The concept of security culture has gained increasing prominence within
contemporary Security Studies, particularly in the context of hybrid threats, cognitive warfare,
and the growing emphasis on societal and national resilience. Despite its widespread use in both
academic and policy discourse, security culture remains conceptually ambiguous and
epistemologically under-defined, oscillating between a broad theoretical construct and a loosely
operationalised normative notion. This paper addresses this gap by advancing a systematic
epistemological clarification of the concept and by identifying the conditions under which it may
be transformed into a coherent analytical and operational category.
The study adopts a qualitative meta-theoretical approach, combining conceptual analysis,
systematic literature review, and comparative examination of adjacent constructs such as
strategic culture, political culture, and societal security. It demonstrates that the ambiguity
surrounding security culture stems from conceptual diffusion across paradigmatic boundaries, as
well as from the absence of clearly defined levels of abstraction and analytical criteria.
Building on these findings, the paper proposes a multidimensional framework encompassing
cognitive, normative, institutional, and behavioural dimensions, each associated with empirically
measurable indicators. This reconceptualisation contributes to strengthening the theoretical
coherence and methodological applicability of security culture as a key variable in analysing
contemporary security environments
Ruslana Grosu, Prascovia Vacaru· SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND EDUC...· 0 citations
The paper advances the central argument that cognitive resilience has emerged as a
distinct analytical and operational category within contemporary European Union security
studies. While related to psychological, societal, and informational resilience, cognitive resilience
is conceptualised here as a multidimensional capacity aimed at preserving the integrity,
adaptability, and coherence of cognitive processes under conditions of manipulation,
disinformation, and epistemic destabilisation.
Methodologically, the study employs a qualitative, theory-building research design,
combining conceptual analysis, systematic review of academic literature and EU strategic
documents, and theoretical meta-synthesis across security studies, cognitive warfare doctrine, and
cognitive psychology. This interdisciplinary approach enables the clarification of conceptual
boundaries and the integration of diverse theoretical perspectives into a coherent analytical
framework.
The findings demonstrate that cognitive resilience constitutes a necessary extension of the
resilience paradigm, addressing a critical gap in both academic literature and EU policy
frameworks. Existing approaches remain predominantly focused on regulating information flows
and mitigating external threats, while insufficiently addressing the internal cognitive mechanisms
that enable manipulation to be effective. In response, the paper proposes an operational definition
of cognitive resilience and identifies its core dimensions, cognitive filtering capacity,
interpretative coherence, adaptive flexibility, and epistemic trust, thus enabling future empirical
measurement and comparative research.
The study concludes that the integration of cognitive resilience fundamentally expands the
security paradigm, repositioning cognition as a central strategic domain and cognitive autonomy
as a key determinant of democratic stability. As such, cognitive resilience emerges not merely as a
complementary concept, but as a strategic capability essential for the EU’s capacity to withstand
and adapt to the challenges of contemporary cognitive warfare.
Ruslana Grosu, Catalina Popescu· SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND EDUC...· 0 citations