An all-encompassing Russian disinformation campaign is using everything from bots to lifestyle influencers to powerful state-run media to sow division in the United States.
I saw a post where someone was listing the reasons Texas would do better as an independent country, they were talking about its economy, freedoms, whatever…
And the fact that it has “warm water ports”, which is a hot button topic for one country and pretty much nobody else…
Russia is trying to export her Ukraine debacle to North America. Anyone calling for secession, national divorce or any other dissolution of the United States is a Russian asset. If Trump is too explicitly Russian for you, you can fall back onto any of the other neo-confederate suckers the GOP has teed up in their matryoshka primary
Specifically phrasing it as “warm water ports” definitely points towards Russia, but port access is an issue for many countries. Especially for landlocked countries, but even some countries with a coastline have few locations suitable for a port. In modern times we can dig artificial ports, but this costs a ton of money that often has to be financed with debt.
As someone who has been dealing with Russian propaganda, it works in one of two ways:
Way I: divide and divide
Find an issue that divides your enemy.
Amplify fringe voice on the issue, make the most divisive element into the most vocal one.
Once the fringe becomes more popular, amplify the opposing voice to grant legitimacy to the fringe elements.
Watch the fireworks.
Notable examples: environmental movements in the west, antivax, Black/Blue Lives Matter
Way II: post modernist bullshit
We are maybe right
We are maybe wrong
You can’t trust us
You can’t trust them
You can’t trust anyone or anything
Nothing can be true or can ever be verified
Harder to point at examples, but if anything becomes an issue that’s talked about you will see a lot of articles that talk a lot and say little to muddy the waters and make the public doubt the truth.
I read ‘The Future is History’ by Masha Gessen and it’s all about Way II. They lay it out in sharp detail via interviews with Russians of all ages. It was eye opening.
I saw a post where someone was listing the reasons Texas would do better as an independent country, they were talking about its economy, freedoms, whatever…
And the fact that it has “warm water ports”, which is a hot button topic for one country and pretty much nobody else…
Russia is trying to export her Ukraine debacle to North America. Anyone calling for secession, national divorce or any other dissolution of the United States is a Russian asset. If Trump is too explicitly Russian for you, you can fall back onto any of the other neo-confederate suckers the GOP has teed up in their matryoshka primary
Those warm water ports aren’t going to do much good if they can’t get out of the Gulf.
Specifically phrasing it as “warm water ports” definitely points towards Russia, but port access is an issue for many countries. Especially for landlocked countries, but even some countries with a coastline have few locations suitable for a port. In modern times we can dig artificial ports, but this costs a ton of money that often has to be financed with debt.
As someone who has been dealing with Russian propaganda, it works in one of two ways:
Way I: divide and divide
Find an issue that divides your enemy.
Amplify fringe voice on the issue, make the most divisive element into the most vocal one.
Once the fringe becomes more popular, amplify the opposing voice to grant legitimacy to the fringe elements.
Watch the fireworks.
Notable examples: environmental movements in the west, antivax, Black/Blue Lives Matter
Way II: post modernist bullshit
We are maybe right
We are maybe wrong
You can’t trust us
You can’t trust them
You can’t trust anyone or anything
Nothing can be true or can ever be verified
Harder to point at examples, but if anything becomes an issue that’s talked about you will see a lot of articles that talk a lot and say little to muddy the waters and make the public doubt the truth.
I read ‘The Future is History’ by Masha Gessen and it’s all about Way II. They lay it out in sharp detail via interviews with Russians of all ages. It was eye opening.