Ion mihai pacepa is a former threestar general in the securitate, the secret police of communist romania, who defected to the united states in july 1978 following. Understanding and responding to the threat of russian disinformation. Information operations, propaganda and disinformation, cyber. In his book on disinformation, romanian defector ion mihai pacepa described operation ares, which used u.
Strategic deception to undermine the church, the west, and america as revealed by romanian defector ion mihai pacepa 20, 9. In 1940, turkul agreed to supply sofias outpost with information gathered by his agents. Air force defector lt viktor i belenko depicts grim life at mig25 bases to us interrogators. The story of the soviet pilot who defected to japan with a. Lieutenant general ion mihai pacepa writes in his new book disinformation, that the most severe damage the former soviet machine inflicted on the west was the disinformation campaign perfected by yuri andropov, former head of the kgb. Later, in 1944, he joined the russian liberation army under general andrei vlasovs command. He defected to turkey in 1989 flying a mig29 fulcrum. Russia conspiracy looks like disinformation campaign, says expert it fits with russias objective to have americans question the outcome of the election by joshua philipp, the epoch times. Stanislav lunev, who had defected from the russian federation in. They back up their analyses with two soviet intelligence defectors. I had been on my way to washington, dc, to testify before the senate intelligence committee about russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, but this detour seemed too good to pass up.
Overall, disinformation is aggressively antirussian. Disinformation is the english literal translation of the russian term dezinformatsiya, coined by the soviet communist party to refer to deliberate falsehoods manufactured for the purpose of pushing certain propaganda lines or policy objectives abroad. The most wellknown book at any point was composed by sun tzu, the art of war which underscores deception as key to victory. How the russians practice disinformation accuracy in media. Im worrying about mortgages and insurance and keeping up with the latest books.
Their testimonies made for powerful, emotional, narratives which helped undermine soviet propaganda. It should be noted that only the latest 2500 tweets from each account were available for. The 9 russian words that explain kremlingate observer. The english word disinformation is a loan translation of the russian dezinformatsiya, derived from the title of a kgb black propaganda department. Pacepa and rychlak document how the russian word dezinformatsiya was coined by joseph stalin, who chose a frenchsounding title to make others believe it had originated in the western world. Pacepa makes no distinction between the soviet era and the postcommunist one. I made it to part 44 out of 48 and would not recommend this book for anyone who is looking for a good book about russian meddling abroad as it presents the views of an. The 9 russian words that explain kremlingate its international talk like a chekist dayheres a quick primer on kombinatsiya, konspiratsiya and more by john r. Former spy chief reveals secret strategies for undermining freedom, attacking religion, and promoting terrorism kindle edition by rychlak, ronald j. Analysis six reasons the kremlin spreads disinformation. Pacepa is the highest ranking defector ever to come over to the united states from the intelligence services of the eastern. The fake news and disinformation tactics russia perfected before social. He talks about his life growing up in russia, how he became an elite pilot, how he grew disillusioned.
Inside neptun, a daring cold war disinformation operation. According to pforzheimer, the focus in this book is on what the author thinks are major soviet disinformation operations the book is more solid when he considers. In the book, disinformation, pacepa wrote stalin gave the tactic a frenchsounding name in order to put forth the ruse that it was actually a technique used by the western world. The book covers the pilots life in the soviet union and the military, and then. The approaching 50th anniversary of the assassination of john f. Russia conspiracy looks like disinformation campaign, says. The defection of viktor belenko took place on september 6, 1976 when lieutenant viktor belenko of the soviet air defence forces flew his mikoyangurevich mig25p foxbat aircraft from near vladivostok in the far east of the soviet union to hakodate airport in hokkaido prefecture of japan. Exsoviet era spy chief writes landmark book on disinformation.
Defectors soviet defectors to the west were an important tool in the propaganda battles of the cold war. Just over three years ago, on a bitingly cold spring day, i drove out to rockport, massachusetts, a small town on the tip of cape ann, to meet with a defector from the old soviet bloc. Defectors sometimes also provided critical insights into how active measures worked and how to fight back. The secret history of disinformation and political warfare, by johns hopkins university professor and cyberwar expert thomas rid. Pacepa makes no distinction between the soviet era and the post. Part of the plan included disseminating the first arabic translation of the protocols of the elders of zion, a russianforged 1905 propaganda book that alleged jews controlled the world. Joseph stalin coined the term, giving it a frenchsounding name to claim it had a western origin. The russian governments response to the shooting down of mh17 was a charade, wrapped in a travesty, inside a. Russian foreign policy has been building up to its present expansive phase for over two decades.
This revelation contradicted previous russian claims that snowdens decision to travel to moscow came as a surprise and was unexpected. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading disinformation. The defector, ladislav bittman, knew more about the dark arts of cold war disinformation than anyone alive. Unexpected tidbits from a russian military defector in late august 1998 i found myself sitting in a private meeting room at the cosmos club in washington, d. Viktor belenko, a pilot who stole a mig25 and landed in japan on sept. During the cold war, hundreds of salacious and bogus headlines around the world appeared, part of a covert playbook of russian disinformation used to undermine america. Counterjihad and counterintelligence i just finished reading chekisty. Pensively standing next to his chair on the other side of the table was former gru col. Disinformation was then subsequently employed as a warfare tactic by the stalinist government during world war ii. Active measures in early july 2016, amid an outpouring of grief and anger over the police shooting of philando castile in. Defectors soviet defectors to the west were an important tool in the propaganda battles of the. Memoir of the wartime north korean defector who first. As part of his role in romania, pacepa writes that he was ordered to disseminate the document. The mitrokhin archive, a voluminous collection of soviet foreign intelligence documents smuggled out of the soviet union in 1992, provides the identities and soviet intelligence code names of many russian orthodox priests.
The strategy of soviet disinformation is a nonfiction book about disinformation and information warfare used by the kgb during the soviet union period, as part of. Foreign affairs called the book a useful survey of how soviet intelligence used disinformation. I am so glad the author escaped, defected, and wrote this story. Oswald and the russian defector the new york times.
Christmas came early for the kremlin this year in the form of vasiliy prozorov, an alleged defector from ukraines state security service, who is zealously promoting all manner of conspiracy theories about his homeland in russia, where he is currently taking refuge. I had been on my way to washington, dc, to testify before the senate intelligence committee about russian interference. Some defectors believe that the very freedom they sought becomes the. Disinformation strategic deception to undermine the church, the west and the united states as revealed by romanian defector ion mihai pacepa by miguel a. The book was written in 1988, not long before the fall of the soviet empire, so it did not have the benefit of the kgb archives which were briefly opened up to researchers a few years later. In his mig pilot book 1983 john barron claims that viktor belenkos defection was completely voluntary and was the result of belenkos. Viktor belenko, a soviet pilot who flew his mig25 jet fighter to japan in. A longfestering wound at the cia is being ripped open by a new book concerning whether a soviet kgb officer defected in the 1960s on his own accord or was dispatched by moscow in a disinformation. Ultimately, rid concludes that russian and russialinked efforts to fill the internet with disinformation most likely did not cause many people to change their minds in 2016. Former spy chief reveals secret strategies for undermining freedom, attacking religion, and promoting terrorism is a nonfiction book about. Kennedy is sufficient reason alone to buy and read the new book, disinformation.
The story of the soviet pilot who defected to japan with a secretive. In september 1945, a highlevel soviet defection in canada shed light on the operational tactics of soviet. Disinformation campaigns are nothing new for the soviets. Beyond the russian collusion investigations why russia is. Disinformation is a book that needs to be on every english speaking library shelf, and needs to be read by every englishspeaking history teacher. Unexpected tidbits from a russian military defector j.
Faria, md disinformation is a revealing expose of evil soviet history as well as a treatise on the use of propaganda and disinformation in contemporary international relations and national politics. Disinformation explains of post wwii history from the perspective of one who was on the inside. Cyberwar expert details soviet and russian influence. Defector describes russias handling of nsa leaker snowden.
Active measures in soviet strategy and a later edition published as dezinformatsia. The then lieutenant belenko was a pilot with the 5th fighter regiment, 11th air army, based in chugu. Kauder was of middle height, with a round face, well fed and well dressed he spent his days. Andropov was a former twostar general in the securitate, the secret police of communist romania, and the highest intelligence officer ever to have defected. Soviet subversion and propaganda, how the west thought. Active measures in soviet strategy is a nonfiction book about disinformation and information warfare used by the kgb during the soviet union. David kahn described kauder in his book hitlers spies. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Deception has been a potent tool since the inception of warfare.
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