read the document about hybrid warfare from the Canadian Armed Forces Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM) Professional Development Centre (PDC. Anti-globalism is one of the main theme being pushed by Russia. https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2017/mdn-dnd/D4-10-19-2016-eng.pdf
extract from the document:
To further understand the danger hybrid warfare poses, it becomes useful to examine the “Kremlin Tool Kit” as described by
researchers from the Institute of Modern Russia:
• The Kremlin exploits the idea of freedom of information to inject disinformation into society. The effect
is not to persuade (as in classic public diplomacy) or
earn credibility but to sow confusion via conspiracy
theories and proliferate falsehoods.
• The Kremlin is increasing its “information war” budget. RT, which includes multilingual rolling news, a
wire service and radio channels, has an estimated
budget of over $300 million, set to increase by 41%
to include German- and French-language channels.
There is increasing use of social media to spread
disinformation and trolls to attack publications and
personalities.
• Unlike in the Cold War, when Soviets largely supported leftist groups, a fluid approach to ideology
now allows the Kremlin to simultaneously back farleft and far-right movements, greens, anti-globalists
and financial elites. The aim is to exacerbate divides
and create an echo chamber of Kremlin support.
• The Kremlin exploits the openness of liberal democracies to use the Orthodox Church and expatriate
NGOs to further aggressive foreign policy goals.
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• There is an attempt to co-opt parts of the expert
community in the West via such bodies as the Valdai
Forum, which critics accuse of swapping access for
acquiescence. Othersenior Western experts are given
positions in Russian companies and become de facto
communications representatives of the Kremlin.
• Financial PR firms and hired influencers help the
Kremlin’s cause by arguing that “finance and politics
should be kept separate.” But whereas the liberal
idea of globalization sees money as politically neutral, with global commerce leading to peace and
interdependence, the Kremlin uses the openness of
global markets as an opportunity to employ money,
commerce and energy as foreign policy weapons.
• The West’s acquiescence to sheltering corrupt Russian money demoralizes the Russian opposition while
making the West more dependent on the Kremlin.
• The Kremlin is helping foster an anti-Western, authoritarian Internationale that is becoming ever more
popular in Central Europe and throughout the world.
• The weaponization of information, culture and
money is a vital part of the Kremlin’s hybrid, or nonlinear, war, which combines the above elements
with covert and small-scale military operations. The
conflict in Ukraine saw non-linear war in action.
Other rising authoritarian states will look to copy
Moscow’s model of hybrid war—and the West has
no institutional or analytical tools to deal with it.
• The Kremlin applies different approaches to different regions across the world, using local rivalries and
resentments to divide and conquer.
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• The Kremlin exploits systemic weak spots in the
Western system, providing a sort of X-ray of the underbelly of liberal democracy.
• The Kremlin successfully erodes the integrity of investigative and political journalism, producing a lack
of faith in traditional media.
• Offshore zones and opaque shell companies help
sustain Kremlin corruption and aid its influence. For
journalists, the threat of libel meansfew publications
are ready to take on Kremlin-connected figures.
• Lack of transparency in funding and the blurring of
distinctions between think tanks and lobbying helps
the Kremlin push its agendas forward without due
scrutiny.70
In sum, the threat posed by hybrid warfare is substantial. Its application is insidious as it deludes decision-makers into separating
the specific tactics being utilized by an adversary from the actual
strategic level political objectives that are driving their campaign.
In short, it becomes hard to recognize that one is under attack
or at “war.” As such, it becomes difficult to recognize the seemingly disconnected series of events as a carefully synchronized
campaign designed to achieve specific political objectives.
NATO Document on Troll Factories: https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/2020/5/pdf/2005-deepportal2-troll-factories.pdf