In the previous article on , I touched on the low cost the Kremlin paid per year to destabilize the US political landscape. Disinformation campaigns are just getting started. the ease of destabilizing foreign adversaries In terms of military spending, $15M USD per year is a of the annual Russian Federation’s military spending (based on 2014 data). Put differently, If Russia spent just 1% of its military spending on disinformation and destabilization campaigns, it would be concurrently running 200 of them per year. Russia was awarded a billion dollar US Army military base in Syria, paid for entirely by the US taxpayer, thanks to their $15M USD per-year disinformation campaign that effectively put President Donald Trump in the White House. 1/200th of a percent An Estimated 200 Disinformation Campaigns for 1% Of The Russian Federation Military Budget? Russia doesn’t have 200 adversaries, so isn’t this an exaggeration? In the United States alone, there are several different social divisions that can easily have their own full-time campaigns, all year round. Let’s look at a few popular targets we know the Kremlin is involved in: is a deep-rooted American association responsible for enabling the most domestic mass shootings and murders per year. In plain sight, . More school children die from domestic gun violence in the US than on-duty police officers and global military service members. . The National Rifle Association (NRA) the NRA actively lobbies against women’s safety Combined The NRA already divides America, so all a to make it seem as if  it’s supported by the majority. The biggest impacted groups are . foreign actor needed do was amplify their message black men from homicides and white men from suicides than foreign terrorists today. The “Alt-Right” movement is a superficially divisive campaign that at face value is only skin deep. But the stoking of racial tensions, combined with the seen in the US prison and healthcare systems, has effectively reduced American economic progress by limiting the potential prosperity of a significant minority of its people with glass ceiling-like limits for people of colour. The Alt-Right (American Fascist) Movement More Americans are dying from domestic terrorism domestic terrorism institutional racism are also effective targets for their enemies and (except spending increased for “ ” propaganda operations). Tapping into a deep-rooted distrust for authority and governments, these well-intentioned groups are the easier targets to misinform. The cost of this divisive movement isn’t just social isolation from the majority of people who put trust in the medical establishment. The Anti-Vaxxer campaign . Anti-Vaccination (Anti-Vaxxer) Disinformation Campaigns nefarious foreign actors to amplify to destabilize gradually lower their military warfare costs troll farms has produced a health crisis where information warfare transforms into self-inflicted, biological warfare has been an effective social tool to help restrict women’s potential in society through controlling their bodies. Essentially Pro-Life advocates seek to control women’s reproductive rights to prevent abortions. The increasing is a growing concern. This new tactic was observed  in . Pro-Life (Anti-Women’s Choice) Movement use of bots with regard to women’s reproductive rights Ireland’s most recent referendum on abortion This tactic helps suppress half the country by making it unnecessarily difficult for women to climb the corporate ladders or to get higher education and break through . social and economic barriers when forced to have unwanted babies If the national pro-life movements wanted to reduce abortion rates and care about women’s health, they’d be pushing for free access to contraceptives and sex education instead of stifling  the very efforts that lead to unwanted pregnancies, then blame women. It’s worth noting that anti-abortion outcomes directly . The children born from parents who didn’t want them not surprisingly too. affect low-income women the most performed worse than their peers Although Russia leadership has been under pressure to take action against legal abortions from right-wing domestic groups, the Kremlin realizes . Little surprise then that the for Russia. the financial and political consequences of underground and unprofessional terminations Russian leader has come out as Pro-Choice Although these controversial groups have been around longer than foreign disinformation influences, it’s important to realize they are supporting the sides of the debate that inflict the maximum damage by dividing and destabilizing Western society. That’s why it is so destabilizing, inexpensive and difficult to pinpoint who’s doing what. Think about it. Better gun control will prevent needless gun-related deaths. Pro-vaccine information helps alleviate preventable illnesses and lower healthcare costs. Dismantling institutional racism makes communities safer, more economically productive, all while reducing taxes associated with discrimination-based policing and incarceration. There are enormous economic costs associated with ,  and . gun violence racism Movements that counter the NRA, Alt-Rights, Pro-Life and Anti-Vaxxer attempt to bring cohesiveness and collective unity and increase the country’s prosperity over time by reducing needless waste. But these are just 4 prominent examples in the US — there are campaigns to stoke fears, divisions and hostilities toward immigrants, Muslims, Jews, Arabs, Mexicans, addictions and mental health, refugees, trans-groups, NATO, the European Union and even attempts to dismantle public education systems. Given the disinformation campaigns appear to enjoy, we should anticipate more foreign adversaries infiltrating and influencing our national discourse in a way that encourages self-inflicted damage to our communities, institutions and society at large. low-cost and high return on investment How Do We Inoculate Against This New Warfare Method? Improving access to public education and greater investment in post-secondary education is no longer just an economic imperative, it’s become a priority for public safety and national security. People most susceptible to holding these anti-social beliefs don’t mean to hurt their country — they just don’t know better. The error in thinking is to make it another “us against them” situation, and that’s the next logical division trap. But we’ve all been ignorant of something, and that place of humility invites others to reflect that they may be wrong too. We seldom change others by what we say, but rather by what we become ourselves. The world needs more wisdom and compassion. Disinformation campaigns exploit the absence of wisdom and compassion. So long as public education and access to public health services is an after-thought, we will be continually vulnerable to these cheap and divisive tactics that emphasize our differences rather than remind us all of our shared humanity.

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