Politics in Europe and the US, was busy dealing with the effects of disinformation over the last few weeks. President Macron’s decision to hold a snap election in France after the recent EU election results is a concerning highlight. It now sees Marie Le Pen, and her far-right National Rally party swoop into power in France. Meanwhile, in the UK’s general election, the British electorate rally to the once vilified Labour party. This sends another message about the shifting sands of power in Europe. Could there be a common denominator?
Like all big families, the United States and Europe are no different in so far as the actions of one, affects the other. We see, hear, and feel the effects of large-scale social media campaigns, carefully crafted mass media campaigns, and a host of other sources that curate our view of our world.
Interrelated more closely than ever, we also feel the effects of malicious campaigns. They are not just digital, and not just physical; they are a new breed of hybrid warfare. Russia’s highly effective digital subversion campaigns across the western world have yielded returns way beyond the relatively cheap cost of their implementation.
Russia Meddles in US Presidential Election Campaign
In the US, I cannot say that I am surprised by the media’s ‘suggestion’ about President Biden. Some commentators suggest he may need to be replaced as a Democratic candidate in the lead up to the US elections. One should see the timing as suspicious, given the biased nature of malicious disinformation campaigns over social media, designed to support this type of aggressive and divisionary sentiment.
In France, the effect of structured and divisionary sentiment, sees President Macron ousted on the foot of his snap election decision. It also sees the National Rally’s far-right charge into populist favour. Interestingly, the National Rally’s founder, Marie Le Pen, favors restricting the Ukrainian use of French weapons to target hostile Russian installations inside Russia.
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Throughout Europe, former fringe groups are now leading political movements. She exemplifies this trend as a far-right politician with her pro Kremlin posture. The tactics and structures used have worrying correlations with Nigel Farage’s BREXIT campaign, pushing UK political discourse to the right.
UK Labour Party Election Victory
Facilitated under the (UK) Tory party’s tenure, it also led to the economic and social decline of UK society, despite roaring claims to the contrary. British people, who traditionally frown on unethical or sketchy behavior, delivered their verdict in the UK’s general election.
The Labour Party, have come in with a clear majority as the UK’s next government. Despite being vilified by nasty disinformation campaigns, real Britons (not bots) made their voices heard. Thankfully, the lies and innuendo designed to frighten Britons into voting for the Tory party fell on deaf ears.
Moving back to the US, the disinformation campaigns designed by Russia to disrupt, and eventually change US support towards Ukraine, went into top gear since 2022. Despite Ukraine receiving support from most Americans, the engineered political support for Russia sought to materially alter US military aid to Ukraine.
It handed Russia temporary unfair advantages in Ukraine, such as the Ukrainian shortage of artillery ammunition. NATO chief, Jens Stoltenberg, recently shot down the growing voice from US politicians to force Ukraine to give up land in a peace deal. This fabrication is just another manner of Russian meddling in US affairs.
So, what do the British, French and American experiences have in common? All three are all targets of digital subversion campaigns; they are all key nations in our big democratic family, and all have native subversive groups with harmful agendas. They also have Russian intelligence infiltrations in their societies with a now clear agenda and means of carrying out their plans.
Russian Disinformation Stokes Fear about Ukraine Support
After the full scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022, leaked emails reported by Newsweek reported a briefing by SVR (Russian Foreign Intelligence Service) to the Russian Senate on a plan to sow panic and terror in the West. It details disinformation campaigns, which target western support for Ukraine, the stoking of fear about Ukrainian refugees, along with other activities.
This structured approach, reported by a senior SVR official, is what they all they above have in common. The UK’s isolation in Europe, French far-right populism in France, the discrediting of President Biden’s fitness to run for the US Presidential office. I submit they are all timed with mathematical precision when you consider the scale of these disinformation campaigns.
Russian intelligence will adjust to the British people’s assertion of its independent voice, and further work at degrading its national security from the grassroots level up. I am equally sure is that we can learn from this experience as we deliver military aid to Ukraine, and without fear, challenge the assertions of the right-right. This extends to the understanding that a criminal posing as a US Republican cannot legitimately challenge a US patriot, who is also the sitting US President.
When the nature of hybrid warfare becomes commonly known, our place in doing our part becomes clear. Our direct contribution via information resilience will shore-up the identified gaps in our democratic societies. Education, information and awareness will be our digital shields against this hybrid offensive. Together, with many government services, including our military, law enforcement and intelligence services, we will see off this latest threat and ably prepare for the next steps in our democratic journey.
About the Author
John is a versatile author known for his gripping fiction narratives in the thriller, action, and suspense genres. With a background as a journalist since 2016, and expertise in cloud technologies as an engineer; John brings a unique blend of storytelling prowess and technical acumen to his work.
