Wars are fought not just with tanks, but with stories too. Putin’s story is that Russia’s victory is inevitable, while Europe is weak. Democracies can challenge this tale. Read on in my FT essay (gift link if fast) 👉🏼
#informationwar #ukraine #russia
1/5as.ft.com/r/06908caf-bad… To counter it, democracies must act as a network: EU, Ukraine, Canada, the UK, Australia, Japan. Together they can show they are not passive and create a narrative of strength, unity, and resilience. "A narrative is a strategy in story form" @MarkLaity #security #europe

Message from Kharkiv, from a great friend and colleague who I work with all the time on University research. He's now manning barricades: "situation is hard. City terrorised with artillery fire. People being killed in the streets, on their way home or to shelters...(1/4) Grad fire just hit the Петихадка (sorry if wrong spelling), where people were queuing. It's a blood bath. Many deaths. The Northern Saltivka, a densely populated places in town, is subject to air raids all times of day and night. People haven't left shelters five days...

I keep on getting seeing discussions about 'who is winning the information war' between Putin and Ze. I'm not sure that's an entirely accurate way to frame things Here's why... (1/3) 'Information war' is the essence and practice of Putinism. It's an approach to communication that treats people as fools- not citizens. It's deeply cynical, and implies all words are weapons, that talk of 'values' and 'rights' are just manipulation...