The Information Animal: Humans, Technology and the Competition for Reality

Alicia Wanless — Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a PhD in War Studies from King's College London — has written the most conceptually ambitious book in the field in recent years. Her argument is deceptively simple: before we can fix what is broken in the information environment, we need to understand what the information environment actually is. Drawing on ecological theory, she proposes that information ecosystems function like natural ecosystems — with producers, consumers, and environmental conditions that shape what thrives and what does not. The book is endorsed by NATO's Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy, reflecting its policy relevance.

What distinguishes The Information Animal from most of its contemporaries is its refusal to treat disinformation as the core problem. Disinformation is a symptom; the information environment is the patient. Wanless argues that effective interventions require systemic analysis of information flows, audience behaviours, platform dynamics, and the competitive pressures that shape how reality is constructed and contested. For organisations seeking to move beyond reactive responses to information threats — towards a genuine strategic posture — this book provides the conceptual foundation. It is the most important new addition to the field's reading list.