NYT Thinks Disinformation is “Uniquely Russian”
Reflexive control is a “uniquely Russian” technique of psychological manipulation through disinformation. The idea is to feed your adversary a set of assumptions that will produce a predictable response: That response, in turn, furthers a goal that advances your interests. By luring your opponent into agreeing with your initial assumptions, you can control the narrative...
While getting people to agree with your assumptions is the first step in getting them to agree with you, or to do what you want them to do, it’s hardly a uniquely Russian idea.
What does this “reflexive control” look like exactly? Georgetown University linked in the article gives some examples:
Russia’s actions in Ukraine in 2014 offer a recent example of how Russia has employed reflexive control in its military operations. During this campaign, Russia attempted to disguise the presence of Russian forces by deploying men in uniforms without insignia... Russia simultaneously continued to threaten NATO and the West through overflights and hinting at the use of nuclear weapons.
Apparently, the NYT thinks those are uniquely Russian techniques. But don’t worry, Georgetown (and apparently the NYT as well) have a solution!
To ‘win the information war’ and combat Russian influence in our political process, the United States must invest in cybersecurity, discredit platforms that have been shown to propagate false information, raise awareness on the psychological effects of disinformation, and cooperate with its allies to generate pro-West content...
Russia’s disinformation campaign is not an isolated incident, but a new Cold War.
Georgetown University is spook central, which says all you need to know about that. The author of the piece, Asha Rangappa, identifies herself as “a former FBI special agent who conducted counterintelligence investigations.” She also attended Yale and Princeton and was an associate dean at Yale Law School. In short, she’s a firmly secure member of the elite intelligence establishment.
We wonder if these elites are trying to fool us into thinking the US really is different, or if they actually believe their own propaganda. Its hard to tell sometimes.
