Description
The Third Nuclear Age is characterised by intensified geopolitical rivalry, the diffusion of advanced technologies, and the intermingling of nuclear and conventional deterrence. This paper examines how public perception management, defined as the strategic construction and manipulation of threat narratives for domestic, international and adversary audiences, shapes the politics and efficacy of strategy of deterrence. In an age of disinformation and cyber warfare, disparate perceptions around a crisis can produce destabilising effects for the force equilibrium, leaving the parties involved, in a perpetual state of insecurity. Incongruent victory narratives that dominate the crisis and post-crisis period, can diminish the lessons ought to be learnt from a crisis and thereby, making ‘deterrence’, a self-defeating goal. I discuss the role of public perception management in deterrence politics by examining the cases of India and Pakistan in light of the 88-hour conflict in May 2025.
