148
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Why does the US keep announcing what they think Russia is going to do in Ukraine?
I think that the motivation is mostly to make it very hard for any Russian narrative to gain traction in the international public opinion, including in Russia.
From a political perspective, Russia ...
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99
votes
Accepted
Why does the US keep announcing what they think Russia is going to do in Ukraine?
This is fairly common political technique called 'poisoning the well'. The US is laying out all of the actions and steps that Russia has been taking — and some that they expect Russia will take if ...
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89
votes
How do totalitarian governments communicate fear while also sending the message that they are the best governments?
Enemies
These governments designate or invent internal enemies, not just external ones, to justify repressive measures and to rally the rest of the population around the regime. An external enemy can ...
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78
votes
Accepted
Why does Germany ban RT but not France24 or Voice of America?
First a little clarification: It's not the original English-language RT which is banned in Germany. The English version of RT is actually available via satellite and in some regions of Germany via ...
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71
votes
What is the point of "we are not scared"-responses to terror?
My point is, it just seems ... well obvious to not be scared of terror attacks.
It might seem that way to you, but it still doesn't stop politicians from demanding and making policy based on fear of ...
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58
votes
Why are Western politicians even bothering to react to Russian claims?
The point of propaganda is to manipulate perception. It's not to communicate alternative interpretations or to arrive at consensus. It is to make people see something very different from what is ...
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53
votes
Why are a nation's stated objectives often ignored in international politics?
President Putin is jumping between different explanations/justifications for the invasion, and Western analysts believe that the true goal -- which is one of the stated goals -- is to undo the ...
- 106k
51
votes
Can propaganda be present/produced in democratic countries?
Yes, propaganda can be produced by any country or organization. For example, Wikipedia has a page on propaganda in the United States. Opinions may differ on what is or isn't propaganda, but I don't ...
JJJ♦
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43
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What is the point of "we are not scared"-responses to terror?
Traffic accidents don't kill people to scare populations, terrorists do. That's literally what terrorism means : act in order to induce terror.
Despite the efforts of a determined few to induce a ...
- 1,351
35
votes
Why does the US keep announcing what they think Russia is going to do in Ukraine?
I mostly agree with Ted and Erwan, but I would put it slightly differently. Say the US claims/warns/predicts that Russia will invade Ukraine on February 16th, as they did. Then there are three ...
- 106k
31
votes
Why are Western politicians even bothering to react to Russian claims?
A denial is more credible if it is based on data. Mind you, while most of the news just report the claims, it seems that the Russians are trying to provide some kind of "evidence" for these ...
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31
votes
Who is the target audience of Russia's October 2022 claims about dirty bombs?
Trying to make the West frightened of pushing Moscow too hard, as a war studies professor from London says. Hence Western politicians and population are the primary audience.
The goal is probably to ...
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27
votes
Accepted
What does 'Donbass, whom the Ukrainian army has been bombing for the last 8 years' refer to?
The war in Donbas has lasted for the past 8 years: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_war_in_Donbas
In particular, the current battle over Sloviansk and Kramatorsk is largely a reversal of ...
23
votes
What is the point of "we are not scared"-responses to terror?
An inanimate traffic accident, unlike a living, thinking, scheming terrorist, does not exist with the intent to psychically demoralize people and induce terror. I'm not sure that is an apt analogy.
...
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23
votes
How do totalitarian governments communicate fear while also sending the message that they are the best governments?
@o.m.'s response is very good. I would add that totalitarian regimes are also good at confusing their citizens, to the point where they can believe completely contradictory things. For example, in ...
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22
votes
Accepted
Can propaganda be present/produced in democratic countries?
Propaganda is merely mass media offerings with a distinct political bias and/or focused political agendas. Most US political campaign rhetoric these days — e.g., claims like "Mr Smith will be the ...
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22
votes
How can one efficiently find primary sources of propaganda in order to research it?
I find Russian propaganda by searching on YouTube for новости (Russian for news). I then sort by time. This gives the most recent Russian news in the original language, Russian. This is how I found &...
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21
votes
Is it illegal for candidates to pay a journalist to publish fake news?
Since you ask about the situation around the world, as an example of such a law (kind of) the UK has the Representation of the People Act 1983 which among other clauses has:
106 (1) A person who, or ...
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20
votes
Accepted
It seems Russian public messaging uses false or mutually inconsistent claims, why do they use that messaging strategy?
I believe that there are several aspects to this. Keep in mind that not everybody is predisposed to disbelieve Russia.
Push out multiple conflicting narratives, to make people quit thinking.
This ...
- 106k
19
votes
Is OpenAI Anglo-Saxon propaganda?
This question shows an – unfortunately widespread – misunderstanding of what GPT-3 is and what it isn't.
GPT-3 is a language model. It is being fed with vast amounts of text, and from this text it ...
- 4,288
18
votes
How do totalitarian governments communicate fear while also sending the message that they are the best governments?
To expand on o.m.'s answer, consider the fictitious country of Oceania from the book 1984, where the story is set. Oceania is constantly at war, just the details change from time to time
Oceania was ...
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18
votes
Why does Germany ban RT but not France24 or Voice of America?
There is a lengthy list of criteria in §1 Medienstaatsvertrag to describe which broadcasters need a german licence. It would take a lawyer to really paint an adequate picture, but I think the main ...
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18
votes
Why are a nation's stated objectives often ignored in international politics?
tl;dr; because it is ridiculous
NATO membership doesn't have provisions to attack another country, it is a defense alliance. Obviously Russia wants control over neighboring countries and being part of ...
- 295
17
votes
Couldn't Carola Rackete of Sea Watch 3 have chosen another harbor?
A sea captain is committed to obey to international sea law. After rescuing people, she is bound to coordinate with Rescue Co-ordination Centre (in this case, the Italian Coast Guards Operations ...
- 6,305
16
votes
Accepted
Does the UK still use propaganda?
Yes.
Government propaganda is government funded or created public information, of publicity in support of a certain program or project. Such a term has taken on a negative connotation, but ...
- 4,710
15
votes
Why does Russia consider the Ukrainian elections as "invalid/stolen"?
The official position from Russia following the 2019 elections wasn't at all one of non-recognition, at least according to Euronews:
Russia's prime minister says there is a chance for improved ...
- 145k
14
votes
How do totalitarian governments communicate fear while also sending the message that they are the best governments?
The government is "best" only compared to some other one.
I don't know how Nazi Germany did, but in the USSR and it's satellites people were quite limited in their ability to compare. The information ...
- 5,668
14
votes
Why are a nation's stated objectives often ignored in international politics?
Framing challenge:
The Russian State has been clear about its motivations in the recent Ukrainian conflict. Notably, its objection to NATO expansion.
It is disingenuous to not mention the most ...
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14
votes
What does 'Donbass, whom the Ukrainian army has been bombing for the last 8 years' refer to?
The claim about "bombing for the last 8 years" is certainly true if one speaks of shelling. Aircraft operations have been negligible 2016-2021, or at least no source I looked at mentioned ...
- 145k
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