Quick Note - Russia's "Soft" Cyberpower
An article in the Washington Post today about the Russian government bolstering the influence of state-sponsored websites got me thinking about whether or not I am going to include this sort of thing in my paper on Cyberpower.
The article mentions the Orange Revolution in Ukraine as the foundation for Putin’s skepticism of the thought of an unregulated Internet in Russia. It says:
Some Russian Internet experts say a turning point came in 2004, when blogs and uncensored online publications helped drive a popular uprising in Ukraine after a pro-Moscow candidate was declared the winner of a presidential election. Days of street protests in the capital, Kiev, led to a new vote that brought a pro-Western politician into the presidency.
Apparently the Kremlin is thinking of building a small army of pro-Putin (soon to be simply “pro-Regime”) bloggers ready to wage a propaganda war against any surge in the opposition. The internet has already shown its efficacy in stirring dissent earlier this year, when internet resources were used to mobilize a march that led to the arrest of Garry Kasparov, a leading opposition figure.
Is this cyberpower? Surely, it is using cyberspace as an instrument of national power, but I am not yet sure if it qualifies. More on this topic and others later this week.