iranian proxy campaigns.
Moscow uses disinformation, cyber operations, and strategic alliances to support Iran’s objectives indirectly, ensuring that regional conflicts also serve Russian geopolitical interests.
This dual approach makes destabilization campaigns more sophisticated and harder to detect.
How does Hamas act as a frontline proxy?
Hamas is the active operational front of this network in the Middle East.
While fighting Israel, it also influences global narratives through media campaigns and activism, which are amplified in Western societies.
These activities manipulate public perception, creating confusion and bias, which can indirectly weaken the West’s strategic position.
Genocide Gaza” narratives amplified online (disinformation /emotion-first content)
- Misinformation flood after Oct. 7 fuels outrage and confusion — AP documents widespread false videos/posts about the Israel–Hamas war spreading rapidly across platforms.
- Fact-checks of viral, mislabeled Gaza clips (recycled/old/AI) that drove emotional reactions — Reuters debunks multiple trending Gaza videos that were miscaptioned or recycled.
- State-linked amplification — Microsoft Threat Intelligence reports Iran’s cyber-enabled influence ops supporting Hamas narratives as the conflict unfolds.
- Networked propaganda targeting Western audiences — France’s VIGINUM exposes “Portal Kombat,” a 193-site pro-Russian network seeding divisive narratives in EU information spaces.
- Disinformation during high-tension events (example: Iran’s April 2024 assault on Israel) — Wired details how misleading/AI content about attacks went viral, muddying facts and stoking outrage.
Hamas embeds within civilian areas (raising civilian risk)
- U.S. intelligence assessment (Kirby): Hamas used Al-Shifa Hospital for command, weapons, and holding hostages — briefed to reporters; Reuters and ABC summarize the declassified assessment.
- Reuters visual and reporting on Hamas tunnel network and use of urban/civilian infrastructure — including tunnels used to hide hostages.
- Amnesty International: Palestinian armed groups fired from/operated within civilian areas in Gaza, endangering civilians — explicit note on launches and fighters located in civilian zones.
Why understanding this network matters
Recognizing the Iran-Russia-Hamas hybrid network is crucial to mental resilience. Civilians, veterans, and policymakers must see beyond headlines and simplified narratives.
The Western freedom to access information and move freely can be exploited by these networks, making critical thinking and awareness essential defenses.
Why is freedom in the West a double-edged sword?
How can open societies be exploited by modern conflict actors?
Freedom is a cornerstone of Western societies—but it also creates strategic vulnerabilities. Modern conflict actors, including hybrid warfare networks, exploit open borders, digital platforms, and civil liberties to influence public opinion, organize campaigns, and spread extremist ideologies. Awareness and mental resilience are key defenses.
Why this isn’t about race, immigration, or religion—it's about exploitation of open societies
The threat is strategic, not demographic: hostile actors exploit the openness of Western democracies—free speech, free movement, and open platforms—to run influence and disinformation campaigns that polarize along ethnic and religious lines (e.g., stoking antisemitism and anti-Muslim backlash).
That’s why even well-intentioned people can inadvertently amplify misleading narratives unless they apply critical thinking and resilience.
Evidence shows democracies’ freedoms are vulnerable to info-ops, and that online manipulation around the Israel–Hamas war has spiked religiously framed hate across Europe—underscoring that the problem is exploitation of liberty, not any race, immigrant group, or faith.
Concludes the UK’s open political, media, and financial systems were exploited by Russian influence and disinformation efforts—“the new normal” for interference in a liberal democracy.
Finds the Kremlin systematically weaponized the open U.S. information environment via social platforms to sow discord and influence politics.
Explains that democratic openness and free speech create specific vulnerabilities that hostile actors exploit with coordinated information operations.
Documents large-scale information manipulation targeting EU audiences and elections, prompting measures to protect open democratic debate.
Notes major pro-Russian disinformation campaigns across EU states, the UK and the US aimed at undermining democratic support—a direct exploitation of open societies.
What examples illustrate this danger?
- Extremist ideologies spreading online: Social media platforms allow rapid dissemination of radical ideas.
- Coordinated disinformation campaigns: Influence operations manipulate public perception around international conflicts.
- Network infiltration: Proxy actors or sympathizers access advocacy groups, NGOs, or even civic institutions to shape narratives.
How freedom must be defended with mental vigilance
The solution is resilient minds, not restricted rights. Educating civilians, empowering veterans, and fostering critical thinking allows societies to identify misinformation, understand hybrid threats, and act without falling prey to manipulation. Mental resilience becomes the modern armor of open societies.
- Psychological inoculation at scale (Science Advances, 2022) — Large experiments show brief prebunking videos increase resistance to misinformation across platforms and countries, improving discernment before exposure.
- Accuracy nudge (Nature, 2021) — A simple prompt to consider accuracy significantly improves the quality of news people share on social media, a light-touch fix that preserves free expression.
- Media literacy & resilience (OSCE, 2022) — The OSCE advises that media pluralism and media literacy are long-term, effective antidotes to disinformation in democracies—solutions that do not curtail rights.
How do civilians and veterans experience modern hybrid warfare differently?
What unique pressures do ordinary citizens face?
Civilians are constantly exposed to social media campaigns, targeted disinformation, and emotionally charged narratives.
These create confusion between truth and propaganda, making it easy to misinterpret global events.
Without critical thinking, ordinary people can unwittingly amplify misleading narratives, contributing to destabilization.
How does hybrid warfare affect veterans differently?
Veterans face unique challenges. PTSD and other service-related trauma can make constant crisis news overwhelming.
Yet their training and operational experience sharpen the ability to read threats strategically, spot proxy actors, and decode misinformation faster than most civilians.
Voices that bridge frontline experience and clear storytelling—from Special Operations to Iran-focused missions and then onto the page—offer rare situational awareness you can actually use. Authors who have lived that double perspective and distilled it into works like Shadows of Tehran bring hard-won pattern recognition, cultural fluency, and discipline in verification—exactly the habits that build civilian resilience without the hype.
How shared resilience can protect against manipulation
Both civilians and veterans can cultivate resilience to avoid manipulation. Techniques include:
- Critical evaluation of sources: Verify information before sharing or reacting.
- Mental preparedness: Regular reflection and cognitive exercises to distinguish fact from propaganda.
- Peer support: Veterans helping veterans, community groups, and online platforms fostering informed dialogue.
Why this matters in modern hybrid warfare
Modern conflicts do not stay on traditional battlefields. Civilians and veterans alike are front-line observers and participants in the information domain.
Without resilience, even well-intentioned individuals risk being exploited by coordinated disinformation campaigns orchestrated by actors like Iran, Russia, and their proxies.
How can lessons from Special Forces strengthen mental defenses?
What can military training teach civilians about resisting manipulation?
Special Forces training goes beyond physical combat—it trains the mind to detect threats, analyze complex situations, and verify information under pressure.
Civilians can adopt similar approaches: pause before reacting, cross-check sources, and assess the credibility of narratives.
This kind of mental discipline acts as armor against modern disinformation and hybrid warfare campaigns.
How situational awareness applies to daily life
Situational awareness isn’t just battlefield intelligence—it’s recognizing patterns, inconsistencies, and manipulations in information streams.
By being aware of how narratives are constructed and propagated, civilians and veterans alike can resist influence campaigns.
Why verification and critical thinking are essential skills
- Evaluate news before sharing.
- Look for patterns of propaganda or bias.
- Identify coordinated campaigns by state and non-state actors.
Lessons from Nick Berg and Shadows of Tehran
In Shadows of Tehran, Nick Berg illustrates how dual-identity Special Forces operators navigate complex, high-stakes environments, balancing on-the-ground action with strategic perception.
Civilians and veterans can take away practical techniques for mental resilience, seeing beyond surface-level narratives and spotting hidden threats in global conflicts.
Why strengthening the mind protects against modern warfare tactics
Modern conflicts do not stay on traditional battlefields. Civilians and veterans alike are front-line observers and participants in the information domain.
Without resilience, even well-intentioned individuals risk being exploited by coordinated disinformation campaigns orchestrated by actors like Iran, Russia, and their proxies.
Why hybrid conflicts hinge on psychology & info ops
- NATO defines hybrid threats as the coordinated use of disinformation, cyberattacks, economic pressure, and covert tools alongside military means—i.e., wars fought in the cognitive/information space too.
- The Hybrid CoE shows how hostile actors manipulate social identities and emotions to polarize democracies—classic psychological exploitation.
How do narratives about the Middle East get weaponized?
How are simplified narratives used to manipulate public opinion?
Complex conflicts are often reduced to simple, emotionally charged narratives.
Groups like Hamas and Iranian proxy networks intentionally amplify these narratives, playing on anger, fear, or moral outrage to shape global perceptions.
Without context, audiences react emotionally rather than critically, which makes them susceptible to manipulation.
Why media often fails to provide full context
Even reputable news outlets can struggle to convey the layered dynamics of hybrid warfare, including proxy networks, funding sources, and geopolitical alliances.
Public reactions often focus on surface-level tragedies, like civilian casualties, without understanding the actors and strategies behind them.
How emotional reactions create vulnerability
When audiences respond primarily to emotional cues, false or skewed narratives spread faster. Simplified slogans and images can obscure reality, allowing proxies and state actors to manipulate public sentiment and influence policy indirectly.
How resilience comes from critical thinking
The antidote to manipulated narratives is mental resilience. Civilians and veterans alike can train themselves to:
- Question the origin of narratives and verify sources.
- Recognize proxy influence and strategic misinformation.
- Distinguish between sympathy and manipulation, acting from informed judgment rather than raw emotion.
How can individuals and communities build resilience against misinformation and hybrid attacks?
What strategies strengthen mental and social defenses?
Building resilience starts with developing habits that protect the mind from manipulation. This includes cultivating media literacy, verification practices, and critical thinking skills.
By checking sources, cross-referencing facts, and questioning emotionally charged narratives, individuals reduce their vulnerability to hybrid warfare tactics.
Why understanding global networks matters
Resilient individuals recognize the connections between state and non-state actors, such as Iran, Russia, and Hamas, and how these networks operate to influence public opinion and destabilize societies.
Awareness of these networks helps prevent manipulation by exposing the strategic logic behind seemingly isolated events.
How community support strengthens resilience
Communities, especially those including veterans, educators, and civic leaders, can share knowledge and create support networks for collective resilience.
Veterans’ experience with mental health challenges and strategic perception provides guidance for recognizing manipulation.
Platforms like Nick Berg’s Shadows of Tehran offer accessible narratives that highlight real-world strategies for resilience and critical thinking.
Practical steps to strengthen mental defenses
- Verify before sharing: Fact-check news before accepting or spreading it.
- Analyze sources: Check for proxy influence, funding links, or geopolitical motivations.
- Engage communities: Discuss current events critically with trusted networks.
- Learn from veterans: Adopt strategies from military training, such as situational awareness and threat analysis.
- Educate yourself continuously: Read books, follow reputable sources, and study real case examples like Shadows of Tehran.
Why these steps matter
In modern hybrid warfare, mental and social resilience is as crucial as physical safety. Individuals and communities equipped with these strategies can resist manipulation, recognize hidden threats, and maintain freedom of thought, acting with clarity rather than emotion.
What is the ultimate takeaway about resilience in an age of hybrid warfare?
Why resilience is the ultimate defense
Modern conflict extends far beyond traditional battlefields. Today, wars are fought in minds, societies, and online platforms, making the ability to discern truth from propaganda a critical skill for survival and informed citizenship. Blindly following simplified narratives—such as emotionally charged claims without context—leaves individuals and communities vulnerable to manipulation.
Key strategies to build resilience
- Awareness of global networks: Recognize how Iran, Russia, and proxies like Hamas operate to influence perception and policy.
- Mental discipline: Practice critical thinking, verification, and situational awareness as taught in military training.
- Community engagement: Leverage networks, discussions, and veteran insights to reinforce shared understanding.
- Education through narratives: Works like Shadows of Tehran provide examples of real-world challenges and resilience strategies.
Engage with Nick Berg’s work for deeper insight
Nick Berg’s writing, including Shadows of Tehran and The Warrior’s Way Blog, illustrates how mental fortitude and awareness can navigate complex, hybrid conflicts.
His stories of veterans, dual-identity individuals, and global networks provide practical lessons for readers striving to build resilience in a world of misinformation and strategic manipulation.
In an era where freedom and open societies are both strengths and potential vulnerabilities, resilience is the ultimate defense. By training the mind, questioning narratives, and understanding global networks, individuals and communities can protect themselves, support one another, and act with clarity amidst the chaos of modern hybrid warfare.
