Project "ZZ". "American power" against Russia
Jeb Bush, who aspires to the presidential throne in the United States, calls for "pressure" on Putin. He is echoed by another Washington hawk, Marco Rubio. According to him, the time has come to restore "American power." Western analysts believe that the other day, Hillary Clinton will make a corresponding statement that fits into the framework of a new aggressive trend. Along with loud statements by politicians in the United States, another newspaper campaign was launched on the Kremlin’s information denigration.
Famous journalist Anne Applebaum, now in London, published in an American newspaper Washington Post next article.
In recent years, Ann has been involved in a lot of hot European discussions. One international theme is replaced by another: they talk about Russia, Libya, about the economic crisis in Greece. But at one point, Applebaum seems to be seeing light.
“Isn't that strange? We have never mentioned the United States! ”
The interlocutors are amazed.
Indeed: isn't it strange? Yes, strange - everyone agrees with this.
But what happens next? Nothing: the topic is changing, and again not a word about the US ...
Few doubt in Europe, continues Applebaum, that American influence in Europe is getting weaker - along with American participation in world politics.
Many explain what is happening not only, for example, by the war in Iraq, which was supported in Europe, but also by B. H. Obama’s refusal to defend the previously declared “red line” in Syria. In addition, Obama is blamed for the lack of a strategy towards the "Islamic state". Some experts already doubt whether the Middle East is interesting at all to the White House’s host.
Finally, another important issue that the journalist puts on a par with other reasons for the weakening of US global influence.
This problem is Russia. When it comes to Russia, there is “a strange split between NATO’s military leaders” (who “make very sharp statements publicly, speaking of Russian maneuvers in the Baltic Sea and near Scandinavia, as well as in Ukraine”) and the White House, demonstrating optimism. If General Philip M. Breedlove, NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, warns of a "revanchist Russia", then Obama calls Russia a weak "regional power" that is generally unable to create a major threat.
“Nature does not tolerate emptiness,” writes Applebaum. Dozens of people rush to become the next president of the United States. And the current "drift and indecision" of the American administration looks like an "easy target."
Republicans have already called foreign policy a priority issue.
Applebaum quotes Jeb Bush, who, while in Germany, called President of Russia Vladimir Putin "a ruthless pragmatist who will press until someone presses back." Bush calls for a revival of the Western alliance.
Marco Rubio calls for the revival of “American power” and Washington’s bid for greater global leadership.
This is probably only a matter of time, the journalist believes, before Hillary Clinton determines how best she is to “separate Obama's first term from the second” and criticize Barack Hussein.
However, no statements will solve the problem. The real challenge is not rhetoric. If the future president, whether he or she really wants the United States to re-head the West, he will have to undertake a “radical reform” of the union itself. At the same time, the legacy of Bush and BH Obama should be dealt with. Now is not 1979 year. The revival of Reaganism will not work. America’s current allies fear American militancy just as they fear American indecision. It’s obvious to the journalist that the time has come for NATO to “start a new life.”
The North Atlantic Alliance should streamline the decision-making process. The Alliance should show a “strong desire” to protect those “threatened states in the east”.
However, the West has not only military problems. The West needs, according to Applebaum, "new institutions to combat new types of threats." Among these threats, the journalist lists international corruption, foreign computer espionage, “released to new levels of complexity,” and a disinformation campaign launched by China, Russia, and other countries that have learned to skillfully influence Western “political debates” and “wreak havoc” .
Regarding the “disinformation campaign” launched by the ubiquitous Russians, Helle C. Dale is also indignant in the publication Newsweek.
“Have you heard of one plant, Columbian Chemicals, in Centerville, Louisiana, which last year, 11 of September, was blown up by terrorists from IG? I hardly heard, because it wasn’t, ”the author writes.
And he continues: “However, on Twitter and YouTube such a“news”Was probably distributed by propagandists from the city of St. Petersburg working for a company with the innocent name“ Internet Research Agency ”. (In the English original - "Internet Research Agency".)
Further, the author of the essay forgets about his “hardly” and “probably” forgets - and declares without any reservations that this agency “was created by Russian President Vladimir Putin”.
In order to create an evidence base, Helle Dale cites a link to «New York Times»narrating about a person already known by the name of Ludmila Savchuk.
Dale points out (without references) that the fake “news” about the Columbian Chemicals explosion is a sample of the “decisiveness of the Russian government” who set out to sow panic among Americans by “deploying an army of hundreds of trolls scouring the Internet for spreading disinformation and attacks all those who whom the Kremlin declared enemies. "
The author writes that members of this army create fake Twitter accounts, write comments in Arabic, and prepare fake videos for YouTube. And they succeeded in something: the people of Louisiana were "very frightened."
The research agency in which the "trolls" work, according to the author, is located in an office building in the city of St. Petersburg. His employees “create fake news all day long, lead anti-American and anti-Ukrainian propaganda, engage in online harassment and argue endlessly, filling out commentary websites.”
In April, at a hearing at the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, British journalist Peter Pomerantsev described the actions of the Kremlin as an attempt to undermine the concept of objective reality. If someone is able to launch a sufficient amount of misinformation on the Internet, he can provoke confusion, as a result of which people will no longer trust the entire press — everything they read on the network. In the end, this will lead to "paralysis and impotence of politicians."
According to the author of the material, under Putin, especially after the annexation of the Crimea and “incitement of a separatist uprising in the east of Ukraine,” propaganda in Russia rose to a level “which has not been equal since the days of the Cold War.” The article lists the aforementioned “Internet Research Agency”, the television channel “RT”, and the propaganda “prolific” website Sputnik. The author also notes the “financing” by the Kremlin of “information campaigns in Europe”.
In conclusion, Helle Dale tells about other examples of Kremlin propaganda. For example, Russia accuses the US government of spreading the Ebola virus. There are also reports of police killing an unarmed black woman in Atlanta. All this, the author believes, returns the world to the old days, when the "Kremlin disinformation campaign" claimed, for example, that AIDS is the brainchild of the CIA.
Surprisingly, let us add from ourselves that American and European journalists and analysts working in large and influential publications are looking for news on Twitter and on YouTube. This is probably the effect of “psakism”, revealed by famous journalist Matthew Lee with the help of the leading question about children and carousels, which State Department star Jen Psaki could not answer. Now psakism spread throughout the United States and penetrated even into the EU.
There is, however, a side effect of psakism. If Americans (for example, from Louisiana), instead of Washington Post, read Twitter messages and watch videos on YouTube, this indicates a decline in confidence in the major American press.
Meanwhile, the worldwide popularity of the mentioned channel “RT” is breaking records. Obviously, American newsmen are beginning to be jealous of Russians. You can replace the "newspaper" by "propagandists", there will be no difference. Envy will remain.
NATO soldiers. Lithuania, 8 June 2015 city Photo: Mindaugas Kulbis / Associated Press
Famous journalist Anne Applebaum, now in London, published in an American newspaper Washington Post next article.
In recent years, Ann has been involved in a lot of hot European discussions. One international theme is replaced by another: they talk about Russia, Libya, about the economic crisis in Greece. But at one point, Applebaum seems to be seeing light.
“Isn't that strange? We have never mentioned the United States! ”
The interlocutors are amazed.
Indeed: isn't it strange? Yes, strange - everyone agrees with this.
But what happens next? Nothing: the topic is changing, and again not a word about the US ...
Few doubt in Europe, continues Applebaum, that American influence in Europe is getting weaker - along with American participation in world politics.
Many explain what is happening not only, for example, by the war in Iraq, which was supported in Europe, but also by B. H. Obama’s refusal to defend the previously declared “red line” in Syria. In addition, Obama is blamed for the lack of a strategy towards the "Islamic state". Some experts already doubt whether the Middle East is interesting at all to the White House’s host.
Finally, another important issue that the journalist puts on a par with other reasons for the weakening of US global influence.
This problem is Russia. When it comes to Russia, there is “a strange split between NATO’s military leaders” (who “make very sharp statements publicly, speaking of Russian maneuvers in the Baltic Sea and near Scandinavia, as well as in Ukraine”) and the White House, demonstrating optimism. If General Philip M. Breedlove, NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, warns of a "revanchist Russia", then Obama calls Russia a weak "regional power" that is generally unable to create a major threat.
“Nature does not tolerate emptiness,” writes Applebaum. Dozens of people rush to become the next president of the United States. And the current "drift and indecision" of the American administration looks like an "easy target."
Republicans have already called foreign policy a priority issue.
Applebaum quotes Jeb Bush, who, while in Germany, called President of Russia Vladimir Putin "a ruthless pragmatist who will press until someone presses back." Bush calls for a revival of the Western alliance.
Marco Rubio calls for the revival of “American power” and Washington’s bid for greater global leadership.
This is probably only a matter of time, the journalist believes, before Hillary Clinton determines how best she is to “separate Obama's first term from the second” and criticize Barack Hussein.
However, no statements will solve the problem. The real challenge is not rhetoric. If the future president, whether he or she really wants the United States to re-head the West, he will have to undertake a “radical reform” of the union itself. At the same time, the legacy of Bush and BH Obama should be dealt with. Now is not 1979 year. The revival of Reaganism will not work. America’s current allies fear American militancy just as they fear American indecision. It’s obvious to the journalist that the time has come for NATO to “start a new life.”
The North Atlantic Alliance should streamline the decision-making process. The Alliance should show a “strong desire” to protect those “threatened states in the east”.
However, the West has not only military problems. The West needs, according to Applebaum, "new institutions to combat new types of threats." Among these threats, the journalist lists international corruption, foreign computer espionage, “released to new levels of complexity,” and a disinformation campaign launched by China, Russia, and other countries that have learned to skillfully influence Western “political debates” and “wreak havoc” .
Regarding the “disinformation campaign” launched by the ubiquitous Russians, Helle C. Dale is also indignant in the publication Newsweek.
Teenager with a ball and t-shirts with Putin. Moscow. Photo: Sergei Karpukhin / Reuters
“Have you heard of one plant, Columbian Chemicals, in Centerville, Louisiana, which last year, 11 of September, was blown up by terrorists from IG? I hardly heard, because it wasn’t, ”the author writes.
And he continues: “However, on Twitter and YouTube such a“news”Was probably distributed by propagandists from the city of St. Petersburg working for a company with the innocent name“ Internet Research Agency ”. (In the English original - "Internet Research Agency".)
Further, the author of the essay forgets about his “hardly” and “probably” forgets - and declares without any reservations that this agency “was created by Russian President Vladimir Putin”.
In order to create an evidence base, Helle Dale cites a link to «New York Times»narrating about a person already known by the name of Ludmila Savchuk.
"Ludmila Savchuk, an activist and a former mole in the Internet Research Agency." Photo: James Hill / The New York Times. Signed: The New York Times
Dale points out (without references) that the fake “news” about the Columbian Chemicals explosion is a sample of the “decisiveness of the Russian government” who set out to sow panic among Americans by “deploying an army of hundreds of trolls scouring the Internet for spreading disinformation and attacks all those who whom the Kremlin declared enemies. "
The author writes that members of this army create fake Twitter accounts, write comments in Arabic, and prepare fake videos for YouTube. And they succeeded in something: the people of Louisiana were "very frightened."
The research agency in which the "trolls" work, according to the author, is located in an office building in the city of St. Petersburg. His employees “create fake news all day long, lead anti-American and anti-Ukrainian propaganda, engage in online harassment and argue endlessly, filling out commentary websites.”
In April, at a hearing at the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, British journalist Peter Pomerantsev described the actions of the Kremlin as an attempt to undermine the concept of objective reality. If someone is able to launch a sufficient amount of misinformation on the Internet, he can provoke confusion, as a result of which people will no longer trust the entire press — everything they read on the network. In the end, this will lead to "paralysis and impotence of politicians."
According to the author of the material, under Putin, especially after the annexation of the Crimea and “incitement of a separatist uprising in the east of Ukraine,” propaganda in Russia rose to a level “which has not been equal since the days of the Cold War.” The article lists the aforementioned “Internet Research Agency”, the television channel “RT”, and the propaganda “prolific” website Sputnik. The author also notes the “financing” by the Kremlin of “information campaigns in Europe”.
In conclusion, Helle Dale tells about other examples of Kremlin propaganda. For example, Russia accuses the US government of spreading the Ebola virus. There are also reports of police killing an unarmed black woman in Atlanta. All this, the author believes, returns the world to the old days, when the "Kremlin disinformation campaign" claimed, for example, that AIDS is the brainchild of the CIA.
Surprisingly, let us add from ourselves that American and European journalists and analysts working in large and influential publications are looking for news on Twitter and on YouTube. This is probably the effect of “psakism”, revealed by famous journalist Matthew Lee with the help of the leading question about children and carousels, which State Department star Jen Psaki could not answer. Now psakism spread throughout the United States and penetrated even into the EU.
There is, however, a side effect of psakism. If Americans (for example, from Louisiana), instead of Washington Post, read Twitter messages and watch videos on YouTube, this indicates a decline in confidence in the major American press.
Meanwhile, the worldwide popularity of the mentioned channel “RT” is breaking records. Obviously, American newsmen are beginning to be jealous of Russians. You can replace the "newspaper" by "propagandists", there will be no difference. Envy will remain.
Information