Disinformation Wars

In this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman talks to former Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy about his experience on Israel’s informational front lines, and the areas where Israel needs to improve in order to get its message out in today’s increasingly contested and hostile global media environment. BIO: Eylon Levy is the host of the State of a Nation Podcast and a former Israeli Government Spokesman, representing Israel on international television and radio in the October 7 War with Hamas. He previously served as International Media Advisor to President Isaac Herzog after a career as a television news anchor. (Subscribe to State of a Nation here)

In this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with AFPC Senior Fellow in Indo-Pacific Studies Michael Sobolik about the new push in the U.S. Congress to limit the reach of TikTok, China’s wildly-popular social media app.  Bio: Michael Sobolik is Senior Fellow in Indo-Pacific Studies at the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, DC, where his work covers American and Chinese grand strategy, regional economic and security trends, America’s alliance architecture in Asia, and human rights. Michael also serves as editor of AFPC’s Indo-Pacific Monitor e-bulletin, AFPC’s review of developments in the region. His analysis has appeared in The Diplomat, Foreign Policy, The Hill, Jane's Defence Weekly, The National Interest, National Review, Newsweek, Providence, and RealClearDefense.  He is the host of Great Power Podcast, which examines America’s geopolitical strategy toward adversaries like China and Russia. Michael is also the author of Countering China’s Great Game: A Strategy for American Dominance, forthcoming from the U.S. Naval Institute Press later this Spring. Pre-order your copy today!

In this conversation, Shashank Joshi, Defense Editor of The Economist and expert on global conflicts, dives into the challenges of reporting amidst the 'fog of war.' He discusses disinformation tactics in the Ukraine conflict and how Russia has manipulated narratives to undermine support for Ukraine. Joshi also highlights the difficulty of disseminating accurate information in volatile areas like Gaza, urging a blend of traditional journalism and modern technology. The discussion touches on escalating geopolitical tensions in regions such as the South China Sea and India-China border.

In this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor of digital watchdog Cyberwell about the post-October 7th proliferation of online antisemitism and misinformation, and how her company is working to keep social media platforms accountable. Bio: Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor is Founder and Director of CyberWell, an international technology-based non-profit that is working to combat the spread of antisemitism on social media. An Israeli lawyer, Tal-Or has provided analysis and consulting services to the Institute of National Security Studies, Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs and the Jewish Agency. Prior to launching CyberWell, she worked in the web intelligence sector, serving most recently as an executive at Argyle Consulting Group in Tel Aviv. Mentioned in this episode: Cyberwell's new report, "Denial of the October 7 Massacre on Social Media Platforms," available online at https://cyberwell.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Denial-of-October-7-Social-Media-Trend-Alert-CyberWell.pdf.

In this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with former Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty president Thomas Kent regarding the strategic logic underlying Russia's weaponization of disinformation - and the things Western governments can do to neutralize Russia's informational advantage. Bio: Thomas Kent teaches and consults on Russian affairs, journalism, and the problems of propaganda and disinformation. President of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty until 2018, he now teaches at Columbia University and consults for governments, NGOs, and news organizations. He is a senior fellow of The Jamestown Foundation. Previously, he was Moscow bureau chief for the Associated Press, head of the AP’s international news coverage, and editor for standards and ethics. Mentioned in this episode: Ilan Berman, Challenging Moscow's Message: Russian Disinformation and the Western Response (AFPC Press, 2023), https://www.amazon.com/Challenging-Moscows-Message-Disinformation-Response/dp/1956450890/ref=sr_1_1?crid=276TCMDHX4HT7&keywords=challenging+moscow%27s+message&qid=1703733780&sprefix=challenging+moscow%27s+message%2Caps%2C74&sr=8-1 Thomas Kent, Striking Back: Overt and Covert Options to Combat Russian Disinformation (Jamestown Foundation, 2020), https://jamestown.org/product/striking-back/ Thomas Kent, How Russia Loses: Hubris and Miscalculation in Putin's Kremlin (Jamestown Foundation, 2023), https://jamestown.org/product/how-russia-loses/

In this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks to Colin Clarke of the Soufan Center about the surprising new virality of Osama bin Laden's "Letter to America," and about the role of social media platforms in helping to amplify extremism more broadly. Bio: Colin P. Clarke is a Senior Research Fellow at The Soufan Center. He is the Director of Research at The Soufan Group, where his research focuses on domestic and transnational terrorism, international security, and geopolitics. Prior to joining The Soufan Group, Clarke was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, and a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation, where he spent a decade researching terrorism, insurgency, and criminal networks. At RAND, Clarke led studies on ISIS financing, the future of terrorism and transnational crime, and lessons learned from all insurgencies since the end of the World War II. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @colinpclarke.

In this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks to Golnaz Esfandiari of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty regarding the growing disaffection visible on the Iranian "street," official regime censorship and repression, and what the future holds for the Islamic Republic. Bio: Golnaz Esfandiari is the managing editor of RFE/RL's Radio Farda. She also serves as an Iran analyst for Freedom House, authoring the Iran chapter of their annual Freedom in the World annual reports. Her work has been published and cited by the New Yorker, Foreign Policy, The Washington Post, the Atlantic, and elsewhere. She has appeared on CNN, NPR, BBC, and other international media outlets. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @GEsfandiari.

In this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks to two prominent Israeli experts, former Jerusalem Post editor Yaakov Katz and Lt. Col. (Res.) Sarit Zehavi of the Alma Research and Education Center, regarding the new war now facing Israel in the wake of Hamas' October 7th campaign of terror - and the stories that aren't being told about the conflict. BIOS: Yaakov Katz is a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute, a former editor of the Jerusalem Post where he remains a columnist, and the author of three books on Israeli military affairs. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @yaakovkatz. Sarit Zehavi is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Israeli Defense Forces reserves, and the founder and president of the Alma Research and Education Center, the only national security think tank situated in Israel’s north. Follow her work on X (formerly Twitter) at @Israel_Alma_org. RESOURCES FOR THIS EPISODE: The Alma Center's analysis of a "northern front" scenario against Israel: https://israel-alma.org/2023/10/10/what-could-happen-if-hezbollah-joins-the-war/ The Alma Center's analysis of what comes next in the current conflict: https://israel-alma.org/2023/10/15/how-hamas-implement-in-this-attack-the-new-iranian-battle-theory/

In this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman talks to journalist Bethany Allen about the role that disinformation, propaganda and influence play in China's foreign policy - and their impact on the unfolding strategic competition between Beijing and Washington Bethany Allen is the China reporter at AXIOS. She was previously the lead reporter on the China Cables project of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, as a national security correspondent at The Daily Beast, and as a reporter and editor at Foreign Policy magazine. She is the author of Beijing Rules: How China Weaponized its Economy to Confront the World (Harper, 2023).

In this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman talks to Tuvia Gering, a scholar at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies, about the ways in which Beijing is shaping global discourse - and what the PRC is saying to the world. Tuvia Gering is a researcher at the Diane & Guilford Glazer Foundation Israel-China Policy Center at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), Tel Aviv, Israel, and a non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub. He is also the author of Discourse Power on Substack, and you can find him @geringtuvia on Twitter. MATERIALS REFERENCED IN THIS EPISODE: Kenton Thibaut's reports on Discourse Power for the Atlantic Council:  1) China’s discourse power operations in the Global South 2) Chinese discourse power: Ambitions and reality in the digital domain 3) Chinese discourse power: Capabilities and impact Pew’s most recent poll on global attitudes toward China.