Neal Rauhauser: Russian Information Operations The Menace of Unreality – How the Kremlin Weaponizes Information, Culture and Money

06 Russia, Advanced Cyber/IO, IO Deeds of War
Neal Rauhauser
Neal Rauhauser

The Menace of Unreality: How the Kremlim Weaponizes Information, Culture and Money covers the Kremlin's methods and motives as they spread the influence modern Russia, rightly called a mafia state. The concept of “Operations Psychological”, as defined by Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia, plays a prominent role in these efforts. The impatient will want to skip to the Recommendations section on page 40; the simple, clear prescriptions may motivate paging back to understand more of the thinking behind them. Arab Spring has come and gone, ISIS is what it is, and the true challenge for the west in the 21st century is this next evolution of a network threat, an area in which the Russians vastly outperform the U.S.

Berto Jongman: Is Putin a Great Strategist?

06 Russia, Peace Intelligence

berto smallIs Putin a Great Strategist?

He's certainly a competent one, as well as tactically unpredictable, even brilliant

The first thing that needs to be stressed is that Putin has no grand strategy, no less one to ‘reestablish the Tsarist or Soviet empire.’ Such claims are delusions, paranoia, and/or well-compensated stratcomm. His goal is to ensure Russia’s status as a global power, one of several great powers in Eurasia writ large, and the indispensable country for any other pursuing a presence in central Eurasia – the former USSR.

Berto Jongman: Russian Nonlinear War (“Gerasimov Doctrine”) — While US in Stuck in One Size Fits All Big War

02 China, 04 Inter-State Conflict, 06 Russia, Advanced Cyber/IO, Cultural Intelligence, Government, IO Deeds of War, Military, Officers Call, Peace Intelligence

berto smallGrading Gerasimov: Evaluating Russian Nonlinear War Through Modern Chinese Doctrine

Victor R. Morris in Small Wars Journal, 17 September 2015

Unrestricted war is a war that surpasses all boundaries and restrictions. It takes nonmilitary forms and military forms and creates a war on many fronts. It is the war of the future.

-Colonel Qiao Liang and Colonel Wang Xiangsui, Unrestricted War, Beijing, 1998

“Gerasimov Doctrine” contains particular similarities to the Chinese doctrine outlined in Unrestricted Warfare published in 1999, and historical roots in previous Russian doctrine. Both strategies involve using proxies, or surrogates, to not only exploit vulnerabilities in low intensity conflict, but to also prepare for future operations, which may involve high intensity conflict. Other strategies involve applying both low and high tech asymmetrical means, and also engaging in several forms of war. For example, Unrestricted Warfare describes 13 forms of “total war” and methods to consciously mix “cocktails” on the battlefield, or to employ combinations of forms of warfare in order to find innovative and effective approaches.

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Berto Jongman: WWIII Over Syria?

02 China, 04 Inter-State Conflict, 06 Russia, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 10 Transnational Crime, IO Deeds of War

berto smallAlarmist, perhaps, but a useful warning.

Intel Source Warns ‘War Imminent,' US To Blame Russia For ‘First Shot,' And ‘Syria Will Be The Game Changer'

Takes a lot of double-talk, a refusal to report on the history, and the twisting of said history to push the propaganda into Americans minds, so that Russia is being blamed for destabilizing Syria.

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Berto Jongman: Russian Oil Rules — Saudis Begging for Deal, China Market Central

02 China, 05 Energy, 06 Russia, 08 Wild Cards

berto smallConfirmed: Saudi Arabia Offered Russia Oil Alliance and OPEC Membership

Saudis proposed Saudi Arabia and Russia divide the oil market between them. For now Russians stayed cool

Igor Sechin, the powerful head of Rosneft, Russia’s big state oil company, has now confirmed that OPEC – the Saudi dominated oil producers’ cartel – has offered Russia membership.   . . .    For the moment the Russians are saying no. Possibly the real reason is that the Russians are at present expanding aggressively into the Chinese energy market from which they have just ousted the Saudis as the biggest oil supplier.

Angela Borozna: Western Media on Russia — Selective, Negative, and Wrong?

06 Russia, Corruption, IO Deeds of War, Media, Peace Intelligence
Angela Borozna
Angela Borozna

The evolution of the West's negative narrative about Russia

The news on Russia became consistently negative after 2000. Positive developments inside Russia, or news regarding Russia's positive international involvements, were ignored while the negative news received immediate attention.

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