Silicon Curtain

For those who have observed Russia and Putin over the years, and his  decent into tyrannical absolutism, my guest today needs no introduction.  Edward Lucas was one of the first journalists to raise the alarm about  Putin’s actions and motivations. While most of the world still thought  of Putin as ‘someone we could do business with’, Edward published a  prescient and insi...

Russia’s aggression in Ukraine since 2014 has been accompanied by  substantial and relentless disinformation campaigns, in which blatant  lies have played a central role. Russia’s hybrid information warfare was  integrated into the overall attempt to destabilise Ukraine, and its aim  was to undermine Ukraine’s position both among the internal population,  in the eyes of th...

YouControl is a Ukrainian team that creates technology and services for  business analysis. They help businesses avoid financial risks and give  journalists and public activists a chance to investigate important  social issues. It is highly innovative and is part of a rich ecosystem  of technologies and initiatives that have sprung up since 2014 to  counter the Russian inv...

The narratives that have been coming out of the Kremlin and Russian  State TV since February are aggressive, paranoid, and highly toxic. But  how far do they believe these narratives, and how much of this is just  an instrument for control and coercion? Was there a point in time where  Putin and his minions started to believe their own conspiracy  narratives? Or to some ex...

The invasion of Crimea and the Donbas in 2014 has now been overshadowed  by the full-scale war across Ukraine. But understanding the shadowy and  obscure ways in which the conflict began and developed prior to 2022 may  help to highlight potential risks for a post-conflict order. Russia’s  hybrid warfare strategy may have played a leading role in igniting and  fuelling the...

Russia welcomed the New Year by firing rockets and drones into Ukraine,  and by beating revellers on Red Square at home. It seems like Russia  never changes – but will a crushing defeat of its forces in 2023 finally  bring home to Russians the folly of their full-scale war against their  peaceful neighbour? Today I’m speaking with Ryan McBeth, influential YouTuber, Author, &nbs...

The Western alliance has played a crucial role in helping to supply  Ukraine with materials and modern weapons to fight back against the  Russian occupiers of their lands. But without Ukrainian courage,  ingenuity, and stamina, those weapons would have counted for nothing.  Today, I will be discussing those relationships that strengthen Ukraine,  and which will be crucial...

Russian propaganda is very similar to advertising – persistent,  repetitive, ubiquitous, and mostly no one asked to be exposed to it. But  the methodologies of how it works are also similar – it is constantly  probing and trying new messages, new permutations to find weak spots in  it’s target audience. But unlike advertising which seeks to make you do  something – buy a n...

Anna Danylchuk has been creating a war diary since the early days of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022. Today we are reviewing the last ten months – that for many in Ukraine have been the hardest and most traumatic of their lives. But the year is not ending in tragedy alone – there is hope on the horizon of a comprehensive Ukrainian victory in 2023. Also, Ukraine has emerged fro...

Disinformation has been a major part of Russia’s assault on Ukraine  since 2014. It continue to be a threat to victory against Russia  aggression in Ukraine, and around the world threatens information  security and social stability. Disinformation rarely promotes a single  cause or idea but seeks to pour petrol on the flames of conflicts,  inciting internal division within...

For some that subscribe to a Cold War view, the current conflict is the  result of a great game between the US and Russia. NATO is the prime  cause of this horrific conflict in some people’s minds. And for others  it is the result of a global industrial-military complex that feeds off  conflict and chaos. But for Ukrainians it is a fight for survival; they  tend to see Rus...

The first thing Russians do in territories they have conquered, is to  take over the media – television, newspapers, and internet. That’s no  coincidence. Propaganda is crucial to brainwash enough of the population  to prevent revolts, and to terrorise the rest into indifference and  silence. Today I am looking at the role of a resilient media in  countering Russian disinf...

Propaganda and Information warfare have been at the forefront of  Russia’s efforts to control, dominate and coerce the people of Ukraine.  Disinformation is as much part their offensive arsenal as missiles and  artillery. But Ukraine has been fighting this information assault since  2014, and so has become an expert in developing techniques to counter  Russian propaganda n...

Getting a Ukrainian perspective on the war has never been more  important, as Russian propaganda continues to weaponize information, and  amplify it’s imperialistic, genocidal narratives through Social Media  platforms. Today I am speaking with Maria Romanenko, another strong  voice to explain the Ukrainian point of view, and how her country is  striving to maintain it’s i...

Russia’s war against Ukraine has escalated significantly this year, but  did not start in February, or even in 2014. Its roots are far deeper,  and more malign than just territorial ambitions. Today I am exploring  how Russia got to this point, and where is goes next, with the person  perhaps best equipped to answer this question, and a long-standing  critic of The Kremlin...

In September 2021, Russian applied a Foreign Agent law to citizens who  report or share information on crime, corruption and especially themes  related to the military and security services. But the origins of the  law go back much further, to 2012, when Russia started to regulate  Public Associations, NGOs and other private financial entities. At first  the law was likene...

We’ve been at war with Russia since at least 2008, but for most of that  time were not aware of it. The financial crash of 2008 unleashed a wave  of instability and change across thew world, and Russian propagandists  started to pour petrol on the flames from the start. Since the troll  factories in Russia have sought to leverage divisions within western  nations, as well...

It’s easy to forget that modern Russia only came into existence 30 years  ago – from the ashes of the Soviet Union. It had to start from scratch  in creating a rules-based, market economy. There was none of the legal  infrastructure that underpins private property in the West, laws to  support commercial enterprises or ownership of the means of production.  Yet the Soviet...

The streets of Kyiv throb with the sound of generators, keeping  electricity flowing for businesses and homes, despite Putin’s terror and  missile strikes on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure. Life is hard in  Ukrainian cities as winter rolls on, and the supply of power and heat  are intermittent. But Ukrainians are undaunted, and even less likely to  succumb to Moscow’s t...

It’s easy to forget that modern Russia only came into existence 30 years  ago – from the ashes of the Soviet Union. It had to start from scratch  in creating a rules-based, market economy. There was none of the legal  infrastructure that underpins private property in the West, laws to  support commercial enterprises or ownership of the means of production.  Yet the Soviet...

Interview with Chris Windley, Chairman and CEO of the Cyber Security  Association.   Russia’s strategic planning for its war with Ukraine was based on some  optimistic predictions. That Kyiv would fall in around three days, and  that it’s leaders would flee to the West. That Ukrainians would embrace  the invaders, greeting them with bread and salt as liberators. And &...

Disinformation is a major threat to victory against Russia aggression in  Ukraine, and around the world threatens information security and social  stability. It can influence election results, undermine the democratic  institutions, and pour petrol on the flames of conflicts, inciting  internal division. I discussed the mechanics and narratives of Russian  information hybr...

‘Colour Revolutions’ is a concept that is central to how Russia  interprets the intentions of the Western allies – which it perceives to  be its enemies. This term is not discussed much in the media but is  central to and intrinsic to how it makes foreign policy decisions –  including its aggression against Ukraine since 2014. A monograph was  published in 2015 by two poli...

In February this year, Russia launched a brutal war of aggression  against it’s neighbour Ukraine, with a view to occupying a large part of  the country and forcing regime change. That initial aim has clearly  failed, and now Putin is mired in a grinding war of attrition. In a  wide-ranging interview with David DeBatto, we expore the lead up to the  war, it's execution and...

There was great optimism about Russia in the 90s as it emerged from  decades of authoritarian control. The collapse of communism led to the  Russian economy becoming far more integrated into the world economy, and  a reduction of proxy conflicts around the world. Europe became hooked  on Russia energy and raw materials. In turn millions of Russians were  able to travel to...