Political Science Commons^™

Review, Democracy And Fake News: Information Manipulation And Post-Truth Politics, Peter Krapp

Secrecy and Society

No abstract provided.

A Fake Future: The Threat Of Foreign Disinformation On The U.S. And Its Allies, Brandon M. Rubsamen

Global Tides

This paper attempts to explain the threat that foreign disinformation poses for the United States Intelligence Community and its allies. The paper examines Russian disinformation from both a historical and contemporary context and how its effect on Western democracies may only be exacerbated in light of Chinese involvement and evolving technologies. Fortunately, the paper also studies practices and strategies that the United States Intelligence Community and its allied foreign counterparts may use to respond. It is hoped that this study will help shed further light on Russian and Chinese disinformation campaigns and explain how the Intelligence Community can efficiently react.

Militarism In The Spiritual Code Of The Modern Orthodox “Russian World, Oleksandr Lukyanenko

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article continues the series of research illustrating the formation of the idea of the “Russian world” in the religious discourse of Orthodox Russia. It pays special attention to the manipulations made by the Patriarch of Moscow, Kirill (Gundyaev), while preaching and giving public speeches. The study summarizes the idea of the “new martyrdom for Russia” recently promoted by the hierarch. The paper illustrates his support of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 by the formation of the social opinion by the spiritual leader. Kirill uses the images of different wars to draw historical parallels with Russia’s current war …

Fake News: Is Truth Really Under Attack?, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

Attacking fake news may be as fake as fake news. Or so suggests Western epistemology.

Psychological Warfare And The Kingdom Of Shame, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

Psychological warfare is commonly referred to as a battle for hearts and minds. But inducing desired behavioral change is more complicated as the psychology of shame illustrates.

Winning The Disinformation War: Suturing The Soul, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

In a world of false facts and fake news, what is the crucial psychology underlying what people believe?

Understanding The Appeal Of Isis, Lydia Wilson

New England Journal of Public Policy

The Islamic State, or ISIS, has proven to be persistently successful in attracting people from all over the globe to join in its state-building and state-defending enterprise. This article explores the messages it has crafted, from the utopian to the militarily defensive, and the techniques it uses to propagate these messages (including on social media), which includes some historical comparisons to communism and Nazism. It goes on to provide initial research findings from the field to show how their message is working among (a small percentage of) the target audience, sketching the theory of identity fusion to argue that it …

People's War In Cyberspace: Using China's Civilian Economy In The Information Domain, Kieran Richard Green

Military Cyber Affairs

China is identified as posing a key challenge to US national security interests in cyberspace. These threats are incurred across the spectrum of conflict, ranging from low-level crime, to network penetration, to cyberattacks that have the potential to cause major physical destruction. Thus far, the majority of strategic assessments of China’s cyber capabilities have focused on the role of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), which is officially tasked with undertaking offensive operations in cyberspace.[1] However, China does not employ its cyber capabilities in isolation. Rather, it considers cyber to be part of the “Information Domain.” In Chinese doctrine, controlling …

Secrecy, Confidentiality And "Dirty Work": The Case Of Public Relations, Sue Curry Jansen

Secrecy and Society

No abstract provided.

August Roundtable: Introduction

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

The Two Faces of Twitter: Revolution in a Digital Age. By Darrell West. The Huffington Post. July 30, 2009.

Iran: Who Is Quicker - The Hacker Or The Twitter?, Anja Mihr

Human Rights & Human Welfare

For a moment we believed that we had entered into a new era of democratic movement. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Google—chat have given proof that regardless where people live, what background they have, what system they adhere to or what religion they practice: they want to share the injustice and violence that happens to them with the world. They seek awareness, help and support and moreover they look for an end to the unfair and violent treatment. So have thousands of people in Iran—and still they do. They use what is the most widely available, quickest and the cheapest way …

Protest, Iranian Style: A Two-Way Conversation?, Shareen Hertel

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Darrell West gets it right when he argues that despite their promise, digital technologies alone “cannot produce revolutions. To generate fundamental change, it still takes strong leadership, powerful ideas, and people willing to risk detention and imprisonment.” West is writing about Iran—and the critical role that social networking has played in fostering social protest in the wake of a disputed election in that country. He also warns that oppressive regimes may turn the very same tool of protest against those fighting for freedom, by using digital technology to track protesters. Yet West underplays the importance of social networking for cracking …

Twitter And Youtube: Positive Developments For Human Rights Protection?, Nicola Colbran

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A number of statements have been made regarding the benefit to human rights protection of advances in technology. However, can these advances also have a negative impact?

Focusing on instant messaging and social network services such as Twitter and YouTube, the positives are quickly apparent. They can draw immediate attention to human rights violations that may otherwise go unnoticed, allow interested parties to stay abreast of developments in the protection of human rights, and create strength and courage in numbers for action that may not be anticipated by the perpetrator. These services also enable human rights activists to tweet their …

Stop The Revolution, Michael Jackson Is Dead!, William Paul Simmons

Human Rights & Human Welfare

We won’t soon forget the rapid fire pace of “tweets” and Facebook posts direct from the streets of Tehran. The haunting images of Neda Agha Soltan shocked the consciences of hundreds of thousands around the globe as it went “viral.”

"That Dog Don't Hunt": Persuasive Language And Imagery In An Nra Advertisement, James Whittle

Undergraduate Review

No abstract provided.

Public Diplomacy And International Broadcasting As Antiterrorism Weapons: Philosophical Dilemmas, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes problematic assumptions in differentiating public diplomacy from international broadcasting as weapons against terrorism with global reach.

Propaganda Analysis: The Personal Is Political, But The Political Is Personal, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article analyzes implications of a propaganda theme--viz., the personal is political.

Trends. Immaterial Materialism: The Communist Party Confronts Falun Gong And Qi Gong In The People's Republic Of China, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The author discusses the April 1999 demonstration by members of the Falun Gong sect outside the Zhongnanhai compound in Beijing.

The Internet And Political Campaigns: Some Early Considerations, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article provides hypotheses on the effects of the Internet on political campaigns. The IBPP staff hopes that researchers among its readers will attempt to evaluate these hypotheses through combinations of empiricism, rationalism, and other epistemological approaches.

The Taliban Touch: Is Smashing Tv Sets A Smashing Idea?, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article contains a commentary on a new public policy announced by the Taliban movement in Afghanistan that will proscribe televisions, videocassette recorders, videotapes, and satellite dishes among the people under its control. The commentary focuses on the potential political consequences of this policy based on psychological research on the effects of television.

Disinformation: Iraq, The United Nations (Un), And The United States Government (Usg), Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes components of alleged disinformation propagated by the Iraqi government concerning the USG in the context of UN inspection teams established pursuant to the Persian Gulf War of 1991.

Pen, Peru, Pornography, Propaganda, And Power, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The author discusses the postmodern approaches to basic tenets of science which often deconstruct basic concepts such as cause and effect, prediction, empirical validation, and the like.

Trends. The Land Mines Treaty: A Strict Constructionist Approach, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The author discusses the United States Government (USG) announcement that it will not sign the Land Mines Treaty because land mines are still needed to protect US security

Rumor Analysis: Nato, Radiation Weapons, And Gornja Omarska, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article identifies factors contributing to the credibility of a rumor transmitted by and among some Bosnian Serbs that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) employed radiation weapons in it's 1995 bombing campaign leading up to the Dayton peace accords.

The New Information And Communication Order: Deja Vu All Over Again?, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article endorses qualified support for a world seminar on international information activities proposed by a number of Third World countries. It also does not support a political psychology that equates a somewhat similar proposal made in 1976 with the present one.