FIFTH-GENERATION WAR AND HIGHER EDUCATION IN PAKISTAN: FACULTY STRATEGIES FOR BUILDING CRITICAL INFORMATION LITERACY

Abstract

Fifth-generation war is characterized by narrative challenges, disinformation, psychological influence, and digital propaganda. It increasingly shapes the cognitive environment of Pakistani university students through social media. This qualitative study investigates university faculty perceptions of integrating Fifth-generation war awareness into academic curricula and their role in countering such narratives among university students. Drawing on Agenda-Setting Theory and Herman and Chomsky’s Propaganda Model, the research is based on semi-structured interviews with 34 faculty members from ten public and private universities in Islamabad. Data were analysed thematically using NVivo 15. Findings reveal that faculty members view themselves as frontline actors who function as alternative agenda-setters and disruptors of propaganda filters. They emphasise curriculum integration of Fifth-generation war concepts, especially in social sciences and media studies. Faculty also enhances the need of systematic promotion of media literacy and critical thinking, in the classroom as a structured counter-narrative. Faculty consistently stress that individual efforts are insufficient without institutional and policy-level support. The study positions higher education institutions as strategic sites of cognitive resilience and offers policy recommendations for curriculum reform, and faculty development into Pakistan’s educational and national security frameworks.