SPECIAL EDITION per 2016 ConcordiamJournal of European Security and Defense Issues COUNTERING RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA SPECIAL EDITION 2016 Table of Contents features ON THE COVER Russia’s manipulative use of media throughout Europe has masked its aggressive intentions in places like Ukraine. PER CONCORDIAM ILLUSTRATION 6 4 Director’s Letter 14 Estonia Confronts Propaganda 5 Contributors By Prof. Viljar Veebel, Estonian National Defense College Control of information is key to Russia’s use of 6 Hybrid Conflict 2.0: psychological warfare. Targeting the West By Dr. Graeme P. Herd, George C. Marshall European 20 Avoiding Death by a Center for Security Studies Thousand Cuts Russian propaganda seeks to breed By Capt. David P. Canaday, U.S. Army strategic instability among NATO members. Moscow uses hybrid warfare to foment crises among its neighbors. 14 36 26 The Pro-Russian Disinformation 36 Russian Propaganda in Campaign in the Czech Republic Ukraine and Slovakia By Roman Shutov, program director, Telekritika, Kyiv By Ivana Smoleňová, Prague Security Studies Institute Ukraine struggles to defend itself against Local news outlets are exploited to foster discontent an aggressive Russian propaganda and disseminate pro-Russian messages. campaign. 31 Russkiy Mir By Capt. Brian P. Cotter, U.S. Army Russia uses state media to manipulate countries it considers part of its orbit. DIRECTOR'S LETTER Welcome to this special edition of per Concordiam. In this issue we discuss some of the arguments and debates related to the highly charged and topical issue of Russia’s strategic narrative and how it is disseminated. Propaganda, in numerous forms, creates a barrier to more constructive engagement and dialogue. This issue’s contributors find that Russia’s narrative is based on notions of encirclement by the West as part of a deliberate contain- ment strategy that Russia feels duty bound to resist if it is to remain a great power. The West, for its part, acknowledges Russia’s power status and its legitimate right to seek such status, but questions the means it uses to that end. Propaganda constructs an artificial information reality and sows doubt by questioning the very existence of objective, reliable and credible facts. It can mobilize popular support against an external threat, as well as toward a positive goal. Propaganda thrives when notions of journalistic objectivity are sacrificed. The notion that there must be two sides to any given issue or event can undermine rational conclusions when one side relies on the power of implausible denials and direct lies. “You have your truth, and I have mine” Keith W. Dayton is the mantra and motto of contemporary Russian information warfare. Director, George C. Marshall European While it is interesting to “admire a problem,” it is all too easy, especially when study- Center for Security Studies ing propaganda, to get lost in arguments and the rhetoric of “you started this,” and Keith W. Dayton retired as a “whoever started it, both sides do it.” Such a regressive and circular outcome is not the Lieutenant General from the U.S. purpose of this special edition. Rather, we seek to consider the modern Russian narrative Army in late 2010 after more in a contemporary context to address more constructive questions, such as: Why is Russia than 40 years of service. His last behaving this way? What does such behavior mean for security in Europe, Eurasia and assignment on active duty was as the Trans-Atlantic space? Do Russian elites and society distinguish between the narrative U.S. Security Coordinator to Israel advanced by some that the West is the enemy and the reality as felt in Europe — namely and the Palestinian Authority in that Russia is a part of Europe, not apart from Europe? Most important, what can we do Jerusalem. An artillery officer by to balance this narrative so that Russia and its neighbors know there is a different “truth?” training, he also has served as The answers to such questions, and the process of raising and discussing them, are the politico-military staff officer for the necessary prerequisites for rebuilding trust and confidence between Russia and the West. Army in Washington, D.C., and Trust is necessary to collectively face a larger set of looming complex threats. Together, U.S. defense attaché in Russia. Europe, Russia and the United States can focus on immediate transnational threats such He worked as director of the Iraqi as ISIS, organized crime and radicalism, which no single state, no matter how power- Survey Group for Operation Iraqi ful, can manage alone. There is a cooperative imperative we should grasp: Engagement, Freedom in Iraq. He earned a dialogue and partnership are the prerequisites for success, and mutual indispensability is Senior Service College Fellowship the only sustainable security paradigm for the contemporary era. to Harvard University and served We invite your comments and perspectives on this subject and will include your as the Senior Army Fellow on the responses in our next two editions. The first will focus on cyber security and explore Council on Foreign Relations in lessons from our cyber security studies program, and the second will address how efforts New York. Gen. Dayton has a to counter transnational criminal organizations shape national decision-making. Please bachelor’s degree in history from contact us at [email protected] the College of William and Mary, a master’s degree in history from Sincerely, Cambridge University and another in international relations from the University of Southern California. Keith W. Dayton Director 4 per Concordiam CONTRIBUTORS per Journal of European Security Capt. David P. Canaday is a U.S. Army foreign area officer working and Defense Issues in the Army Stability and Security Cooperation Division. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point with a bachelor’s degree in Russian language and literature, the Defense Language Special Edition: Institute, and more recently, the College of International Security Studies Countering Russian at the Marshall Center. Propaganda Volume 7, 2016 George C. Marshall Capt. Brian P. Cotter is a U.S. Army foreign area officer with a focus European Center for on Eurasia. He has served nearly 10 years in the U.S. Army, with two Security Studies tours in Iraq, and has led multiple commands. He is currently studying at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and pursuing a master’s Leadership degree in East European, Russian and Eurasian studies. Keith W. Dayton Director Ben Reed U.S. Deputy Director Dr. Graeme P. Herd is professor of transnational security studies at the Johann Berger Marshall Center. He supports the Program on Terrorism and Security German Deputy Director Studies (PTSS), Countering Transnational Organized Crime (CTOC), the Senior Executive Seminar (SES) and the Program on Applied Security Studies (PASS). During his 22-year academic career, he has published Marshall Center nine books, written over 70 academic papers and has given over 100 The George C. Marshall European Center academic and policy-related presentations in 46 countries. He has a for Security Studies is a German-American doctorate in Russian history from the University of Aberdeen. partnership founded in 1993. The center promotes dialogue and understanding be- tween European, Eurasian, North American and other nations. The theme of its resident Roman Shutov is program director of Telekritika, a Kyiv-based courses and outreach events: Most 21st nongovernmental organization devoted to dispelling false Russian century security challenges require inter- narratives planted in the media. He has a background in nonprofit national, interagency and interdisciplinary management and media in Ukraine. He earned a doctorate in political response and cooperation. science in 2007 from East Ukraine National University in Luhansk. Contact Us per Concordiam editors Marshall Center Gernackerstrasse 2 Ivana Smoleňová is communications and outreach manager at the 82467 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Prague Security Studies Institute, where she is responsible for public relations and alumni programs. Her academic focus is on the geopolitics Germany of Russia and its use of soft power projection and hybrid warfare tactics in [email protected] Eastern Europe, in particular pro-Russian disinformation and propaganda. She holds a master’s in corporate economics and development studies from the University of Economics in Prague. per Concordiam is a professional journal pub- lished quarterly by the George C. Marshall Euro- pean Center for Security Studies that addresses defense and security issues in Europe and Eurasia Prof. Viljar Veebel is an associate professor at the Estonian National for military and security practitioners and experts. Defense College. His research focuses on European Union-Russia Opinions expressed in this journal do not neces- relations, including the impact of political and economic sanctions, the sarily represent the policies or points of view of this institution or of any other agency of the Ger- propaganda war related to the Ukrainian conflict and security strategies man or United States governments. All articles are for small states in Central and Eastern Europe. He consults on EU-related written by per Concordiam staff unless otherwise projects in Moldova, Georgia, Ukraine and the Balkans. He received his noted. Opinions expressed in articles written by doctorate in 2012 from the University of Tartu. contributors represent those of the author only. The secretary of defense determined that publi- cation of this journal is necessary for conducting public business as required of the U.S. Depart- ment of Defense by law. ISSN 2166-322X (print) ISSN 2166-3238 (online) per Concordiam 5 Hundreds of ethnic Germans who left Russia demonstrate against violence in Villingen-Schwenningen in January 2016. The demonstration took place in connection with the alleged rape of a 13-year-old girl by a refugee, an event police said did not happen. State-controlled Russian media is using emotionally charged disinformation to try to splinter public opinion in the West.