Russia's Information Warfare: Ukraine Holding Its Own

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03/20/23 • 52 min

How is Russia's information war against Ukraine going? What are the main propaganda and disinformation narratives Russia is pushing -- and are they working? What is happening in cyber space? We explore these and other topics with Gavin Wilde, Senior Fellow in the Technology and International Affairs program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Gavin is a noted Russia expert with broad experience in and out of government, including as a Director for Russia at the National Security Council. We spoke on March 16. Gavin had recently returned from a trip to Ukraine.

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Russia's War One Year On: Poland and (Most of) Central Europe Rise to the Challenge

We review what Russia's war on Ukraine has meant for Central Europe with Matt Boyse, who served as U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State responsible for coordinating policy toward Central Europe from 2018-2021. Poland has emerged as a clear leader in the wake of the invasion, but we examine how the rest of the region, with the exception of Hungary, has risen to the challenge as well. Putin's aggression has vindicated the warnings Poland and others in Central Europe have been making for decades - often to the chagrin of their Western partners - about the threat of resurgent Russian imperialism. We will discuss how regional fora, such as the Bucharest-9, can enhance coordination and forge a bulwark in Europe's east - from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea - against further Russian encroachments.

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El Salvador President Bukele's War on Gangs

President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador has declared an unprecedented and controversial war on the country's gangs. Under a "State of Exception" in effect since March 2022, over 60,000 suspected gang members have been arrested. Some human rights groups warn that the round up is coming at the expense of proper due process. Bukele's supporters note a dramatic drop in the murder rate and the return of the rule of law on the streets. Bukele's approval rating is over 80 percent. Bukele's experiment is being watched closely in the region, where others are also at the mercy of gangs and cartels.
I spoke about Bukele and his anti-gang efforts with El Salvador native and elections expert Mario Velasquez. Mario has been tracking politics in El Salvador since the 1970s. From 1985-95 he was Executive Director of MAES - Medical Aid for El Salvador. He was at one time affiliated with the leftist FMLN party.