Information Confrontation Based on the Use of Reflective Control: Theory and Practice

The article deals with the problem of improving the preparation and conduct of information confrontation in Ukraine based on the theory of reflexive control as a type of information management in the conditions of a hybrid war waged by the Russian Federation against Ukraine and EU countries. The advantages of information management are determined and its model is presented. The theoretical foundations of reflexive control, its evolution and application in the military sphere are substantiated. The principle, purpose, tasks, objects and subjects of the reflexive control are defined, as well as the destructive and constructive functions of applying the reflexive control in information confrontation. It is emphasized the essential role of V. Lefebvre's works for the introduction of the concept of reflection in the system-wide interdisciplinary field as well as such concepts as: reflexive system, rank of reflection, reflexive control based on the reflective approach. The ways the reflexive approach and information tools are applied by the Russian Federation in the hybrid war against Ukraine and for destabilization of the situation on the European continent are exemplified. It is suggested that the theoretical basis of the reflexive approach should be extended towards combining it with the mechanism of goal-setting in the information confrontation, development of models of choice in the conditions of using swift and expanded reflection; exploring the possibilities of reflexive control and programming, when the choice of the object is made on the basis of the models that take into account the image of another subject.