How to Lose the Information War

Russia, Fake News, and the Future of Conflict

By: Nina Jankowicz

Narrated by: Amy Deuchler

Since the start of the Trump era, the United States and the Western world has finally begun to wake up to the threat of online warfare and the attacks from Russia. The question no one seems to be able to answer is: What can the West do about it?

Central and Eastern European states, however, have been aware of the threat for years. Nina Jankowicz has advised these governments on the front lines of the information war. The lessons she learnt from that fight—and from her attempts to get US congress to act—make for essential listening.

How to Lose the Information War takes the listener on a journey through five Western governments’ responses to Russian information warfare tactics—all of which have failed. She journeys into the campaigns the Russian operatives run, and shows how we can better understand the motivations behind these attacks and how to beat them. Above all, this book shows what is at stake: the future of civil discourse and democracy, and the value of truth itself.

©2020 Nina Jankowicz (P)2022 Blackstone Publishing

Comments on Georgia

The notion of the Russian annexation of part of Georgia is completely wrong because that part is inhabited by the ethnic groups who hate the Georgians i.e. the Ossetians and Abkhazians. There were several violent military conflicts including the missile shelling of Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, by the Georgians while the city was sound asleep. All she had to do is to listen to the other side of the story only to find out that those two ethnic group will NEVER be part of Georgia

This Caucasus region is home to some one hundred ethnic groups and the relations between some of them are not easy at best. For example, Azerbaijan and Armenia,or the Ossetians and Ingush and so on. Both sides have their own story and very often they do not match

What we should all know about misinformation

I enjoyed the book and learned some things about misinformation. I would recommend to everyone. However I could have done without the attempt at different voices.

Poor narration, biased opinion, still some relevant conclusions

This was one of the poorest narrations I’ve heard. If a narrator is going to “voice act” quotes, they need to have that well mapped and thought out. Definitely not the case with this one and it distracted often.
Jankowicz offers relevant insights into the conflict of the information environment, however, muddies her conclusions and opens them up to partisan criticisms by laying most of the current divides on Republicans and specifically President Trump. She passes over many relevant examples in her conclusion where Democrats have also propagated falsehood, which would have strengthened her points.

Haters will say it's reversed.

Disinformation is dismantling Democracy. We underestimate how much we are influenced and over estimate how much we can influence others.

Cyber enabled PsyOp and Intelligence activity is the active measures our enemies are using.

Good story terrible narration

Note to narrators - you make it hard to listen to you when you do accents. Your Estonian and your Donald Trump accents are so cringy!