What does the Kremlin fear? How Russia’s disinformation model works
Russia’s attack on the West stems from its growing internal weakness, and the more the West treats Vladimir Putin as a 10-foot ogre, the better it is for him at… Read more »
Category: Central/Eastern Europe
Edward Kline, ‘silent partner’ in aiding Soviet dissidents
Democracy advocates are mourning the passing of a modest, unsung but highly effective supporter of Soviet dissidents. Edward Kline, a Yale math major who, bored with the department store chain… Read more »
Elves vs. Trolls: Europe energized against disinformation threat
Russia has not hidden its liking for information warfare. The chief of the general staff, Valery Gerasimov, wrote in 2013 that “informational conflict” is a key part of war, The… Read more »
Russian cyberattacks aimed at legitimacy of political process
Current and former government officials painted a sinister portrait Wednesday of Russian cyberattacks aimed at interfering in the U.S. presidential election last year, AP reports: Moscow stockpiled stolen information and selectively… Read more »
Western Balkans double standard and malign foreign influence spur extremism
There’s a double standard in the Western Balkans, according to analysts Jelena Beslin and Marija Ignjatijevic. Governments in the region generally equate violent extremism with Islamist radicalization and local youths… Read more »
Russia’s test lab for cyberwar: social media ‘democratize propaganda’
In Russia’s shadow, the decades-old nightmare of hackers stopping the gears of modern society has become a reality in Ukraine, Andy Greenberg writes for Wired: And the blackouts weren’t just… Read more »
How to combat disinformation without falling into trap of counter-propaganda
The recent decision by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to ban popular Russian social networks VKontakte (VK) and Odnoklassniki, on May 15 (see EDM, June 7), provoked serious debate both inside Ukraine… Read more »
Helmut Kohl’s lessons for the West
Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl will be remembered by many as a giant of epochal times that remade Europe’s political architecture, dismantled the minefields and watchtowers of the Iron Curtain… Read more »
Southeast Europe: strengthen democracy to counter malign foreign influence
US withdrawal from the Balkans, mainly due to the absence of a consistent foreign policy agenda, has created a vacuum of leadership that other political actors are trying to assume…. Read more »
Kremlin stoking illiberalism in Western Balkans?
Recent political developments in the Western Balkans have led the European Union to re-focus its attention on the region, notes analyst Tzveta Dryanovska. Countries in southeastern Europe have been struggling… Read more »