Disinformationdisinformaziahad long been a staple of soviet intelligence, but the kgb had begun throwing more resources into their efforts. In his book disinformation, pacepa wrote that the soviet manuals he read as a young intelligence officer described disinformation as a tactic used by moscow with roots in russian history. This revolution, snyder argues, is what russia has imposed upon the united states and the european union. It was an intelligence war, waged with a powerful new weapon called dezinformatsiya, states the book, disinformation, coauthored by the highestranking soviet officer to defect to the. Going well beyond the authors personal experiencehe left czechoslovakia in 1968the book ranges over the entire field forgeries, black propaganda, front organizations, recruitment of agents, penetration of western institutions, terrorism, assassinations, aid to. This article will briefly discuss george orwells animal farm and its comparison to joseph stalins soviet union. It was written by former intelligence officer specializing in disinformation for the czech intelligence service and retired professor of disinformation at boston university, ladislav bittman now known as lawrence martinbittman. After the baltic countries and several former soviet partner countries joined nato following the soviet union s collapse, russias 2014 military doctrine highlighted nato expansion as the most pressing military risk facing the country. The resulting unclassified reports on soviet disinformation were circulated throughout the interagency and to the press.
An insiders view is a nonfiction book about the kgbs use of disinformation and information warfare during the soviet union period. The strategy of soviet disinformation is a nonfiction book about disinformation and information warfare used by the kgb during the soviet union period, as part of their active measures tactics. Far more kgb energy went into disinformation than traditional espionage. Soviet bloc intelligence and its aids disinformation campaign thomas boghardt the practice of intelligence differed considerably between east and west during the cold war. The big lie, however, is that the soviet union came into cuba to protect the cubans. Back in the 1960s and the 1970s, the soviets tried to convince people that the cia was behind the jfk assassination. Jun 25, 20 exsoviet era spy chief writes landmark book on disinformation. Exsoviet era spy chief writes landmark book on disinformation.
The coauthor, ion mihai pacepa, the highestranking defector from the former soviet bloc, is an expert on the kennedy assassination and documents how the soviet union. The book is easy to read, wellorganized, and ideal for the beginning student of soviet history and stalinism. Author ion pacepa, former romanian spy chief, brings modern world history alive. The history of russian involvement in americas race wars. How the soviet union has been transformed into the first intelligence dictatorship in history. Parts of the presentation are novel, but the revelations are not particularly sensational. The kgb and soviet disinformation is also organized better than the deception. Jun 28, 20 in the new bestselling book, disinformation, lt. With his experience and natural evenhandedness, the author does a good job speculating about the soviet union s methods, the origin of items he finds in the newspaper and magazines, and the current objectives of soviet intelligence. A recent new york times video series explores the long history of russian disinformation and its origins in what the soviets dubbed active measures. Theres been much written about the kgb since the soviet union s fall opened many of its files.
An expose by a former czechoslovak intelligence officer of soviet and east european covert operations against the west. Gorbachev, who was then the leader of the soviet union, with hawking bum dope about aids. Former spy chief reveals secret strategies for undermining freedom. Numerous and frequentlyupdated resource results are available from this search. Norden issued a book attacking oberlander and at a press conference in east berlin on october 22, 1959, norden identified oberlander as the political commander of the ukrainian nachtigall unit, which together with the german wehrmacht fought against the soviet union. The kgb and soviet disinformation military wiki fandom. Dec 25, 2016 it was an intelligence war, waged with a powerful new weapon called dezinformatsiya, states the book, disinformation, coauthored by the highestranking soviet officer to defect to the. Oct 10, 1981 the report said that as part of the disinformation campaign, agents of the soviet union spread a false rumor that the united states was behind the seizure of the grand mosque of mecca in.
Active measures in soviet strategy and a later edition published as dezinformatsia. Disinformation is highly recommended viewing for every concerned american. The long history of russian disinformation targeting the u. Accuses soviet of disinformation the new york times. This narrative aims at vilifying poland by accusing it of being an ally and partner of nazi germany.
Reliable information about the coronavirus covid19 is available from the world health organization current situation, international travel. Disinformation is a brilliant expose of the mendacious communist strategy to destroy the west, from a top insider in the soviet union s eastern european security forces in romania who defected. Before fake news, there was soviet disinformation the. I read about 10% of the book, and then decided to stop. Nov 26, 2016 in his book disinformation, pacepa wrote that the soviet manuals he read as a young intelligence officer described disinformation as a tactic used by moscow with roots in russian history. How the russians practice disinformation accuracy in media. However, formatting rules can vary widely between applications and fields of interest or study. Recurring narrative of an ongoing prokremlin disinformation campaign targeting poland. Disinformation by ion mihai pacepa goodreads share book. Hitlers secret plans to invade the soviet union, wrote that the poles, who courted hitlers favour, jointly planned a military campaign against the soviet union with nazi germany, as well as the final solution to the jewish question. Theres been much written about the kgb since the soviet unions fall opened many of its files. Stalin scribbled on an intelligence report predicting that hitler would attack the soviet union in june 1941. It follows that propaganda would be its first offspring.
Sep 27, 2018 back in the 1960s and the 1970s, the soviets tried to convince people that the cia was behind the jfk assassination. The entry added that such tactics were used by the west against the soviet union. Aug, 20 the coauthor, ion mihai pacepa, the highestranking defector from the former soviet bloc, is an expert on the kennedy assassination and documents how the soviet union and its comrades worked. During the cold war, the soviet union engaged in massive strategic deception against the united states the main enemy glavny protivnik. The term was first used in the great soviet encyclopaedia in 1952, where it was presented as classic disinformation. Soviet and russian disinformation regarding aids and other pathogens. It was one of these reports in 1987 that forced the soviet union to disavow the allegations against the u. Oct 21, 2017 the history of russian involvement in americas race wars. The soviet union s cold war arsenal bristled with arms from nuclear bombs, tank.
Soviet union in order to undermine propaganda about soviet success. When the berlin wall finally fell 30 years ago, a development was soon followed by the collapse of the soviet union. Full text of the kgb and soviet disinformation ladislav. Jan 27, 2020 nobody was shocked when the german historian rolfdieter muller, in his book the enemy in the east. It was written by former intelligence officer specializing in disinformation for the czech intelligence service and retired. It was written by former intelligence officer specializing in disinformation for the czech intelligence service and retired professor of disinformation at boston university. Operation infektion soviet bloc intelligence and its aids. The working group put most of its efforts into debunking soviet disinformation, with the aim of discrediting it. The shultzgodson book is a useful survey of how the soviet union uses disinformation, propaganda, agents, covert political techniques and front organizations to influence events in foreign countries and to further its strategic aims such as discrediting america and weakening nato. Disinformation is a book that needs to be on every english speaking library shelf, and needs to be read by every englishspeaking history teacher. Soviet subversion, disinformation and propaganda lse. Apart from simply documenting cases of disinformation, this thesis examines disinformation to determine what it is, what the goals are, how it is implemented, what role the news media play, and how it.
In soviet intelligence doctrin, the concept of active measures covers a wide span of practices including disinformation operations, political influence efforts, and the activities of soviet front groups and foreign communist parties. So britain is proving a good deputy chief of the disinformation depart. The report said that as part of the disinformation campaign, agents of the soviet union spread a false rumor that the united states was behind the seizure of the grand mosque of mecca in. Inside neptun, a daring cold war disinformation operation. The working group also changed the way the united states and soviet union. The primary reason for the buildup was that the soviets at the time were so far behind us in nuclear strike capability that khruschev figured he. The gpu was the first organization in the soviet union to utilize the term disinformation for their intelligence tactics. They made a point of making sure that any public or official complaints about soviet disinformation were backed up with evidence that is, that there was probable cause to believe something was actually disinformation, and. What emerges is that the soviet agents were no fools and could use the scruples of their opponent against them to marvelous effect. Read animal farm and understand russian disinformation. Disinformation explains of post wwii history from the perspective of one who was on the inside.
In january 1959, aleksandr shelepin, who had recently taken over as head of the kgb, established a new organization, department d, to create and coordinate disinformation programs. Disinformation wikimili, the best wikipedia reader. The topic is supposed to be about disinformation, the writer being a top soviet era. Oclcs webjunction has pulled together information and resources to assist library staff as they consider how to handle coronavirus. The soviets and the jfk conspiracy theorists quillette. The shultzgodson book is a useful survey of how the soviet union uses disinformation, propaganda, agents, covert political techniques and front. Disinformation campaigns are nothing new for the soviets. In the following extract from my new book, i look at just three of these soviet disinformation campaigns. It will also discuss the disinformation campaigns stalin used as well as vladimir putin uses today to destabilize western democracies. Pacepa and rychlak write that soviet union intelligence services used 4,000 espionage specialists within the muslim world in order to stoke political.
Ion mihai pacepa, provides an insiders front row seat and analysis of the powerful sovietborn. Even after the collapse of communism and the russian intelligence services revelation of the kgbs role in the disinformation campaign in 1992, the kgbs false theses regarding aids have continued to spread, especially on the internet. It was written by former intelligence officer specializing in disinformation for the czech intelligence service and retired professor of disinformation at boston university, ladislav bittman later known as lawrence martin. Shultz, professor of international politics at tufts. Russia views disinformation as a relatively cheap, lowrisk tool for countering this perceived threat. Nsas codebreakers and the secret intelligence war against the soviet union. Certainly, the use of disinformation by the soviet union was an outgrowth of established. An insiders view is a nonfiction book about disinformation and information warfare used by the kgb during the soviet union period. According to the book, disinformation constitutes false news distributed in the media with the intention of misleading the public. Using its broadcast vehicles such as the voice of america, the usia tells the world. The soviets secret weapon to defeat america culture. This book is 346 pages, including bibliographical notes and index. Western intelligence services were most commonly tasked with gathering information, but their soviet bloc counterparts placed much greater emphasis on decep. The soviet grand strategy is well considered as is their heavy use of disinformation, the quality of that false information, and the subtle use these can be put to.
Active measures in soviet strategy is a nonfiction book about disinformation and information warfare used by the kgb during the soviet union. Nov 01, 2004 norden issued a book attacking oberlander and at a press conference in east berlin on october 22, 1959, norden identified oberlander as the political commander of the ukrainian nachtigall unit, which together with the german wehrmacht fought against the soviet union. Stalin breaker of nations by robert conquest 1991 covers the life of joseph stalin, from his childhood in gori to his death at his nearer dacha kuntsevo near moscow on march 5, 1953. Founded during the early years of the cold war, the united states information agency is americas purveyor of propaganda and disinformation a euphemism favored by the government during the 1980s. How, why, and with what consequences is the theme of snyders newest book.
The success of the amwg in the 1980s provides some important lessons for the modernday. Full text of the kgb and soviet disinformation ladislav bittman see other formats. William safire wrote in his 1993 book quoth the maven that disinformation was used by the kgb predecessor to indicate. Ion mihai pacepa, provides an insiders front row seat and analysis of the powerful sovietborn program of disinformation that has toppled. Inside neptun, a daring cold war disinformation operation wired.
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