The world is currently undergoing a 'once-in-a-century great change', which is a significant judgment made by China on the global landscape. To cope with the great changes of the century, promote the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind, and achieve the great cause of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, China urgently needs to establish a concept of cross civilization dialogue from a higher dimension, promote the evolution of civilization through institutional innovation, and adapt to the ever-changing situation. It is said that 'those who make good use of the military, cultivate the Tao while protecting the law'.

The United States is the only superpower in the world today, while China is the largest developing country in the world, with the world's second largest economy. So former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said, "China US relations are not only about the two peoples, but also about the whole world.". Unfortunately, despite China's efforts to maintain bilateral relations, the two countries are now approaching the brink of a 'new Cold War'. For China, it is time to reflect on the concept and methods of global engagement. An excellent civilization should possess good qualities and abilities of self reflection and self correction.

Innovation is an inexhaustible driving force for national development and a strategic focus for China to achieve its "Two Centenary Goals". But in the field of contact and dissemination, China's theoretical innovation is weak, and even today it still guides international communication with propaganda concepts. At the same time, there are numerous important concepts about information games in today's world, such as "ideological warfare," "narrative warfare," "soft warfare," "political warfare," "mixed warfare," "asymmetric warfare," "fourth generation warfare," "gray zone conflict," "soft power," "smart power," "sharp power," "public diplomacy," "strategic communication," "influence action," as well as COIN (anti subversion, anti sabotage, anti riot, anti infiltration), IIA (contact and influence action), and so on. However, only the "over limit warfare" proposed by military experts in China has a wide international impact, and the extremely large group of civilian experts has made significant contributions that cannot be compared to it.

Throughout the history of modern and contemporary development, significant social practices of humanity have often given rise to some social disciplines, such as anthropology and communication studies. It should be pointed out that what people now refer to as "communication studies" is referred to as Communication Studies 1.0, while the Strategic Communication Studies that emerged after the 9/11 attacks are referred to as Communication Studies 2.0. In the social practice of dealing with the unprecedented changes, we urgently need guidance from cross-cultural dialogue. In short, intercultural dialogue is the absorption and transcendence of many disciplines such as anthropology, communication studies, and strategic communication studies. Its value lies in guiding people to observe the relationships and interactions between civilizations from a higher dimension, promoting changes in international communication paradigms, and embracing diversity, thus promoting the evolution of human civilization (see Figure 1).

What is civilization? What is the relationship between culture and civilization?

The connotation of 'civilization' varies among different ethnic groups and languages. In the Book of Changes, civilization refers to a state of progress or refinement, such as' seeing a dragon in the field, the world is civilized '. Morgan, an American anthropologist, believes that the signs of ancient civilization are the emergence of cities, trade, simple machinery, schools, science, constitutional monarchy, international law, statutory law, etc. Harald Miller found that "our European neighbors and Americans believe that 'civilization' is the sum total of social tools that have the courage to overcome survival problems at a certain historical stage". In summary, civilization is a state that is opposite to barbarism and ignorance. But in my opinion, the above viewpoint is more limited to the times, and Huntington's position is higher: "Civilization is the highest cultural classification of human beings, and the widest range of cultural identity for people; Civilization is the ultimate human tribe. In Oswald Spengler's view, civilization is the "inevitable fate of culture", "the most external and artificial state that some developed humans can achieve", and "a state from formation to maturity". Huntington and Schopengler both believed that civilization is a collection of developed cultures. In other words, civilization is the mother concept, and culture is the child concept. This is precisely the concept of civilization in this article. Of course, in specific contexts, culture and civilization are roughly synonymous.

Cross civilization dialogue refers to the contact, understanding, communication, and reference between civilizations, and the achievement of mutual respect. During this period, misunderstandings, misinterpretations, and conflicts may also occur. The United Nations declares that "the Year of Dialogue among Civilizations requires us to re-examine diversity and seek to establish a new system of relations based on inclusiveness. Therefore, the goal of the Year of Dialogue is to promote a dialogue. At the beginning of the dialogue year, the emphasis was on creating a dialogue atmosphere, but in practice, the expression was too vague. People should not engage in dialogue for the sake of dialogue, and dialogue without specific functions is difficult to sustain. The Secretary General's Report on the United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations, released on November 2, 2001, pointed out that engaging in dialogue among civilizations can help reduce conflicts and promote development. How can dialogue achieve the above goals? The author believes that this requires clarifying the new connotation of the dialogue (see Table 1).

表1 对话的内涵演化
时间	基本目标	基本内涵
传统	达成共识	强调认同，忽略认异
传统	推动合作	建立基于共识的合作
现代	理解环境	利益相关者的诉求及其机理与趋势
现代	摸清边界	成因、性质，弱化策略
资料来源：本研究整理。

The premise of cross-cultural dialogue is to eliminate cultural centrism and place each other on an equal footing in mentality. Due to the rich connotations of civilization, if we start from reality, civilizations should first initiate dialogue in areas that they consider significant and urgent, with a focus on identifying the homogeneity and heterogeneity characteristics between civilizations. In cross-cultural communication, conducting heterogeneity research has significant strategic significance. On the one hand, it constantly reminds both parties to pay attention to each other's "red lines", thereby avoiding the occurrence and escalation of conflicts; On the other hand, heterogeneous civilizations are rich in nutrients, and mutual contact is a necessary path for self-development. As Russell said, "The exchange between different civilizations has been proven multiple times in the past to be a milestone in the development of human civilization.

In 1972, Austrian philosopher Hans K ö chler wrote a letter to UNESCO proposing the organization of a conference on dialogue among civilizations. In 1977, French Muslim scholar Roger Garaud coined the term Dialogue Among Civilizations. In 1993, American scholar Huntington published a long article titled "Clash of Civilizations?" in the journal Foreign Relations, which attracted global attention. On September 21, 1998, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami proposed that the United Nations designate 2001 as the "Year of Dialogue among Civilizations", which was adopted by the United Nations on November 4, 1998. Although Huntington's' clash of civilizations' is a product of unity, while 'dialogue of civilizations' or' coexistence of civilizations' is a call for diversity, fundamentally they both serve their respective strategic interests.

Cross civilization dialogue requires the support of strategic understanding. From the perspective of strategic communication, the main content of strategic understanding includes two parts: human terrain system and human dynamics system. According to the JDP-04 document of the British military, the human terrain system is a battlefield cultural intelligence preparation project. The human dynamical system includes decision-making systems, influence systems, etc. In early 2008, the US military stationed in Afghanistan equipped its brigade level combat units with Human Terrain Teams (HTTs). General David Petraeus, former commander of the International Security Support Force in Afghanistan and director of the CIA, once stated during a US Senate hearing that "in Afghanistan, just like in Iraq, the most important thing is the human terrain system. China urgently needs to strengthen its emphasis and application of the humanistic terrain system in the process of national rejuvenation.

Anthropologists need to enter into the target society's culture, understand it from the perspective of the local people, and be able to break free from its constraints. Cross civilization dialogue requires transcending both one's own civilization and the other's civilization, looking down on both civilizations from a higher dimension, and thus gaining a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the characteristics, relationships, and development of the two civilizations. In the words of Mr. Fei Xiaotong, 'we need to understand the relationships between nations, religions, and countries from a higher-level perspective.'. (See Figure 2)

Human civilization can be divided into two categories: civilizations that view diversity as a threat; A civilization that sees diversity as an opportunity. Embracing diversity is a politically correct choice on a global scale. In this regard, the United States is hostile to diversity. On the contrary, on July 9, 2020, State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi Wang Yi publicly called on China and the United States to "activate and open all channels of dialogue".

Huntington said, "Culture and cultural identity (which in its broadest sense is civilizational identity) form the patterns of union, division, and conflict in the post Cold War world. German scholar Harald Miller criticized that "the phenomenon of clash of civilizations is not the result of natural forces, but rather caused by human activities. Chinese scholar Tang Yijie refuted that "the most fundamental reasons for conflicts and wars are not caused by culture, but by political economy. Cultural differences can complicate and prolong conflicts. In terms of Sino US relations, geopolitics, geo economics, political systems, and ideology are the main variables, but they play a role as a group of influencing factors.

The national image is a product that combines self shaping and external shaping. Simon Anhao, a national brand expert in the United States, believes that "international reputation cannot be built or changed through communication. This is completely consistent with the metaphorical meaning of 'peaches and plums speak for themselves, and the lower part becomes suspicious'. Social harmony and people's happiness are the symbols of first-class human civilization, and its international reputation will naturally spread. To some extent, this is consistent with the notion that 'matter determines consciousness'.

The Civilization Dialogue Foundation believes that "the main cross-cultural interlocutors are thinkers, leaders, artists, and all benevolent intellectuals, who are the true representatives of their respective cultures and civilizations. In the eyes of the international community, voices from the public are more authoritative than official information. For this reason, the 2010 National Security Strategy of the United States lists the "American people" as one of the eight major national forces. Therefore, without the spontaneous, sincere, and active participation of the people, the government alone cannot substantially improve the country's image.

The national image and influence are the result of the joint efforts of individuals, private organizations, and government organizations, that is, y=f (ia+pb+gc). Among them, y represents the national image (influence), i, p, and g respectively represent individuals, private organizations, and government organizations, and a, b, and c represent the respective weights of these three parties. From this, it can be seen that when the international credibility of a government decreases, in order to improve the national image, it is necessary to encourage the public to speak out. If the government empowers the people, its credibility will naturally gradually increase. In addition, when a country's international credibility is negative, there will be a phenomenon of "communicability" in communication studies: the more you say, the greater the distance between the two sides. This is what Stuart Hall called adversarial interpretation.

Cross civilization dialogue cannot always be conducted in a peaceful atmosphere. Internal prejudices, misunderstandings, and conflicts, as well as external alienation, deception, and manipulation, are inevitable and routine challenges. To this end, China needs to build a new awareness of cognitive security and armed forces to ensure healthy cross-cultural dialogue. The new cognitive security concept presented in this article goes beyond traditional cognitive security and is essentially a core area of cognitive warfare.

Narrowly defined cognition refers to the process of acquiring, transforming, storing, extracting, and using information, while broadly defined cognition refers to the process of human learning knowledge and understanding the world. The so-called cognitive security refers to the operational state of human intelligence and artificial intelligence that is free from intentional interference and manipulation. This is the definition advocated by the author, which is a perspective of returning to simplicity. From this, it can be inferred that cognitive security has two dimensions: static security and dynamic security, including data security, information security, knowledge security, and intelligent security.

Before the publication of this article, there were two related definitions circulating in the domestic academic community regarding cognitive security. Firstly, according to the definition of Bangbang Security Research Institute, cognitive security refers to the operation of artificial intelligence (AI) systems according to human design specifications to avoid harm to humans. Secondly, according to IBM's definition, Internet security is divided into three development stages: peripheral control (before 2005), security intelligence (2005-2014) and cognitive security (after 2014) (see Figure 3). In the third stage, the security defense system is a cognitive system with self-learning ability. The connotation defined in this article absorbs the essence of both.

In the 21st century, the importance of information to national security is increasing day by day, and diplomacy, information, military, and economy (collectively known as DIME) have become the four pillars of national strength. Former US President Clinton once predicted, "In the future era, the country that controls the world will not be the one with military capabilities but the one with information capabilities leading the way." In international relations, information capabilities include the ability to shape and manage the cognition of target groups. Generally speaking, if cognition is affected, it may affect attitudes, emotions, and behaviors.

Cognitive security involves understanding and action, and is the foundation of all other forms of security. Just like in the real world, there is also a struggle between deception and anti deception, manipulation and anti manipulation, destruction and anti destruction in the virtual world. The process is equally brutal and the harm is equally enormous. The January 2008 edition of the Strategic Communications Framework by the US Defense Science Council reminds that 'virtual conflict and cognitive harm are equally important as real conflict and real harm'. The domestic academic community urgently needs to deepen its understanding in this regard.

Monitoring whether the target group's perception of China deviates through human intelligence and artificial intelligence, analyzing development trends, identifying influencing factors, monitoring the operating environment, issuing timely warnings, formulating disposal plans, and supervising their implementation should be the basic connotation of the field of cognitive security. In a certain sense, this is crisis management in the field of cognitive security. It should be clarified that in the real world, the main task of crisis management is to prevent and warn before a crisis occurs, rather than to handle it after it occurs. In the field of cognitive security, how to strengthen prevention and early warning is a new topic.

It is not difficult to see from the current international communication situation in recent years that China's input and output are not proportional. In my opinion, the reason for this is due to systemic barriers: at the cognitive level, China lacks the mentality, philosophy, technology, and talent to understand the environment, and has long focused on tactical intelligence over strategic intelligence; At the decision-making level, decision-makers and their supporters lack accurate understanding of the international situation, and expert opinions are difficult to upload and issue; At the operational level, Chinese institutions are disconnected from the international community and prioritize political correctness over technological correctness. They cannot accurately capture structural contradictions in a timely manner, and therefore cannot effectively implement hedging and counterattacks. If structural barriers cannot be eliminated, China's path to internationalization and modernization will inevitably be fraught with difficulties.

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "if we do not recognize change, adapt to changes, and seek change, we may fall into strategic passivity, miss development opportunities, and even miss an entire era." In the face of the world's major changes, China urgently needs to reform its foreign exchange concept and coordinate international exchanges and cooperation in various fields and at all levels from the perspective of cross civilization dialogue. Therefore, we suggest correcting the global communication concept and establishing the following four basic principles.

（1） Changing the paradigm of international competition and establishing a 'big love orientation'

Although traditional international competition increasingly emphasizes the value of information and persuasion, its essence is based on power oriented, while cross-cultural dialogue advocates love oriented. The orientation of great love is not to give up national interests, but to abandon cultural centrism, sincerely respect diversity at home and abroad, and treat others with a more tolerant attitude. For any country, improving oneself is the best way to spread. Only governments and cultures that love their own people can have global appeal and win the sincere respect of other civilizations. In this sense, the improvement of a country's image is mainly based on self shaping, supplemented by external shaping, and the so-called self shaping can be summarized as making one's own people happy.

In international relations, economy is a form of hard power, and economic assistance and cooperation can only be sustainable if accompanied by cultural exchange and closeness. I agree with Huntington's conclusion. Huntington also said, "Economic interaction brings people into contact with each other, but it does not bring about mutual identification. Throughout history, it has often made people more aware of the differences between nations and made them more fearful of each other." I agree with this conclusion. However, Huntington expanded and absolutized the significance of cultural commonalities in economic communication. We believe that in the context of cultural kinship, enhancing cultural affinity is the direction of global communication and economic exchange efforts.

（3） Revise the connotation of 'positive energy' and tell the whole story of China

To tell a good Chinese story, we must tell the whole Chinese story, otherwise we will tell a bad Chinese story. The United Nations press release points out that dialogue among civilizations means exposing rather than concealing different ways of thinking. Displaying oneself comprehensively and not avoiding problems is spreading positive energy, otherwise it is spreading negative energy. According to the principle of 'expectation violation', one-sided propaganda can cause more harm to oneself than not promoting at all. In the past, people used to say that we should spread facts rather than opinions, but today, with the collapse of truth, both facts and truth are diverse. As the poetry critic Xue Xue once said, "Du Shaoling's poetry... military scholars read it as soldiers, Taoists read it as the Tao, and those who govern the country read it as politics." For communication, building trust is the key.

Kurt Lewin believed that human intelligence, more precisely mental age, is closely related to the degree of subdivision of the environment and psychological environment. In the current global political ecology, China should try to weaken the cognitive boundaries of others towards China, promote further subdivision of their perception of China, and use more diverse information to hedge against bias towards China. To achieve this goal, reshaping bilateral relations is a practical point. Generally speaking, adversarial relationships will encourage others to reinforce existing boundaries, so establishing trust relationships is of paramount importance in strategic communication. In interactions with others, China should cultivate and treat our 'Boundary Spanners' kindly, as they are inevitably questioned, misunderstood, or even attacked by the other party.

American historian Carroll Quigley believes that in order for a civilization to survive, it must have an "Instrument of Expansion," which is a military, political, economic, or religious system that can accumulate social surplus and invest it in innovation. As this system gradually solidifies, the expansion of civilization will slow down. In the great changes of the century, this' expansion tool 'itself is a crucial tool for the country. The author believes that exploring the significance of strategic communication for human civilization from the perspective of cross civilization dialogue is a beneficial attempt to reconstruct the "expansion tool".