The Information Animal and the Competition for Reality
Alicia Wanless - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Jan. 30, 2026, 2:30 p.m. - Jan. 30, 2026, 3:30 p.m.
ENGMD 279
Hosted by: Derek Ruths
Humans have always engaged in information competition throughout history. In so doing, they adopt new technologies, try to control the flow of information, and compete to win hearts and minds by flooding the information ecosystem with their point of view, sometimes slipping into open conflict. But what if these competitions over reality follow a pattern? What can looking past the competition to the information ecosystem where it occurs tell us about mitigating escalating conflict? This talk looks beyond the latest technology or disinformation to see the wider system and how studying it might unlock solution for addressing problems within it.
Dr. Alicia Wanless is the director of the Information Environment Project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, which aims to foster evidence-based policymaking. Alicia is the author of The Information Animal: Humans, Technology and the Competition for Reality. Alicia was a technical advisor to Aspen Institute’s Commission on Information Disorder and is a founding member of its Global Cybersecurity Group. Alicia is a visiting researcher at the Institute for Digital Security and Behaviour in the University of Bath's School of Management. At King’s College London in War Studies, she completed her PhD combining strategic theory and ecology in a new approach to understanding conflict within the information environment.
