Opinion | What is 'atrocity propaganda' and why should we be mindful of it?

By Tom Fowdy

War is objectively speaking, a horrible thing. There is little question that it promulgates a destruction of everything humanity cherishes and comes at a tragic cost of human life for all involved. But in conjunction with that, it is also the most desperate and zero-sum political struggle that can be defined. As Von Clausewitz wrote in his famous text: "On War" the purposes of war is essentially an "extension of politics by other means"- a scenario whereby one party seeks to impose its will and interests by force on another because conventional means have been exhausted or appear untenable. Whilst this of course does not justify war, it nonetheless represents a "last resort" which states turn to.

As a result, it is no surprise in the midst of such a deadly struggle that states involved go to every means possible to try and defeat the enemy, not just by combative means but also by psychological means too. An important objective of all conflicts both physical and not physical, is to demoralize the enemy to sap their will to attack and gain momentum, whilst also strengthening the morale of their own side in order to give them the political will to resist. As a result, wars are not just about shooting, but also propaganda too, something which is conducted by all sides as opposed to merely "the enemy" so to speak.

The most common form of wartime propaganda is used is that which is described by scholars as "Atrocity propaganda"- this is defined as the framing of the enemy as brutal, inhumane and barbaric in order to whip up the emotions of the defending side, or of course to create sympathy or support amongst overseas audiences. Atrocity propaganda first began on a large scale with the First World War, but has extended in scale to cover every single conflict since. For western countries, atrocity propaganda almost always involves claims that the opponent is engaging in large-scale "human rights abuses" in order to manufacture consent for starting a war, or if one has already commenced, that they are engaging in the wholesale killing of civilians.

Examples of atrocity propaganda in action in the 21st century include that utilized in the regime change operations of Iraq, Syria and Libya, wherein each government was accused of slaughtering civilians wholesale to make the case to intervene, or for the former the false claim that Saddam Hussein possessed "Weapons of Mass Destruction". Other examples in a non-combative geopolitical context include the weaponization of allegations of "genocide" in the Xinjiang autonomous region of China to manufacture public support and consent for confrontation with Beijing, or creating accusations of excessive force by Hong Kong police officers and framing the National Security Law in the city as brutal in response to the riots, whilst actively playing down the violence by the other side.

Western audiences tend to be most susceptible to atrocity propaganda because of their lopsided and highly ideological view of the world, of which distorts their self-perception as righteous, humane and civilized, whilst framing the east as wicked, backwards and uncivilized. The West has comprehensively bought into a historical narrative of their own moral and political supremacy, believing they have a divine mission to evangelize their values to others, and therefore are easily manipulated by government and mainstream media propaganda which utilizes claims of atrocities and human rights abuses, selectively so to speak, as a means of manufacturing consent for war and interventionism. Whilst the western public are made to feel sympathetic to Ukraine, they are otherwise programmed not to care about ongoing claims of atrocities in Palestine or Yemen.

And of course, the Ukraine conflict is an important case study in the dissemination of wartime propaganda. The war is unique because it is the first major in history to be effectively broadcasted across social media, which has accumulated in an online disinformation campaign on a scale the world has never seen before. Whilst the West has proactively censored Russian media, Ukraine has nonetheless promulgated falsehoods on an industrial scale in order to ramp up their war efforts and try to demoralize to attackers whilst urging the West to militarily intervene. This has included noticeably the large-scale exaggeration of civilian death tolls, casualty numbers of Russian soldiers, whilst playing up hype over potential nuclear-related accidents in the Chernobyl and Zaporizhzhia plants. This campaign of course has had great effectiveness to the western public.

In conclusion, regardless of who's side you are on, one must acknowledge that wartime propaganda is a real thing and it is always important to be skeptical of the claims thrown around in such scenarios. It is easy to dismiss the claims of those you dislike, but objectivity rests upon recognizing information itself is a form of warfare, used not just in wars itself but to start them. Many are skeptical of things Russia claims, and not without good reason, but the self-consciousness of a superior, enlightened and benevolent West constantly creates an entry point for deception, not just surrounding events in Ukraine but conflicts dating back decades.

The author is a well-seasoned writer and analyst with a large portfolio related to China topics, especially in the field of politics, international relations and more. He graduated with an Msc. in Chinese Studies from Oxford University in 2018.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.

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