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▪️EVC Podcast will bring you interviews with security experts, analysts or politicians on topics related to Russian and Chinese malign influence.
▪️The main goal is to discuss lessons learned, effective policies, and best practices in countering malign foreign influence around the world.
▪️We hope to enrich the debate on how liberal democracies can counter current security threats.
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SoundCloud 👉 https://soundcloud.com/user-40...
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- What to expect from Russia’s disinformation targeting Ukraine?
- Russia is the leading promoter of disinformation
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- McKinsey & Co. worked with Russian weapon makers while advising Pentagon
- “Is Biden’s Disinfo Czar Qualified?”
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- Kremlin’s Current Narrative
- Kremlin: Russia is required to feed the whole world for free.
- Russia claims that China revealed how the desire of the US to get rich brought problems to the whole world.
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What to expect from Russia’s disinformation targeting Ukraine? |
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The East StratCom Task Force’s EUvsDisinfo published on its website a short analysis of Ksenia Iliuk, who works as a data analyst in the Detector Media project. In this analysis, Illiuk deals with what topics Russia now uses to divide Ukrainian society and what to expect from these disinformation campaigns in the nearest future.
So far, the Kremlin has failed to control the information war with Ukraine. In the current situation, it may seem that the Kremlin is out of breath in terms of the spread of disinformation in Ukraine. However, Iliuk points out that Ukraine is so well opposed to Kremlin disinformation because it is united. But if Kremlin propaganda can do something well, it is the division of society. According to Illiuk, it is already visible that disinformation campaigns focus precisely on the topics that traditionally divide Ukrainian society, and in the future, these will be the main topics of Kremlin propaganda. These are the following:
- Adaptation of the “Ukraine as failed state” narrative
- Discrediting the military and territorial defence
- Pushing peace on any terms is better than active combat
- Playing on the language issue
- Trying to drive wedges between Ukraine, the EU, NATO
- Manipulating on the local level
- Exploiting domestic political quarrels and troubles
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Russia is the leading promoter of disinformation |
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The Australian think tank Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) has published an analysis focusing on public Twitter datasets. The research showed that the main disseminator of disinformation is Russia.
The study analysed Twitter messages sent by state actors of various countries between October 2018 and March 2021. The think tank’s researchers analysed the activities and content of Twitter-banned accounts within 90 days before the account’s last tweet before banning. In addition, the report's authors found that the main objectives of these messages were: 1) undermining NATO, 2) discrediting specific political candidates in the United States and the European elections, and 3) attacking Ukraine.
Iran, China, and Venezuela also ranked high in the list of countries that support the spread of disinformation.
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McKinsey & Co. worked with Russian weapon makers while advising Pentagon |
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McKinsey & Company is one of the world's largest consulting firms advising many of the world's most influential businesses and institutions. In recent years, McKinsey & Co. was hired for advice by the massive Russian state-owned company Rostec. Rostec represents a massive defence conglomerate that dominates Russia’s military-industrial complex making an array of weaponry and military hardware. The weaponry used by Russia in Ukraine is mainly manufactured by Rostec. It is noteworthy that the CEO of the company, Sergei Chemezov, is a staunch supporter of Vladimir Putin. Besides, the company did the consulting work for the largest Russian banks such as Sberbank and VTB Bank and the energy companies Gazprom and Rosneft, all of which are closely related to the Kremlin.
Because the company carried out the consulting for the US intelligence community and the Defense Department at the same time, McKinsey placed itself in a risky position. This fact raised grave concerns about the conflict of interests. But the company denies the existence of any conflict in terms of working simultaneously for the Russian company and the Pentagon. There are no allegations that McKinsey & Co. damaged US interests due to this cooperation. It is noteworthy that the company came under sharp criticism and scrutiny because of carrying out consultations for Chinese state-owned companies serving the Beijing regime's interests.
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“Is Biden’s Disinfo Czar Qualified?” |
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On April 27, the Department of Homeland Security announced the creation of the Disinformation Governance Board to coordinate countering disinformation related to national security. 33-year-old Nina Jankowicz, an author of the book How to Lose the Information War, was appointed the board’s executive director. Her appointment raised sharp criticism among Republicans, who called the new organ the "Ministry of Truth" referring to George Orwell's novel"1984". According to them, the new board was created to “censor American citizens.”
In response to these accusations, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas stated that the board has no operational authority and it would not monitor American citizens. The Republicans further emphasized Nina Jankowicz’s embrace of the Steele dossier, her dismissal of the Hunter Biden laptop story and her speculation regarding Trump’s supporters’ attempt to intimidate the voters in the polling stations. Ultimately, the board was suspended and Nina Jankowicz resigned as she was not sure that the board had a future after such a debacle.
Unfortunately, even though a successful fight against disinformation requires well-designed coordination at the state level, such efforts have to be better communicated in the future, with clear transparency about the mandate of such institutions as well as the appointment of its leading figures.
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Kremlin: Russia is required to feed the whole world for free. |
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Kremlin states that Russia was expecting that the collective West would blame them for the food crisis. Russia claims that now the British, German, and American responsible actors are frightening the whole world with the coming famine and laying all the responsibility for it on Russia. Kremlin quoted the American source Newsmax: "Putin is blackmailing the whole world, threatening it with hunger."
As for the special operation, after achieving all the goals, of course, we would like to complete it,” stated the article in Ria Novosti. “But how can this be done now, if Western partners are pumping weapons into Ukraine, sending military advisers there, training the Ukrainian army, and mercilessly driving it to the front?”, added Kremlin.
Kremlin emphasized that the Western partners do not want to admit the problem, they only talk about future hunger in the countries of Asia and Africa. “But the horror of their plight is that the autumn rise in food prices will starve millions of poor people in both the US and Europe. And how then will the Western authorities justify themselves? Will it continue to blame Russians for everything?” stressed Russia.
In addition to this, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova responded to statements about global hunger as well: "If we talk about a direct reason, prices are rising due to sanctions imposed by the collective West, under pressure from the United States. Failure to understand this is a sign of either stupidity or intention to mislead the public."
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Russia claims that China revealed how the desire of the US to get rich brought problems to the whole world |
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The Kremlin cites the Chinese newspaper stating that attempts by the United States to expand its influence in the world through the sale of “second-hand weapons” often become an aid to terrorists. According to Russia, as the author of the article noted, Washington has created a system of military alliances in the world but only a few have access to advanced American technologies, in particular members of AUKUS (an alliance of Great Britain, Australia, and the United States). The rest is left to be content with using “second-hand” weapons, which are sold at exorbitant prices.
Russia asserted that according to experts, Washington utilizes used equipment not only to make unimaginable profits but also to fuel conflicts around the world and achieve geopolitical goals. Nevertheless, the article emphasizes that Americans do not always cope with this task. "The United States failed to control all of its supplies when it mattered, and some of the weapons ended up on the black market, eventually falling into the wrong hands, including terrorists and other criminals. This created additional risks for the security of the whole world," stressed the author of the article. Moreover, the author specified that these were leaks into the hands of Islamic State and al-Qaeda militants, as well as militias in Papua New Guinea.
Furthermore, Kremlin claimed that Washington and NATO allies continue to send weapons to Ukraine against “the Russian special operation to protect the Donbas”, which began on February 24. Moscow has repeatedly stated that the supply of Western weapons only prolongs the conflict, and transport with them becomes a legitimate target.
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As Taiwan was excluded from the works of the World Health Assembly (WHA) for the sixth year in a row, Central-Eastern European countries displayed their support for the broader inclusion of Taiwan in the global public health protection regime. During the opening session of the 75th WHA, Václav Bálek, Czechia’s permanent representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva, declared that "no one can be left behind" in the global struggle to combat the COVID-19 disease, and explained this is the reason why "the Czech Republic fully supports Taiwan to be granted observer status to the World Health Assembly." Previously, the Czech Senate also passed a resolution supporting the involvement of Taiwan in the works of the World Health Organization and other international bodies, including UNFCCC, ICAO, and Interpol.
The European Affairs Committee of the Slovak National Assembly also passed a resolution supporting Taiwan’s observer status in the WHA earlier in May. Meanwhile, Lithuania’s Health Minister Arūnas Dulkys met with Taiwan’s Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Li-Feng Lee (李麗芬) to discuss potential bilateral cooperation in public health. Dulkys also directly called for Taiwan’s inclusion in the WHA, stating, "This step would allow the international community to benefit from Taiwan's experience and scientific and technical expertise as well as support the WHO's mission to advance global health and commitment to working for peace through health and for health through peace." Medical diplomacy has proven to be an important area for the development of closer ties between Taiwan and Central Eastern Europe, a process which intensified with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and reciprocal donations of personal protective equipment and vaccines to fight the virus.
During his inaugural visit to East Asia, United States President Joe Biden made
“starkest comments yet on defending Taiwan from China” as he pledged the US would come to Taiwan’s defence militarily if China tried to take over the country by force. This statement attracted the attention of policy and scholarly circles as some experts recognized this declaration as an aberration from Washington's long-standing policy of "strategic ambiguity.” In an interview with the New York Times, Danny Russel, vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute and a former adviser to President Barack Obama, stated that Biden is “clear about his belief that the US should respond in the event of Chinese military aggression against Taiwan [but] ambiguous about what exactly that means and what it is based on.” Unsurprisingly, Beijing strongly condemned Biden’s words. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) called on the US to “stop saying or doing anything in violation of the one-China principle and the three China-US Joint Communiqués. Those who play with fire will certainly burn themselves.”
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