Mapping the cognitive warfare literature: A strategic analysis (1981–2025)

The battlespace expanded inside the human mind, yet no one agrees what that means. This bibliometric analysis of 289 publications (1981–2025) exposes a paradox: exponential post-2020 growth masks conceptual fragmentation and a geographic asymmetry. Using PRISMA-aligned analysis, the study reveals Western and NATO dominance across technological, psychological, and doctrinal clusters – while Russian and Chinese conceptions remain systematically underrepresented. Interpreted through Clausewitzian and Schelling frameworks, the study argues that cognition constitutes a new grammar of strategy, shifting competition from infrastructure to interpretation. The analysis positions knowledge itself as strategic terrain, bridging empirical mapping and strategic theory.