DEZINFORMATSIYA AND ACTIVE MEASURES: PRO-KREMLIN STRATEGIC NARRATIVES IN ITALY ON NATO, WESTERN FOREIGN AND SECURITY POLICIES, AND NUCLEAR WAR RISKS

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This study delves into pro-Kremlin strategic narratives-relating to NATO, Western foreign and security policies, and nuclear war risks-spread in Italy by Russian media and government actors and amplified by Italian influencers, media, and political actors. It analyzes the evolution of such narratives from 2014 to early 2023, highlighting the underlying goals of Russian propaganda in our country: to increase Italian public distrust and hostility toward NATO, the United States, and the European Union, and to discredit Western security policies, particularly those aimed at countering the expansionist and neo-imperialist policies of Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
The first part of the paper explains the Soviet concept of “active measures,” which is essential to understanding the strategy of influence and cognitive warfare pursued by the Kremlin in the Putin era against Western democracies. In addition, the main historical, political, and cultural factors that have made Italian society more permeable to the influence of pro-Kremlin strategic narratives are examined.
The second part of the study analyzes the main narratives disseminated in Italy by Russian propaganda on foreign policy and international security, and taken up by Italian influencers and political actors, in the period from 2014 to the Italian general elections in 2018 to the European elections in 2019. A focus is placed on the role of populist-sovereigntist political parties, and in particular of The League (Lega) and the Five Star Movement, in spreading pro-Kremlin narratives through political initiatives, media campaigns and street demonstrations.
The third part of the study explores the main narratives on foreign policy and international security issues disseminated by Sputnik Italia and the Italian version of Geopolitika.ru during the period 2019-2021. These narratives, amplified by other components of the Russian disinformation and propaganda ecosystem in Italy and by Italian influencers, aimed to create an “alternative reality”, a distorted perception of international politics, among large sectors of Italian society.

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DEZINFORMATSIYA AND ACTIVE MEASURES: PRO-KREMLIN STRATEGIC NARRATIVES IN ITALY ON THE WAR IN UKRAINE

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This study deals with pro-Kremlin strategic narratives related to the war in Ukraine disseminated in Italy by Russian media operating in our country and amplified by Italian media and influencers. It analyzes the evolution of such narratives in the time span from February 24, 2022 – the date of the start of the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, renamed by Putin as “Special Military Operation” – to January 2023, linking them to the most relevant events related to Russian aggression in Ukraine (the Bucha massacres, sanctions on Russia, the food and grain cri-
sis, the “referendums” in Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, etc.). The study investigates the underlying manipulative goals of the pro-Kremlin strategic narratives on the war. These are: to confuse and disorient Italian public opinion about the causes and course of the war in Ukraine, to obfuscate the truth about the expansionist and neo-imperial nature of Russian foreign policy, to cause public opinion and policymakers to abandon the Atlanticist and pro-European stance of Italian foreign policy, and to erode public confidence in the values and institutions of liberal democracy. It also aims to better understand why many disinformation myths about the war, popularized by the pro Kremlin disinformation and propaganda ecosystem, continue to exert considerable influence on Italian political, media, and cultural debates.
Finally, this paper proposes some guidelines of a cultural strategy to effectively defend Italian democracy and national security from disinformation and propaganda efforts promoted by autocratic foreign powers to influence significant sectors of Italian society according to their geopolitical interests.

Dezinformatsiya and active measures: pro-Kremlin strategic narratives in Italy on the war in Ukraine, Massimiliano Di Pasquale and Luigi Sergio Germani, 2023

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Progetto di ricerca Dezinformacija e misure attive 2023