Hackers, Propaganda, Electoral Manipulation
Moscow’s Information War in the West
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
For a long time, there has been a failure in the political and the public spheres in Germany and the EU to recognise both the degree of influence of Moscow through propaganda and disinformation and the risk of cyber attacks originating from Russia. It was not until the cyber attack on the German Bundestag, the “Lisa case”, and the hacking scandal during the American election, that the full realisation dawned that Moscow is interfering in the domestic politics of western countries on a massive scale. There is no reason to dramatise the situation. However, at a time of profound alienation between Russia and the West following the annexation of Crimea and the war in eastern Ukraine, the Russian leadership is set on a path of confrontation. In order to divide the West, it has adopted a targeted, and at the same time flexible, approach. There is no cause for complacency.
(Osteuropa 3-4/2017, pp. 3–17)