Disinformation Wars
56 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 month ago - ★★★★ - 14 ratingsThe American Foreign Policy Council
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
EPISODE 42: The new fight over the future of TikTok
March 15, 2024 19:37 - 28 minutes - 26.7 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with AFPC Senior Fellow in Indo-Pacific Studies Michael Sobolik about the new push in the U.S. Congress to limit the reach of TikTok, China’s wildly-popular social media app. Bio: Michael Sobolik is Senior Fellow in Indo-Pacific Studies at the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, DC, where his work covers American and Chinese grand strategy, regional economic and security trends, America’s alliance architecture in A...
EPISODE 41: Cutting through the “fog of war” in global conflicts
March 11, 2024 13:04 - 23 minutes - 21.4 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Shashank Joshi, Defence Editor of The Economist, regarding the challenges of accurately covering global conflicts in an era of rampant disinformation and digital manipulation. Bio: Shashank Joshi is The Economist‘s defence editor. Prior to joining The Economist in 2018, he served as Senior Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) and Research Associate at Oxford University’s Changing Character of War ...
EPISODE 40: Tracking digital antisemitism
January 26, 2024 12:56 - 21 minutes - 20 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor of digital watchdog Cyberwell about the post-October 7th proliferation of online antisemitism and misinformation, and how her company is working to keep social media platforms accountable. Bio: Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor is Founder and Director of CyberWell, an international technology-based non-profit that is working to combat the spread of antisemitism on social media. An Israeli lawyer, Tal-Or has...
EPISODE 39: Pushing back against Russian propaganda
December 28, 2023 15:18 - 26 minutes - 24.6 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with former Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty president Thomas Kent regarding the strategic logic underlying Russia's weaponization of disinformation - and the things Western governments can do to neutralize Russia's informational advantage. Bio: Thomas Kent teaches and consults on Russian affairs, journalism, and the problems of propaganda and disinformation. President of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty until 2018, he now teach...
EPISODE 38: Radical ideas, amplified
November 28, 2023 15:04 - 17 minutes - 16.6 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks to Colin Clarke of the Soufan Center about the surprising new virality of Osama bin Laden's "Letter to America," and about the role of social media platforms in helping to amplify extremism more broadly. Bio: Colin P. Clarke is a Senior Research Fellow at The Soufan Center. He is the Director of Research at The Soufan Group, where his research focuses on domestic and transnational terrorism, international security, and geopol...
EPISODE 37: Peeking behind Iran's informational curtain
November 17, 2023 11:25 - 17 minutes - 16.5 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks to Golnaz Esfandiari of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty regarding the growing disaffection visible on the Iranian "street," official regime censorship and repression, and what the future holds for the Islamic Republic. Bio: Golnaz Esfandiari is the managing editor of RFE/RL's Radio Farda. She also serves as an Iran analyst for Freedom House, authoring the Iran chapter of their annual Freedom in the World annual reports. Her wo...
EPISODE 36: Behind the headlines of Israel's new war
October 17, 2023 12:51 - 31 minutes - 28.7 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks to two prominent Israeli experts, former Jerusalem Post editor Yaakov Katz and Lt. Col. (Res.) Sarit Zehavi of the Alma Research and Education Center, regarding the new war now facing Israel in the wake of Hamas' October 7th campaign of terror - and the stories that aren't being told about the conflict. BIOS: Yaakov Katz is a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute, a former editor of the Jerusalem Post where he r...
EPISODE 35: Information and our "great power competition" with China
September 19, 2023 17:37 - 35 minutes - 32.9 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman talks to journalist Bethany Allen about the role that disinformation, propaganda and influence play in China's foreign policy - and their impact on the unfolding strategic competition between Beijing and Washington Bethany Allen is the China reporter at AXIOS. She was previously the lead reporter on the China Cables project of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, as a national security correspondent at The Daily...
EPISODE 34: Demystifying China's "discourse power"
August 10, 2023 11:41 - 36 minutes - 33.8 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman talks to Tuvia Gering, a scholar at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies, about the ways in which Beijing is shaping global discourse - and what the PRC is saying to the world. Tuvia Gering is a researcher at the Diane & Guilford Glazer Foundation Israel-China Policy Center at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), Tel Aviv, Israel, and a non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub. He is al...
EPISODE 33: The tug-of-war over TikTok
June 05, 2023 17:56 - 25 minutes - 23.4 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Jimmy Quinn of National Review about the current state of the political debate over one of the world’s most popular social media apps - and what it tells us about the larger Great Power Competition that's now unfolding between the United States and China.
EPISODE 32: Bringing balance to reporting about Israel
May 10, 2023 11:47 - 21 minutes - 20.1 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Jacki Alexander, Chief Executive Officer of HonestReporting, about how her organization is harnessing social media and badly-needed context in order to combat bias in reporting about Israel and its place in the Middle East. Materials referenced in this episode: — Report by Israel’s Channel 14 on the Palestinian Authority’s “prisoners project” (in Hebrew): https://www.now14.co.il/למחבלים-בלבד-שכונת-היוקרה-שמוקמת-ברשפ/ — ...
EPISODE 31: China’s global propaganda push
April 17, 2023 08:56 - 30 minutes - 27.8 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Joshua Kurlantzick of the Council on Foreign Relations regarding his new book on Chinese media strategy, and the methods and means by which the PRC is shaping global perceptions. Materials referenced in this episode: Kurlantzick’s book, Beijing’s Global Media Offensive: China’s Uneven Campaign to Influence Asia and the World (Oxford University Press, 2022), available here. The Associated Press’ investigative report int...
EPISODE 30: Propaganda and the pandemic
March 16, 2023 11:58 - 33 minutes - 30.8 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Michael Sobolik of the American Foreign Policy Council about China's efforts to shape global perceptions surrounding COVID19 at the start of the global pandemic - and how that war of narratives has now returned with a vengeance.
EPISODE 29: Information is a Russian weapon
February 20, 2023 14:28 - 25 minutes - 23.5 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Ivana Stradner of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies about how Russia weaponizes information to achieve its geopolitical objectives -- and how the United States and its allies can begin to push back.
EPISODE 28: Israel’s upgraded digital diplomacy
January 31, 2023 13:32 - 20 minutes - 18.6 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Amb. David Saranga, the head of digital diplomacy at Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, about how Jerusalem is using new media and innovative techniques to share Israel’s story with global audiences.
EPISODE 27: Russian disinformation is helping reshape Latin America
December 22, 2022 13:44 - 32 minutes - 29.7 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman talks to Joseph Humire, Executive Director of the Center for Secure Free Society, about how Russian narratives and tropes are resonating in the Americas - and what that means for local politics, as well as for American security. Materials referenced in this episode: — Ilan Berman and Joseph M. Humire, eds., Iran’s Strategic Penetration of Latin America (Lexington Books, 2016), https://www.amazon.com/Irans-Strategic-Penetration-Latin-...
EPISODE 26: Russia’s emerging exile media sphere
November 28, 2022 12:48 - 31 minutes - 29.2 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman talks to Roman Anin, Editor-in-Chief of Russian investigative outlet iStories, about the consequences of the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine, the moral and practical stakes involved, and the emergence of a new media ecosystem for Russian opposition journalists.
EPISODE 25: China’s expanding digital authoritarianism
October 21, 2022 11:30 - 30 minutes - 28.3 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman talks to Klon Kitchen of the American Enterprise Institute about how technology is enabling China’s deepening domestic repression, and how that same technology is becoming an important - and ominous - export commodity for the PRC.
EPISODE 24: How the rest of the world sees China
September 22, 2022 11:53 - 27 minutes - 25.8 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman talks to Eric Olander, Editor-in-Chief of the China Global South Project, about how China is seen throughout the developing world - and why these views are so different from Western perceptions of the PRC. MATERIALS REFERENCED IN THIS EPISODE: — The China Global South Daily Brief is available at https://chinaglobalsouth.com
EPISODE 23: China’s global propaganda push
September 07, 2022 14:20 - 31 minutes - 29.2 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman talks to the Washington Post’s Josh Rogin about how China is working to reshape global narratives to advance its geopolitical agenda and improve its international standing. MATERIALS REFERENCED IN THIS EPISODE: — Josh’s book, Chaos under Heaven: Trump, Xi, and the Battle for the 21st Century: https://www.amazon.com/Chaos-Under-Heaven-America-Twenty-First/dp/0358699282/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1662421880&sr=8-1 — Josh’...
EPISODE 22: China’s growing “discourse power” in Israel
August 19, 2022 14:29 - 30 minutes - 28.1 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman talks to Alexander Pevzner of Strategy Risks, a business risk consultancy, about the mechanics of how China has set about building presence - and popularity - in Israel, and what it might mean. MATERIALS REFERENCED IN THIS EPISODE: — The Pew Research Center’s 2019 survey of attitudes toward China: https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2019/12/05/attitudes-toward-china-2019/ — The Pew Research Center’s 2022 survey of attitudes toward Ch...
EPISODE 21: The rise and fall of Biden’s disinformation board
July 05, 2022 13:15 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman talks to AFPC Fellow and disinformation specialist Monika Richter about the missteps that torpedoed the Biden administration’s latest initiative - and the underlying problems with how the U.S. and Europe approach today’s digital disorder. MATERIALS REFERENCED IN THIS EPISODE: -- Monika Richter, “Is Biden’s Disinfo Czar Qualified?” The Bulwark, May 6, 2022, https://www.thebulwark.com/is-bidens-disinfo-czar-qualified/ -- Matt Apuzzo, ...
EPISODE 20: How Iran is influencing Israeli society
May 23, 2022 15:47 - 17 minutes - 15.9 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman talks to Israeli disinformation specialist Moshe Kwiat about recent terror attacks in Israel - and how they are linked to a broader Iranian media campaign to destabilize the country. MOSHE KWIAT is an open source intelligence analyst specializing in disinformation, and a graduate researcher at Reichman University. He is a captain in the IDF reserves, and has worked on counterterrorism and international relations for Israel's Ministry...
EPISODE 19: The roots of Russian dysfunction
May 12, 2022 12:34 - 28 minutes - 26.3 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman talks to veteran Russian journalist Yulia Latynina regarding the myths, misconceptions and errors that have helped shape the Kremlin’s current war in Ukraine. YULIA LATYNINA is an award-winning journalist and literary writer who worked for decades in Russian media, most recently as a correspondent with the Ekho Moskvy radio station and the Novaya Gazeta newspaper. In 2008, she was awarded the U.S. State Department’s Freedom Defenders ...
Episode 18: Russia's new anti-NATO offensive
May 03, 2022 13:49 - 22 minutes - 20.8 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Mollie Saltskog of The Soufan Group about how Russia is now trying to harness propaganda and disinformation to discourage the Nordic states from joining the NATO alliance.
EPISODE 17: A war of narratives with Russia
April 14, 2022 14:29 - 24 minutes - 22.9 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Cliff May, president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, about the informational and ideological contest surrounding the current war in Ukraine, and its implications for the global order.
EPISODE 16: Russia’s shrinking information space
March 24, 2022 13:05 - 20 minutes - 19.2 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman visits once again with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty president Jamie Fly to talk about how the war in Ukraine has served as a catalyst for a new, more restrictive media environment in Russia, and how U.S. public diplomacy is adapting as a result.
EPISODE 15: How the West is responding to Russia's new war
March 17, 2022 13:12 - 22 minutes - 20.9 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Bill Browder, CEO of Hermitage Capital and one of the world's leading anti-corruption crusaders, about the economic pressure the U.S. and its allies are bringing to bear against Moscow in an effort to deter Russian aggression.
EPISODE 14: Making sense of Putin’s war against Ukraine
March 04, 2022 14:07 - 23 minutes - 31.7 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with leading Russia expert Michael Kofman of CNA about the strategic realities and media optics surrounding Russia’s military offensive against Ukraine and the new war in Europe.
EPISODE 13: Telling Israel's story
February 23, 2022 14:16 - 23 minutes - 21.4 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with lawyer and digital activist Arsen Ostrovsky about the state of Israeli public diplomacy, the messaging challenges facing the Jewish state, and the future of regional engagement.
The trouble with Al-Jazeera
January 24, 2022 14:13 - 17 minutes - 16.2 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Amb. Mark Wallace, CEO of the Counter Extremism Project, about the origins and influence of Al-Jazeera, as well as its role as an instrument of Qatari foreign policy.
EPISODE 12: The trouble with Al-Jazeera
January 24, 2022 14:13 - 17 minutes - 16.2 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Amb. Mark Wallace, CEO of the Counter Extremism Project, about the origins and influence of Al-Jazeera, as well as its role as an instrument of Qatari foreign policy.
Israel, Hamas, and the media war
December 30, 2021 16:06 - 35 minutes - 33 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Jonathan Schanzer of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies regarding the May 2021 war between Israel and Hamas, and how Western media misreported the true contours of that conflict.
EPISODE 11: Israel, Hamas, and the media war
December 30, 2021 16:06 - 35 minutes - 33 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Jonathan Schanzer of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies regarding the May 2021 war between Israel and Hamas, and how Western media misreported the true contours of that conflict.
The Islamic Republic's social media strategy
December 14, 2021 17:27 - 19 minutes - 17.7 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Iran democracy activist Mariam Memarsadeghi about the message that Iranian opposition forces are trying to send to the world in their struggle for freedom... and how the country's clerical regime is working overtime on the World Wide Web in order to stop them.
EPISODE 10: The Islamic Republic's social media strategy
December 14, 2021 17:27 - 19 minutes - 17.7 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Iran democracy activist Mariam Memarsadeghi about the message that Iranian opposition forces are trying to send to the world in their struggle for freedom... and how the country's clerical regime is working overtime on the World Wide Web in order to stop them.
EPISODE 9: Media in today's Afghanistan
December 03, 2021 14:34 - 23 minutes - 21.4 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Andres Ilves of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty about the media environment in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover this Fall, and the political and informational challenges now facing the country.
Media in today's Afghanistan
December 03, 2021 14:34 - 23 minutes - 21.4 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Andres Ilves of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty about the media environment in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover this Fall, and the political and informational challenges now facing the country.
EPISODE 8: Getting Iran outreach right
November 19, 2021 15:24 - 24 minutes - 22.6 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Alex Vatanka of the Middle East Institute about the current problems afflicting America's official broadcasting toward Iran, and how we can do better in messaging to the Iranian people.
Getting Iran outreach right
November 19, 2021 15:24 - 24 minutes - 22.6 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Alex Vatanka of the Middle East Institute about the current problems afflicting America's official broadcasting toward Iran, and how we can do better in messaging to the Iranian people.
Misunderstanding Iran
November 02, 2021 16:33 - 19 minutes - 17.9 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Jason Brodsky of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) about the real political state of play within the Islamic Republic of Iran today, and how Western media is missing the big stories taking place within the country.
EPISODE 7: Misunderstanding Iran
November 02, 2021 16:33 - 19 minutes - 17.9 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Jason Brodsky of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) about the real political state of play within the Islamic Republic of Iran today, and how Western media is missing the big stories taking place within the country.
EPISODE 6: Tech and terrorism
October 13, 2021 16:03 - 24 minutes - 22.8 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Erin Saltman of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (www.gifct.org) about the state of extremist media today, how Islamic radicals have learned to harness social media for their own ends, and what messages are resonating with global publics.
Tech and terrorism
October 13, 2021 16:03 - 24 minutes - 22.8 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Erin Saltman of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (www.gifct.org) about the state of extremist media today, how Islamic radicals have learned to harness social media for their own ends, and what messages are resonating with global publics.
EPISODE 5: Terrorism and extremism, two decades after 9/11
September 29, 2021 16:17 - 21 minutes - 19.8 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Katherine Zimmerman of the American Enterprise Institute about the state of global terrorism, extremist thought, and jihadi messaging on the twentieth anniversary of the September 11th attacks.
Terrorism and extremism, two decades after 9/11
September 29, 2021 16:17 - 21 minutes - 19.8 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Katherine Zimmerman of the American Enterprise Institute about the state of global terrorism, extremist thought, and jihadi messaging on the twentieth anniversary of the September 11th attacks.
EPISODE 4: Information and power -- the view from Moscow
September 09, 2021 16:31 - 29 minutes - 41.1 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with renowned Russian journalist Andrei Soldatov about Russia's information warfare strategy, how the government of Vladimir Putin sees the West, and the future of our "battle of ideas" with the Kremlin.
Information and power: The view from Moscow
September 09, 2021 16:31 - 29 minutes - 41.1 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with renowned Russian journalist Andrei Soldatov about Russia's information warfare strategy, how the government of Vladimir Putin sees the West, and the future of our "battle of ideas" with the Kremlin.
EPISODE 3: The Russian-Estonian cyberwar, revisited
August 25, 2021 13:36 - 35 minutes - 48.7 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with former Estonian President Toomas Ilves about Russia's 2007 digital offensive against his country, and the current threat to global information posed by the Kremlin.
The Russian-Estonian cyberwar, revisited
August 25, 2021 13:36 - 35 minutes - 48.7 MBIn this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with former Estonian President Toomas Ilves about Russia's 2007 digital offensive against his country, and the current threat to global information posed by the Kremlin.