DOCSLIB.ORG

Soviet Active Measures Have Shown No Diminution Comprised of Representatives from the Departments Since General Secretary Gorbachev Came to Power

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Soviet Active Measures Have Shown No Diminution Comprised of Representatives from the Departments Since General Secretary Gorbachev Came to Power United States Department of State Active Measures: A Report on the Substance and Process of Anti-U.S. Disinformation and Propaganda Campaigns August 1986 © by Catherine Kanner Artwork from Los Angeles Times by Catherine Kanner © Catherine Kanner Department of State Publication 9630 Released August 1986 United States Department of State Active Measures: A Report on the Substance and Process of Anti-U.S. Disinformation and Propaganda Campaigns August 1986 Foreword This document contains the principal chapters of designed to discredit the US image abroad and a report submitted in August 1986 to the US Congress disrupt US foreign policy objectives. This program by the Secretary of State. It was prepared in has achieved successes in the past; without effective fulfillment of Section 1247 of H.R. 2086, passed in responses by the US, it constitutes a threat to US July 1985. The report was compiled by the national interests. interagency Active Measures Working Group, Soviet active measures have shown no diminution comprised of representatives from the Departments since General Secretary Gorbachev came to power. of State, Defense, and Justice, the Central During 1985-86, virtually the entire Soviet Intelligence Agency, the Arms Control and leadership directly responsible for active measures Disarmament Agency, and the US Information changed; the new leaders have a more eclectic view Agency. of world politics and are younger. Also, the The conclusion to be drawn from this report is International Department of the Central Committee that there is a massive and highly organized effort of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, which by the Soviet Union and its proxies to influence is responsible for many active measures, has been world opinion. This effort includes public diplomacy reorganized. These changes indicate a renewed to enhance the Soviet image abroad and to further emphasis on active measures and perhaps an increase Soviet policy objectives. It also includes a persistent, in both quantity and quality of such deceptive widespread program of disinformation and deception activities for the foreseeable future. iii Table of Contents Page Foreword .....................................................................................................................iii Chapter 1. Executive Summary ................................................................................... 1 Definition ..................................................................................................... 1 The Soviet Foreign Propaganda Apparatus .................................................. 2 Soviet Active Measures in the United States ................................................ 2 Soviet Front Organizations ........................................................................... 2 Forgeries: An Instrument of Active Measures .............................................. 3 Agents of Influence ...................................................................................... 3 Chapter 11. The Soviet Foreign Propaganda Apparatus ............................................ 5 Outlets for Soviet Propaganda ..................................................................... 6 The Apparatus for Propaganda Management ............................................. 13 The Propaganda Process ............................................................................ 15 Soviet Propaganda Techniques and Recent Improvements . .................... 16 Conclusions and Prospects ......................................................................... 17 Appendix: The Soviet Campaign Against SDI ........................................... 18 Footnotes .................................................................................................... 19 Chapter 111. Soviet Active Measures in the US ...........................................................21 Soviet Forgery Operations ......................................................................... 22 Use of Soviet Media Representatives ........................................................ 23 Soviet Efforts To Influence Peace and Disarmament Movements ................................................................................................. 25 Soviet Efforts To Control the International Womens Movement .................................................................................................. 29 The Soviet Campaign To Influence Religious Organizations . .................. 29 Efforts to Influence US Presidential Elections ........................................... 30 The 12th World Festival of Youth and Students ......................................... 31 Soviet Influence in the United Nations ...................................................... 32 An Assessment of Soviet Active Measures in the US .............................. 33 Chapter IV. Soviet Front Organizations .....................................................................35 Table A: International Communist Front Organizations, 1985 .................. 36 World Peace Council (WPC) ..................................................................... 37 World Federation of Trade Unions............................................................. 38 The Womens International Democratic Federation (WIDF) ..................... 38 The World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY)............................... 39 International Union of Students (IUS) ....................................................... 39 Afro-Asian Peoples Solidarity Organization (AAPSO) ............................. 39 The Christian Peace Conference (CPC) ..................................................... 40 International Organization of Journalists (IOJ) .......................................... 41 International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) ........................ 41 World Federation of Scientific Workers (WFSW) ..................................... 41 World Federation of Teachers Union (FISE) ............................................. 42 Asian Buddhists Conference for Peace (ABCP) ........................................ 42 Esperantists Movement for World Peace ................................................... 42 v Chapter V. Forgeries: An Instrument of Active Measures ...................................... 43 Operational Aspects ................................................................................... 43 Themes and Timing of Forgeries ............................................................... 44 Technical Aspects ...................................................................................... 44 Impact ........................................................................................................ 46 Examples of Forgeries ............................................................................... 47 Embassy Rome Cables .............................................................................. 47 The von Damm Letter................................................................................ 49 The Defense Mapping Agency Letter ........................................................ 52 The Olympic Hate Letters ......................................................................... 54 The Jorgenson Letter ................................................................................. 57 The Schweitzer Letter................................................................................ 60 The Tyner Letter ........................................................................................ 63 AIDS in Jamaica Pamphlet ........................................................................ 65 The USIA Questionnaire ........................................................................... 68 The General Skantze Letter ....................................................................... 71 The Kirkpatrick Speech ............................................................................. 73 Footnotes ................................................................................................... 80 Chapter VI. Soviet Agents of Influence ....................................................................... 81 Types of Relationships .............................................................................. 81 Foreign Targets .......................................................................................... 81 The Arne Treholt Case ............................................................................... 82 Other High-Level Officials ........................................................................ 82 Penetrating the Opposition ........................................................................ 82 Targeting Journalists . ................................................................................ 83 Other Influence Channels .......................................................................... 83 vi Chapter I Executive Summary Definition Nonruling Communist and Leftist Parties The term active measures is a literal translation The ID is also responsible for liaison with from Russian, aktivnyye meropriyatiya, which denotes nonruling communist and leftist parties, covert or deceptive operations conducted in support including socialist and social democratic parties. of Soviet foreign policy. Active measures are distinct Contacts with these parties are usually overt, and both from espionage and counterintelligence and from are used to persuade the parties to carry out traditional diplomatic and informational activities. specific
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Soviet Active Measures WPC Copenhagen Jul 1986.P65
    Foreign Affairs Note United States Department of State Washington, D.C. SOVIET ACTIVE MEASURES: July 1986 THE WPC COPENHAGEN PEACE CONGRESS, OCTOBER 15-19, 1986 The World Peace Council (WPC), the best known Soviet interna- tional front, is sponsoring its 14th major peace congress Oc- For further information about the World Peace Council, tober 15-19, 1986, highlighting the UNs International Year of see: Peace. The themes of the congress probably will emphasize Soviet propaganda and policy initiatives on a variety of issues, • Foreign Affairs Note Soviet Active Measures: particularly nuclear defense and arms control. In order to attract The World Peace Council, April 1985. maximum participation, organizers have attempted to conceal • Foreign Affairs Note The World Peace Councils the WPCs central role, but several independent peace groups Peace Assemblies, May 1983. already have denounced the undertaking and have declined to • Foreign Affairs Note World Peace Council: participate. Original projections of some 5,000 attendees have Instrument of Soviet Foreign Policy, April 1982. dropped significantly, and the success of the conference is now in question. World peace assemblies or congresses are mainstays of of a breakthrough in international life, and of effective joint action in the interests the WPC agenda. Staged about every 3 years, they focus on a of all States and peoples, was stressed both at the meeting in Denmark, and in specific theme and invariably echo Soviet propaganda lines. an address issued by representatives of the national peace committees of Social- This years congress is dedicated to the UN International Year ist countries meeting in Sofia. of Peacea theme currently being exploited by all Soviet inter- Hermod LannungDanish Radical Liberal and long-time national front groups to support Soviet policies and condemn chairman of the Danish-Soviet Friendship Societywas chosen those of the West.
    [Show full text]
  • Deception, Disinformation, and Strategic Communications: How One Interagency Group Made a Major Difference by Fletcher Schoen and Christopher J
    STRATEGIC PERSPECTIVES 11 Deception, Disinformation, and Strategic Communications: How One Interagency Group Made a Major Difference by Fletcher Schoen and Christopher J. Lamb Center for Strategic Research Institute for National Strategic Studies National Defense University Institute for National Strategic Studies National Defense University The Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) is National Defense University’s (NDU’s) dedicated research arm. INSS includes the Center for Strategic Research, Center for Complex Operations, Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs, Center for Technology and National Security Policy, Center for Transatlantic Security Studies, and Conflict Records Research Center. The military and civilian analysts and staff who comprise INSS and its subcomponents execute their mission by conducting research and analysis, publishing, and participating in conferences, policy support, and outreach. The mission of INSS is to conduct strategic studies for the Secretary of Defense, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Unified Combatant Commands in support of the academic programs at NDU and to perform outreach to other U.S. Government agencies and the broader national security community. Cover: Kathleen Bailey presents evidence of forgeries to the press corps. Credit: The Washington Times Deception, Disinformation, and Strategic Communications: How One Interagency Group Made a Major Difference Deception, Disinformation, and Strategic Communications: How One Interagency Group Made a Major Difference By Fletcher Schoen and Christopher J. Lamb Institute for National Strategic Studies Strategic Perspectives, No. 11 Series Editor: Nicholas Rostow National Defense University Press Washington, D.C. June 2012 Opinions, conclusions, and recommendations expressed or implied within are solely those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Defense Department or any other agency of the Federal Government.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Cold War Contested Truth
    Cold War Contested Truth: Informants, Surveillance, and the Disciplining of Black Radicalism, 1947-1957 Charisse Burden-Stelly, PhD Africana Studies and Political Science Carleton College [email protected] (510) 717-9000 Introduction During the height of the era of McCarthyism, roughly 1947-1957, Black radicalism was surveilled, disciplined, discredited, and criminalized through a multitude of anticommunist technologies. These included “parallelism,” red-baiting, infiltration, and guilt by association. McCarthyism was constituted by a range of legislation meant to fortify the U.S. security state against the Communist threat, starting with the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, and including the Alien Registration Act of 1940 (commonly known as the Smith Act); the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947 (often referred to as the Taft-Hartley Act); Executive Order 9835 of 1947 (the “Loyalty Order”) and its supersession by Executive Order 10450 in 1953; the Attorney General’s List of Subversive Organizations; and the Internal Security Act of 1950 (also known as the McCarran Act). It was under this legal architecture that scores of activists and scholars who defied Cold War statist pedagogy were indicted, deported, incarcerated, surveilled, and forced underground. This paper uses the examples of the the Peace Information Center (PIC) the Sojourners for Truth and Justice (STJ), and the Council on African Affairs (CAA) to elucidate that career confidential informants, “stool pigeons,” and “turncoats” were instrumental to the Cold War state apparatus’s transmogrification of Black radicals committed to anti-imperialism, anticolonialism, antiracism, peace, and the eradication of economic exploitation into criminals and subversives. Black 1 radicalism can be understood as African descendants’ multivalent and persistent praxis aimed at dismantling structures of domination that sustain racialized dispossession, exploitation, and class-based domination.
    [Show full text]
  • Title of Thesis: ABSTRACT CLASSIFYING BIAS
    ABSTRACT Title of Thesis: CLASSIFYING BIAS IN LARGE MULTILINGUAL CORPORA VIA CROWDSOURCING AND TOPIC MODELING Team BIASES: Brianna Caljean, Katherine Calvert, Ashley Chang, Elliot Frank, Rosana Garay Jáuregui, Geoffrey Palo, Ryan Rinker, Gareth Weakly, Nicolette Wolfrey, William Zhang Thesis Directed By: Dr. David Zajic, Ph.D. Our project extends previous algorithmic approaches to finding bias in large text corpora. We used multilingual topic modeling to examine language-specific bias in the English, Spanish, and Russian versions of Wikipedia. In particular, we placed Spanish articles discussing the Cold War on a Russian-English viewpoint spectrum based on similarity in topic distribution. We then crowdsourced human annotations of Spanish Wikipedia articles for comparison to the topic model. Our hypothesis was that human annotators and topic modeling algorithms would provide correlated results for bias. However, that was not the case. Our annotators indicated that humans were more perceptive of sentiment in article text than topic distribution, which suggests that our classifier provides a different perspective on a text’s bias. CLASSIFYING BIAS IN LARGE MULTILINGUAL CORPORA VIA CROWDSOURCING AND TOPIC MODELING by Team BIASES: Brianna Caljean, Katherine Calvert, Ashley Chang, Elliot Frank, Rosana Garay Jáuregui, Geoffrey Palo, Ryan Rinker, Gareth Weakly, Nicolette Wolfrey, William Zhang Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Gemstone Honors Program, University of Maryland, 2018 Advisory Committee: Dr. David Zajic, Chair Dr. Brian Butler Dr. Marine Carpuat Dr. Melanie Kill Dr. Philip Resnik Mr. Ed Summers © Copyright by Team BIASES: Brianna Caljean, Katherine Calvert, Ashley Chang, Elliot Frank, Rosana Garay Jáuregui, Geoffrey Palo, Ryan Rinker, Gareth Weakly, Nicolette Wolfrey, William Zhang 2018 Acknowledgements We would like to express our sincerest gratitude to our mentor, Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Conspiracy of Peace: the Cold War, the International Peace Movement, and the Soviet Peace Campaign, 1946-1956
    The London School of Economics and Political Science Conspiracy of Peace: The Cold War, the International Peace Movement, and the Soviet Peace Campaign, 1946-1956 Vladimir Dobrenko A thesis submitted to the Department of International History of the London School of Economics for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, London, October 2015 Declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without my prior written consent. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. I declare that my thesis consists of 90,957 words. Statement of conjoint work I can confirm that my thesis was copy edited for conventions of language, spelling and grammar by John Clifton of www.proofreading247.co.uk/ I have followed the Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition, for referencing. 2 Abstract This thesis deals with the Soviet Union’s Peace Campaign during the first decade of the Cold War as it sought to establish the Iron Curtain. The thesis focuses on the primary institutions engaged in the Peace Campaign: the World Peace Council and the Soviet Peace Committee.
    [Show full text]
  • Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Intelligence
    Russia • Military / Security Historical Dictionaries of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, No. 5 PRINGLE At its peak, the KGB (Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti) was the largest HISTORICAL secret police and espionage organization in the world. It became so influential DICTIONARY OF in Soviet politics that several of its directors moved on to become premiers of the Soviet Union. In fact, Russian president Vladimir V. Putin is a former head of the KGB. The GRU (Glavnoe Razvedvitelnoe Upravleniye) is the principal intelligence unit of the Russian armed forces, having been established in 1920 by Leon Trotsky during the Russian civil war. It was the first subordinate to the KGB, and although the KGB broke up with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the GRU remains intact, cohesive, highly efficient, and with far greater resources than its civilian counterparts. & The KGB and GRU are just two of the many Russian and Soviet intelli- gence agencies covered in Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Intelligence. Through a list of acronyms and abbreviations, a chronology, an introductory HISTORICAL DICTIONARY OF essay, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries, a clear picture of this subject is presented. Entries also cover Russian and Soviet leaders, leading intelligence and security officers, the Lenin and Stalin purges, the gulag, and noted espionage cases. INTELLIGENCE Robert W. Pringle is a former foreign service officer and intelligence analyst RUSSIAN with a lifelong interest in Russian security. He has served as a diplomat and intelligence professional in Africa, the former Soviet Union, and Eastern Europe. For orders and information please contact the publisher && SOVIET Scarecrow Press, Inc.
    [Show full text]
  • Twenty-Seventh Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
    TMUN TWENTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE SOVIET UNION MARCH 1986 COMITTEEE DIRECTOR VICE DIRECTORS MODERATOR SIERRA CHOW NATHALIA HERRERA DAVIS HAUGEN TESSA DI VIZIO THE TWENTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS OF THE TMUN COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE SOVIET UNION A Letter from Your Director 2 Topic A: Economic Reform and Institutional Restructuring 3 Uskorenie 3 Glasnost 6 Perestroika 7 Questions to Consider 9 Topic B: National Movements and Satellite States 10 Russian Nationalism 10 Satellite States 11 Hungarian Revolution, 1956 12 Prague Spring Czechoslovakia, 1968 13 Poland Solidarity, 1980 14 The Baltics 17 Kazakhstan 19 Questions to Consider 21 Topic C: Foreign Policy Challenges 22 The Brezhnev Era 22 Gorbachev’s “New Thinking” 23 American Relations 25 Soviet Involvement in Afghanistan 26 Turning Point 28 Questions to Consider 30 Characters 31 Advice for Research and Preparation 36 General Resources 37 Topic A Key Resources 37 Topic B Key Resources 37 Topic C Key Resources 38 Bibliography 39 Topic A 39 Topic C 41 1 THE TWENTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS OF THE TMUN COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE SOVIET UNION A LETTER FROM YOUR DIRECTOR Dear Delegates, Welcome to the 27thCongress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. This event represents a turning point in the Soviet Union’s history, as Mikhail Gorbachev, a champion of reform and reorientation, leads his first Congress as General Secretary. My name is Sierra Chow, and I will be your Director for the conference. I am a third-year student at the University of Toronto, enrolled in Political Science, Psychology, and Philosophy. Should you have any questions about the topics, the committee, the conference, or University of Toronto in general, please reach out to me via email and I will do my best to help.
    [Show full text]
  • Organization of the Soviet Intelligence and Security Structure Source
    Figure 1- Organization of the Soviet Intelligence and Security Structure General Chairman First Deputy Chairman Chief, GRU Deputy Chairman Space Intelligence Operational/ Technical Administrative/ Directorate for Foreign First Deputy Chief Chief of Information Personnel Directorate Political Department Financial Department Eighth Department Archives Department (KGB) Directorate Directorate Technical Directorate Relations First Chief Directorate First Directorate: Seventh Directorate: (Foreign) Europe and Morocco NATO Second Directorate: North and South Second Chief Eighth Directorate: America, Australia, Directorate (Internal) Individual Countries New Zealand, United Kingdom Fifth Chief Directorate Ninth Directorate: Third Directorate: Asia (Dissidents) Military Technology Eighth Chief Fourth Directorate: Tenth Directorate: Directorate Africa Military Economics (Communications) Fifth Directorate: Chief Border Troops Eleventh Directorate: Operational Directorates Doctrine, Weapons Intelligence Sixth Directorate: Third (Armed Forces) Twelfth Directorate: Radio, Radio-Technical Directorate Unknown Intelligence Seventh (Surveillance) First Direction: Institute of Directorate Moscow Information Ninth (Guards) Second Direction: East Information Command Directorate and West Berlin Post Third: National Technical Operations Liberation Directorate Movements, Terrorism Administration Fourth: Operations Directorate from Cuba Personnel Directorate Special Investigations Collation of Operational Experience State Communications Physical Security Registry and Archives Finance Source: (Richelson 22, 27) Figure 2- Organization of the United States Intelligence Community President National Security Advisor National Security DNI State DOD DOJ DHS DOE Treasury Commerce Council Nuclear CIO INR USDI FBI Intelligence Foreign $$ Flow Attachés Weapons Plans DIA NSA NGA NRO Military Services NSB Coast Guard Collection MSIC NGIC (Army) MRSIC (Air Analysis AFMic Force) NCTC J-2's ONI (Navy) CIA Main DIA INSCOM (Army) NCDC MIA (Marine) MIT Source: (Martin-McCormick) .
    [Show full text]
  • Reform and Human Rights the Gorbachev Record
    100TH-CONGRESS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES [ 1023 REFORM AND HUMAN RIGHTS THE GORBACHEV RECORD REPORT SUBMITTED TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES BY THE COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE MAY 1988 Printed for the use of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON: 1988 84-979 = For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402 COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE STENY H. HOYER, Maryland, Chairman DENNIS DeCONCINI, Arizona, Cochairman DANTE B. FASCELL, Florida FRANK LAUTENBERG, New Jersey EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts TIMOTHY WIRTH, Colorado BILL RICHARDSON, New Mexico WYCHE FOWLER, Georgia EDWARD FEIGHAN, Ohio HARRY REED, Nevada DON RITTER, Pennslyvania ALFONSE M. D'AMATO, New York CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey JOHN HEINZ, Pennsylvania JACK F. KEMP, New York JAMES McCLURE, Idaho JOHN EDWARD PORTER, Illinois MALCOLM WALLOP, Wyoming EXECUTIvR BRANCH HON. RICHARD SCHIFIER, Department of State Vacancy, Department of Defense Vacancy, Department of Commerce Samuel G. Wise, Staff Director Mary Sue Hafner, Deputy Staff Director and General Counsel Jane S. Fisher, Senior Staff Consultant Michael Amitay, Staff Assistant Catherine Cosman, Staff Assistant Orest Deychakiwsky, Staff Assistant Josh Dorosin, Staff Assistant John Finerty, Staff Assistant Robert Hand, Staff Assistant Gina M. Harner, Administrative Assistant Judy Ingram, Staff Assistant Jesse L. Jacobs, Staff Assistant Judi Kerns, Ofrice Manager Ronald McNamara, Staff Assistant Michael Ochs, Staff Assistant Spencer Oliver, Consultant Erika B. Schlager, Staff Assistant Thomas Warner, Pinting Clerk (11) CONTENTS Page Summary Letter of Transmittal .................... V........................................V Reform and Human Rights: The Gorbachev Record ................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Diary of Anatoly S. Chernyaev 1986
    The Diary of Anatoly S. Chernyaev 1986 Donated by A.S. Chernyaev to The National Security Archive Translated by Anna Melyakova Edited by Svetlana Savranskaya http://www.nsarchive.org Translation © The National Security Archive, 2007 The Diary of Anatoly S. Chernyaev, 1986 http://www.nsarchive.org January 1st, 1986. At the department1 everyone wished each other to celebrate the New Year 1987 “in the same positions.” And it is true, at the last session of the CC (Central Committee) Secretariat on December 30th, five people were replaced: heads of CC departments, obkom [Oblast Committee] secretaries, heads of executive committees. The Politizdat2 director Belyaev was confirmed as editor of Soviet Culture. [Yegor] Ligachev3 addressed him as one would address a person, who is getting promoted and entrusted with a very crucial position. He said something like this: we hope that you will make the newspaper truly an organ of the Central Committee, that you won’t squander your time on petty matters, but will carry out state and party policies... In other words, culture and its most important control lever were entrusted to a Stalinist pain-in-the neck dullard. What is that supposed to mean? Menshikov’s case is also shocking to me. It is clear that he is a bastard in general. I was never favorably disposed to him; he was tacked on [to our team] without my approval. I had to treat him roughly to make sure no extraterritoriality and privileges were allowed in relation to other consultants, and even in relation to me (which could have been done through [Vadim] Zagladin,4 with whom they are dear friends).
    [Show full text]
  • Cyber Conflicts As a New Global Threat
    future internet Article Cyber Conflicts as a New Global Threat Alexander Kosenkov Information Society Research Center, Chernihiv 14000, Ukraine; [email protected]; Tel.: +380-930570382 Academic Editor: Jiankun Hu Received: 7 June 2016; Accepted: 5 September 2016; Published: 9 September 2016 Abstract: In this paper, an attempt is made to analyze the potential threats and consequences of cyber conflicts and, in particular, the risks of a global cyber conflict. The material is based on a comprehensive analysis of the nature of cyber conflict and its elements from both technical and societal points of view. The approach used in the paper considers the societal component as an essential part of cyber conflicts, allowing basics of cyber conflicts often disregarded by researchers and the public to be highlighted. Finally, the conclusion offers an opportunity to consider cyber conflict as the most advanced form of modern warfare, which imposes the most serious threat and whose effect could be comparable to weapons of mass destruction. Keywords: cyber conflict; information warfare; cyber warfare; information operations 1. Introduction During the last decade, global social and political landscapes were changed by the revolutionary development of information and communications technologies (ICT). New ICT has also significantly influenced warfare, among other ways through the emergence of network-centric warfare doctrine and unconventional, hybrid, information, and asymmetric warfare. The most significant transformation brought by the ICT was the emergence of a totally new form of conflict—cyber conflict (in this paper, cyber conflict is defined as conflict with the application of cyberspace capabilities in order to achieve objectives in or through cyberspace)—the rise of which we are witnessing worldwide today.
    [Show full text]
  • Active Measures: the Secret History of Disinformation & Political
    Active Measures: The Secret History of Disinformation & Political Warfare | Thomas Rid Philosophers have only interpreted the world. The point, May 25th, 2020 however, is to change it. — Karl Marx INTRODUCTION Thomas Rid is Professor of Strategic Studies at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. Rid’s latest book, Active Measures, a startling history of disinformation, was published in late April 2020 with Farrar, Straus and Giroux (also in Russian, Japanese, Polish). His most recent book, Rise of the Machines (2016), tells the sweeping story of how cybernetics, a late- 1940s theory of machines, came to incite anarchy and war (also in Chinese, Russian, German, Japanese, Turkish). His 2015 article “Attributing Cyber Attacks” was designed to explain, guide, and improve the identification of network breaches (Journal of Strategic Studies 2015). In 2013 he published the widely-read book Cyber War Will Not Take Place. Rid’s Ph.D. thesis, “War and Media Operations: The US Military and the Press from Vietnam to Iraq,” was the first academic analysis of the role of embedded media in the 2003 Iraq War, providing a concise history of US military public affairs management since Vietnam. Rid testified on information security in front of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence as well as in the German Bundestag and the UK Parliament. From 2011 to 2016, Rid was a professor in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London. Between 2003 and 2010, he worked at major think tanks in Berlin, Paris, Jerusalem, and Washington, DC. Rid holds a PhD from Humboldt University in Berlin.
    [Show full text]