On 29th of November CEPA (Center for European Policy Analysis) Adjunct Fellow dr. Donald N. Jensen hold a public lecture “Countering Russian Disinformation in the Baltic States” organized by Faculty of Communication, Vilnius University at the Martynas Mazvydas National Library of Lithuania.
Expert of international relations, former diplomat of the United States D. N. Jensen shared his expertise about CEPA project based on information warfare which goes in line with Russian disinformation directed to the Baltic States, different forms of propaganda and its significance in the relation to both Russian military and economic power. D. N. Jenson also pointed out the durability of information operations lead by Russia, strategic planning, that promotes Russian power on international arena, and at the same time diminishes objectives and values of the EU and NATO. During the discussion attention was focused on D. Trump`s victory in the United States presidential election and the further development and destiny not only of the United States, but Europe as well.
Jolanta Guzaite – Qintus, lecturer of Vilnius University, started discussion stating, that “cyberattacks, fake news, unreliable sources of information create a challenging communication reality nowadays. Lithuania has experienced a number of Russian disinformation attacks aimed at provoking instability and influencing political life. The mere idea of Russia’s hackers’ presence in the American election process, cyber-attacks against Germany are alarming signals. Therefore it is important to strengthen the ability of people to recognise fake news, evaluate credibility of sources and disclose propaganda efforts, especially in the social media.”
Communication consultant Liutauras Ulevičius added to the discussion, that “Lithuania has a long history of information wars. Earlier forms of manipulation were used even in XVII-XVIII centuries, when Moscow succeeded in corrupting and disintegrating the Lithuanian-Polish Commonwealth. Now Moscovite propaganda technologies are adapted for information society in the latest Gerasimov doctrine. Therefore Lithuania on its own and together with NATO allies must pay much more attention in order to identify and neutralize informational Kremlin‘s aggression, while raising informational literacy of Lithuanian citizens.”
Both in D. N. Jensen report and out of discussion there were raised awareness about the influence of information warfare and propaganda on political decisions, economics and most importantly on culture, or more precisely on cultural values. When cultural values become targets for the spread of disinformation, western response to Russian disinformation must be strong enough – “push back” - to find a reasonable way to strengthen the resistance of the society, pointed dr. D. Jensen. According to him, education as well as information literate and confident society are the key factors enabling people to resist information warfare pursed by Russia.
The event was organized by the Faculty of Communication, Vilnius University in partnership with The Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA). The lecture took place at the Martynas Mazvydas National Library of Lithuania. CEPA think tank gathers various experts, focusing on Eastern Europe`s security policy, consulting U.S. policy-makers on Eastern Europe and Russia issues. CEPA was founded in 2005, in Washington, DC. The center brings together such famous people as Edward Lucas (senior editor of The Economist), Zbigniew Brzezinski (former U.S National Security Advisor), Toomas H. Ilves (former President of Estonia) and many others.