Disinformation Wars

In thIs episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Alsu Kurmasheva of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, who was imprisoned by the Russian government for her work. Also tells her story, and talks about the how Russia’s information environment is changing - and what it means for Western governments.  BIO: Alsu Kurmasheva is an award-winning journalist and editor at Radio Free Europe...

In this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Andres Ilves of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks regarding how the Islamic Republic is manipulating the flow of information during its present conflict with America - and what we can glean about conditions within Iran, despite these efforts. MATERIALS REFERENCED IN THIS EPISODE: -- MBN's weekly "Iran Briefing"...

In this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Leah Soibel of Fuente Latina about the state of the Latin American media market - and how external actors like Iran, China and Russia are trying to manipulate opinions and attitudes in the Western Hemisphere. BIO: Leah Soibel is the Founder and CEO of Fuente Latina, the only nonprofit media organization that empowers Hispanic jou...

In this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Dr. James Robbins, Senior Fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council and Dean of Academics at the Institute of World Politics, about their experiences dealing with international broadcasting during the Trump 47 Transition - and where America's public diplomacy enterprise is today. BIO: Dr. James S. Robbins is a national se...

In this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Arthur Barys of TVP World about how Poland's premier English-language broadcaster is trying to change the conversation - and provide crucial context - about Russia's information offensive on Europe's eastern flank. BIO: Arthur Barys is a Warsaw-based translator and head language editor at TVP World, the English-langua...

In this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with journalist and author Yaakov Katz about the institutional dysfunctions plaguing Israel's conduct of public diplomacy - and the impact these deficiencies have had on the country's current conflict with Hamas. MATERIALS REFERENCED: -- Yaakov Katz and Amir Bohbot, While Israel Slept: How Hamas Surprised the Most Powerful Mil...

In this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Ellen McCarthy, CEO of the Trust in Media Cooperative, about how AI and foreign actors are altering the media landscape, the dangers associated with declining trust in information, and what the U.S. government and private sector institutions can do about it. MATERIALS REFERENCED: -- Gallup, "Americans' Trust in Media Rem...

In this episode, host Ilan Berman speaks with Sam Douglas-Bate of British futures consultancy ForgeFront about how advances in technology are assisting the proliferation of “fake news” and disinformation - and what Western governments can do about it. MATERIALS REFERENCED IN THIS EPISODE: — Sam Douglas-Bate, "The Double-Edged Sword: New Technologies to Win the War on Fake News," New Lines Institut...

In this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Janis Sarts, Director of NATO's Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, about the current informational environment in Europe, and the threats now being posed to the West by Russia, China and others. BIO: Jānis Sārts is the Director of the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, a multinational, cross-secto...

In this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Laura Cunningham, President of the Open Technology Fund, about how authoritarian regimes are improving their censorship game - and how technology is helping free media fight back against this growing digital authoritarianism. MATERIALS REFERENCE IN THIS EPISODE: — “Does Bypassing Internet Censorship in China Change Individual Bel...

In this episode, host Ilan Berman speaks with Andrew Fox of the Henry Jackson Society about how terror group Hamas has weaponized data and statistics to gain the upper hand in the informational front of Israel's new war. BIO: Andrew Fox is a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, specializing in defense, the Middle East, and disinformation. He served in the British Army from 2005 to 2021, c...

In this episode, host Ilan Berman speaks with retired Israeli Major General Amos Yadlin, the former head of IDF Military Intelligence, about his country's recent battlefield victories against Iran and its proxies, and what they mean in strategic terms. BIO: Major General (ret.) Amos Yadlin is the president and founder of MIND Israel, an action-oriented strategic consulting team advising Israeli le...

In this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Ammar Maleki, the founder and director of the Group for Analyzing and Measuring Attitudes in Iran, or GAMAAN, regarding what innovative polls tell us about how Iranians think about their own government, and the rest of the world.   BIO: Ammar Maleki is the founder and director of the Group for Analyzing and Measuring Attitudes in...

In this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Col. Peter Garretson, AFPC Senior Fellow in Defense Studies and former chief futurist for the U.S. Air Force, regarding China’s recent strides forward in space internet, and what it might mean for the unfolding “great power competition” between Washington and Beijing.   BIO: Peter Garretson is a Senior Fellow in Defense Studies a...

In this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman speaks with Dr. Khalil Shikaki, director of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, regarding the state of Palestinian sentiment, ideology and media, post-October 7th. BIO: Khalil Shikaki is a Professor of Political Science and director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR), which is b...

In this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman explores the post-October 7th explosion of antisemitism, and how the world's oldest hatred is being turbo-charged by 21st century information technology, with Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt.

In this episode, host Ilan Berman speaks with Tikhon Dzyadko of Russian opposition outlet TV Rain about his work, the current state of Russian independent media, and an alternative vision for the future of Russia. BIO: Tikhon Dzyadko is a journalist and the Editor-in-Chief of Russian opposition television outlet TV Rain (Dozhd), which is now headquartered in The Netherlands. He is the former deput...

In this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman checks in with Sarit Zehavi of the Alma Research and Education Center to learn what's really happening along Israel's border with Lebanon, as well as the true scope of the threat now confronting the country from the Hezbollah terrorist group and its patron, Iran. BIO: Lieutenant Colonel (Res.) Sarit Zehavi is the founder and presiden...

In this episode of DISINFORMATION WARS, host Ilan Berman talks to former Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy about his experience on Israel’s informational front lines, and the areas where Israel needs to improve in order to get its message out in today’s increasingly contested and hostile global media environment. BIO: Eylon Levy is the host of the State of a Nation Podcast and a former Israe...

In 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 Chine...

In 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 Se...

In 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 i...

In 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 o...

In 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 Gr...

In 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 analy...