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The Russia Scare: Fake News and Genuine Threat?

Sakwa, Richard (2022) The Russia Scare: Fake News and Genuine Threat? Innovations in International Affairs . Routledge, London, 220 pp. ISBN 978-1-03-201150-9. E-ISBN 978-1-00-317740-1. (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:99640)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided. (Contact us about this Publication)
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Abstract

The Russia Scare assesses the scope, character and extent of Russian interference in the affairs of liberal democratic states.

This book examines the ‘Russia scare’ in a dynamic manner, stressing the interaction between threat perception, responses and subsequent policies. What forms did this threat take, what were the instruments used, how effective were the deployed tools and who were the allies with whom Russia worked in these endeavours? Above all, what impact did interference have on target societies? The book explores why Russia engaged in such activities, what the probable chain of command was (if any) and the role of the Russian leadership in all of this, as well as investigating the response of Western societies and governments. The author sifts the real from the imagined, which can only be achieved by establishing the larger historical context. He scrutinises the fundamental question: was Russia before the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 really engaged in a sustained ‘hybrid warfare’ campaign to sow discord and undermine Western democracies? If so, what were the strategic purposes underlying such an activity? Various hypotheses are analysed, notably that Russian post-Cold War activity is nothing exceptional in the context of great power confrontation; that all great powers are engaged in one way or another in such actions, and thus contextualisation is important; and that Russia’s subversive activity was often exaggerated, even misrepresented. Responses potentially amplified the elements of subversion represented by the original threat. Threats exist, but responses always need to be calibrated so as not to inflict self-harm on the integrity of liberal democracy itself.

Item Type: Book
Uncontrolled keywords: International relations; information warfare
Subjects: J Political Science
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Politics and International Relations
Depositing User: Richard Sakwa
Date Deposited: 23 Jan 2023 09:11 UTC
Last Modified: 30 Jan 2023 14:47 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/99640 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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