From narrative competition to model confrontation:

This article examines how the adoption of generative artificial intelligence is reshaping strategic communication practices in contemporary international conflicts. Drawing on a comparative analysis of the 2014 Crimea crisis and the ongoing 2022 Russia–Ukraine conflict, it argues that strategic communication is shifting from a logic of narrative competition – centred on meaning-making – to a form of model confrontation grounded in algorithmic infrastructures. Empirically, this transformation becomes visible across several interrelated dimensions, including changes in the basic unit of communication, modes of content production, logics of dissemination, key strategic resources, and dominant operational mechanisms. While narrative-based communication remains influential, control over technological infrastructures increasingly structures communicative power. By conceptualizing “model confrontation” as an emergent form of algorithmic power, the article offers a framework for understanding how generative AI reconfigures strategic communication in conflict settings.