Joe Cheravitch

How are state adversaries using disinformation on social media to advance their interests? What does the joint force?and the U. S. Air Force in particular?need to be prepared to do in response? Disinformation campaigns on social media pose a nuanced threat to the United States, but the response remains ad hoc and uncoordinated. This series overview presents recommendations to better prepare for this new age of information warfare.

Russia is conducting wide-reaching information warfare with the West. This report describes Russia's information warfare waged via social media and provides recommendations to better counter this threat. Although popular portrayals of the Russian disinformation machine imply an organized and well-resourced operation, evidence suggests that it is neither. Nonetheless, Russian activity can be harmful to U. S. interests and is likely to evolve.

In this report, RAND researchers identify eight common characteristics of gray zone aggression, develop a framework for assessing the health of U. S. and partner deterrence in the gray zone, and apply the framework to three case studies: China's actions in the Senkaku Islands, Russia's actions in the Baltic states, and North Korea's actions in South Korea.