The West versus Russian disinfo with Jakub Kalensky (Senior Analyst, Hybrid COE in Helsinki)

09/24/24 • 29 min

In this episode, our host Marcus Kolga, travels to Helsinki, Finland, where he meets with Jakub Kalensky, a senior analyst at the European Center of Excellence for countering hybrid threats in Helsinki, who is active in the development of the EU's external action services, EU versus Disinfo at the eastern STRATCOM and now with the Hybrid COE - an international, autonomous network-based organization promoting a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach to countering hybrid threats. Marcus talks to Jakub about the modern phase of Russia's disinformation operations and their intensification after the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014 and the downing of Malaysian Airlines MH 17 by a surface to air missile belonging to the Russian Armed Forces.

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NATO and cognitive warfare with Jay Janzen

Welcome to the third episode of Disinfo Watch and the Macdonald-Laurier Institute's Active Measures podcast. Over the past two episodes, we've looked at the history of Moscow's information and influence operations.

In this episode, our host Marcus Kolga travelled to Helsinki, Finland, where he met with former Canadian Brigadier General Jay Janzen, who is currently the director of the Communications Division at NATO Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) located in Mons Belgium. Earlier in his career, Jay was deployed to Bosnia and twice to Afghanistan, where he was involved in communications operations. Jay was Director of Public Affairs for the Canadian Army, the chief of media operations at SHAPE and the Director General STRATCOM for the Canadian Armed Forces. Marcus and Jay sat down in an outdoor café next to Helsinki's Eastern harbour to chat about the threats that NATO and its members face in the information and cognitive domain, and how NATO and SHAPE are preparing to defend our collective cognitive sovereignty and fighting back against our enemies.

Next Episode

Nordic Shadows: Russia's Information Operations in Sweden with Patrik Oksanen

Episode 5 turns to Russia's information operations targeting Sweden. In this episode, our host, Marcus Kolga, travels to Estonia’s capital, Tallin, where he speaks with Swedish journalist and foreign policy expert Patrik Oksanen. The impact of Patrik's work has made him a significant target of Russian transnational oppression, which we will cover in an upcoming podcast episode. Together, Marcus and Patrik unpack Russian information operations in Sweden, including the Kremlin's amplification of a series of strange Quran burning incidents in 2023 and how they may have stifled Sweden's efforts to join NATO.