The expansion of Russia’s information warfare (2000-2018)

Abstract

This article analyzes the evolution of the means of soft power used by Russia since the year 2000. Starting at the study of the first public diplomacy initiatives, directed at countries of the post-soviet space, explores the similarities with the strategic objectives of Russian foreign policy. Firstly, the changes produced in the international society since the Russian-Georgian war of 2008, and the protests that have taken place in Russia at the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012, result in a significant change of the objectives and strategies of the Russian soft power, and in an extreme radicalisation of informative narratives. The conclusions emphasize four elements: the evolution towards informative warfare operations as a defense strategy against Western iniciatives in the Russian neighbourhood, the growing militarization of informative content based on informative warfare strategies, the parallelism between the propaganda within the country and in the international community and the use of discrediting information strategies against Western countries and media.