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The latest report from the Psychological Defence Research Institute is now available: Building Resilience and Psychological Defence. It outlines an analytical framework, guidebook, and template addressing six dimensions of hybrid threats and foreign influence and interference from a nation-state perspective. Acknowledging that these types of threats are complex and multifaceted, it is intended to

https://www.psychologicaldefence.lu.se/article/new-research-report-building-resilience-and-psychological-defence - 2025-12-25

Hedvig Ördén, Security Studies Researcher at the Psychological Defence Research Institute, discusses the European disinformation landscape and its developments over time on “Konflikt”, broadcasted by Radio SwedenAbout the podcast episode “The fight for the truth ahead of the EU elections” (link to podcast in Swedish: Kampen om sanningen inför EU-valet): “Politicians are increasingly warning agains

https://www.psychologicaldefence.lu.se/article/podcast-fight-truth-ahead-eu-elections - 2025-12-25

At the 10th annual Riga StratCom Dialogue conference, organized by the NATO Strategic Communications COE, over 700 participants attended. Two members of the Psychological Defence Research Institute participated in panels, presenting the following topics:In the panel "Attribution of Information Influence Activity," James Pamment presented a framework developed for NATO by himself and Victoria Smith

https://www.psychologicaldefence.lu.se/article/interventions-pdri-members-natos-conference-strategic-communication - 2025-12-25

At EU Days in Lund on 17 September, members of the Psychological Defence Research Institute, together with a representative of the Swedish Defence University, debated disinformation and its impact on European security. A panel at the EU Days in Lund reflected on the current security situation in Europe and its challenging communicative environment. The debate was held under the heading: Foreign In

https://www.psychologicaldefence.lu.se/article/eu-days-lund-debate-disinformation - 2025-12-25

Focusing on the intersection of research and practice, the second annual research conference on psychological defence was held in Lund on 24-25 September 2024. The conference gathered 60 participants from the Nordic countries, with the majority of attendees from the Swedish public and private sectors as well as academia. In addition to consolidating networks of actors engaged in psychological defe

https://www.psychologicaldefence.lu.se/article/research-conference-psychological-defence - 2025-12-25

"Japan Close Up," a platform managed and operated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Japan, recently published an article by James Pamment, Director of the Psychological Defence Research Institute at Lund University, on disinformation in the Japanese context: Strengthening Digital Integrity: How Japan can Tackle Disinformation. 

https://www.psychologicaldefence.lu.se/article/disinformation-japanese-context - 2025-12-25

Vice-President of the EU Commission, Vera Jourová, recently published an assessment of online information interference in the June 2024 elections for the European Parliament, to which the Psychological Defence Research Institute contributed. The announcement and the full memo to be found at the following link: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ac_24_5328

https://www.psychologicaldefence.lu.se/article/online-information-interference-2024-elections-european-parliament - 2025-12-25

Foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI) is not a new phenomenon. Since the end of the Second World War, when Sweden seriously began to work with psychological defence to respond to various forms of hybrid threats, the issue has been prevalent and developing. The report Psychological Defence: Concepts and Principles for the 2020s not only portrays the evolution of Sweden's psycholo

https://www.psychologicaldefence.lu.se/article/new-report-concepts-and-principles-psychological-defence - 2025-12-25

The Psychological Defence Research Institute has published a new report in the working paper series titled  "Psychological Defence and Strategic Resilience: North Macedonia’s response to hybrid threats and malign foreign influence and interference". It is authored by Professor Zhidas Daskalovski and Sasho Damjanovski of the Faculty of Security-Skopje, University St Kliment Ohridski-Bitola, North M

https://www.psychologicaldefence.lu.se/article/north-macedonias-response-hybrid-threats-and-malign-foreign-influence-and-interference - 2025-12-25

During the fall of 2024, Hilkka Grahn is a visiting researcher at the Psychological Defence Research Institute (PDRI) at Lund University. Hilkka is a postdoctoral researcher (KILPI project) and senior lecturer at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland. With an academic background in cognitive science, Hilkka Grahn's doctoral research focused on driver distraction and inattention – a topic that may

https://www.psychologicaldefence.lu.se/article/researcher-profile-hilkka-grahn - 2025-12-25

Disinformation takes various forms, posing harmful and far-reaching effects that can erode trust in public institutions, influence elections, and jeopardise public health. The report Eduation as a countermeasure against disinformation, written by Professor Thomas Nygren, Department of Education, Uppsala University, and Professor Ullrich K H Ecker, School of Psychological Science, University of Wes

https://www.psychologicaldefence.lu.se/article/education-countermeasure-against-disinformation - 2025-12-25

Phenomena such as disinformation and propaganda have been widely studied across various academic disciplines, each offering unique perspectives on their causes, mechanisms, and effects. These disciplines include, for instance, political science, media & communication studies, philosophy, computer science, and military science. Despite the breadth of research, cognitive science appears to be underr

https://www.psychologicaldefence.lu.se/article/exploitation-psychological-processes-information-influence-operations-insights-cognitive-science - 2025-12-25

Elsa Hedling is an affiliated researcher at the Psychological Defence Research Institute at Lund University, where she contributes to advance research on disinformation and hybrid threats. Elsa Hedling is an Associate Professor (Docent) in Political Science and an Associate Senior Lecturer in European Studies at the Centre for Languages and Literature. Her research focuses on the intersection of d

https://www.psychologicaldefence.lu.se/article/researcher-profile-elsa-hedling - 2025-12-25

In today’s complex security environment, the intelligence community must address dynamic hybrid threats through coordinated efforts that span multiple sectors. In a recently published article, Swedish Defence University and PDRI researchers emphasise the critical interaction between intelligence analysis, communication, and societal resilience ("Hybrid Threats and the Intelligence Community: Primi

https://www.psychologicaldefence.lu.se/article/critical-interaction-intelligence-analysis-communication-and-societal-resilience - 2025-12-25

Two new reports have been presented as part of the EU Horizon project ADAC.io, coordinated by the Psychological Defence Research Institute. They aim to support the defender community in strengthening capabilities and methodologies related to the ongoing work of attributing information influence operations.The first report, "A Framework for Attribution of Information Influence Operations", presents

https://www.psychologicaldefence.lu.se/article/attribution-information-influence-operations - 2025-12-25

Affiliated with the Psychological Defence Research Institute, Rolf Fredheim explores the use of AI to detect harmful and illegal content on social media. Rolf builds systems to detect and measure harmful and illegal content on social media. This work presents distinct challenges: social media data is quickly removed from platforms, presented in visual formats, and often appears in multiple languag

https://www.psychologicaldefence.lu.se/article/researcher-profile-rolf-fredheim - 2025-12-25

The research team from the Psychological Defence Research Institute was well represented at the 66th annual convention of the International Studies Association (ISA), held under the theme Reconnecting International Studies. To highlight the diverse range of events in which PDRI members participated, Elsa Hedling took part in a panel organised by the Nordic International Studies Association titled

https://www.psychologicaldefence.lu.se/article/pdri-isa-chicago - 2025-12-25

Elsa Hedling, affiliated with PDRI, recently published a report on social identities and democratic vulnerabilities. The report, Social identities and democratic vulnerabilities: Learning from examples of targeted disinformation, is published by the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats (Hybrid CoE). It discusses the sensitive relationship between social identities and hybrid

https://www.psychologicaldefence.lu.se/article/social-identities-and-democratic-vulnerabilities-learning-examples-targeted-disinformation - 2025-12-25

Hedvig Ördén of PDRI participated in the workshop "Intelligence, insecurity and the international: new encounters between IR and intelligence scholarship" at King's College. The workshop brought together scholars to discuss a wide range of topics at the intersection of intelligence and international relations. Participants discussed how to conceptualise intelligence in IR, touching on topics such

https://www.psychologicaldefence.lu.se/article/presentation-recent-research-kings-college-uk - 2025-12-25

Based on leaked documents, James Pamment and Darejan Tsurtsumia of PDRI have studied Russian malign information influence through the Doppelganger campaign and analysed the capabilities of one of the main actors behind it – the Social Design Agency (SDA). In 2022, a comprehensive and coordinated influence campaign was launched by Russian actors aimed at weakening international support for Ukraine,

https://www.psychologicaldefence.lu.se/article/beyond-operation-doppelganger-capability-assessment-social-design-agency - 2025-12-25