Russia, Disinformation, and the Liberal Order - (Niu Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies) (Hardcover)

About the Book

"This book illuminates disinformation's relationship with liberal democracy through a comprehensive analysis of the multilingual, multiplatform outputs of, and audience responses to, Russia's international broadcaster, RT, before and after the invasion of Ukraine. It contextualizes RT within a global media ecology shaped by populist trends increasingly penetrating the liberal order"--

Book Synopsis

Through the prism of the first comprehensive account of RT, the Kremlin's primary tool of foreign propaganda, Russia, Disinformation and the Liberal Order sheds new light on the provenance and nature of disinformation's threat to democracy. Interrogating the communications strategies pursued by authoritarian states and grassroots populist movements, the book reveals the interlinked nature of today's global media-politics pathologies.

Stephen Hutchings, Vera Tolz, Precious Chatterje-Doody, Rhys Crilley, and Marie Gillespie provide a systematic investigation into RT's history, institutional culture, and journalistic ethos; its activities across multiple languages and media platforms; its audience-targeting strategies and audiences' engagements with it; and its response to the war in Ukraine and associated bans on the network. The authors' analysis challenges commonplace notions of disinformation as something that Russia brings to the West, where passive publics are duped by the Kremlin's communications machine, and reveals the reciprocal processes through which Russia and disinformation infiltrate and challenge the liberal order.

Russia, Disinformation and the Liberal Order provides provocative insights into the nature and extent of the challenge that Russia's propaganda operation poses to the West. The authors contend that the challenge will be met only if liberals reflect on liberalism's own internal tensions and blind spots and defend the values of open-minded impartiality.

Open access edition funded by UKRI and the University of Manchester.

About the Author

Stephen Hutchings is Professor of Russian Studies at the University of Manchester.

Vera Tolz is Sir William Mather Professor of Russian Studies at the University of Manchester.

Precious Chatterje-Doody is a Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Studies at the Open University.

Rhys Crilley is a Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Glasgow.

Marie Gillespie is Professor of Sociology at the Open University.