The Influence Operations

“Under the guise of democracy, freedom, and human rights, the United States has used NED (the US-based NGO) for infiltration, interference and subversion against other countries,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry railed against the United States this month! In its report titled ‘The National Endowment for Democracy: What It Is and What It Does,’ China elaborates on US engagement in misleading public opinion, inciting division, meddling in other countries’ internal affairs and promoting a coup. The report also details how the US-funded periodical ‘The Journal of Democracy’ spreads false narratives about the Modi government.

This isn’t the first time China has criticised the U.S. for its Information warfare nor that China has ever attempted one on its own! Information Warfare, Public Opinion Warfare and Legal Warfare are the three fundamental aspects of China’s political guidelines. China, to achieve her middle kingdom dream, has been using these brainwashing techniques since Mao’s time!

China’s stake in the US film industry is so huge that the American star had to apologise for calling Taiwan a country! On the Indian front, China’s hostility towards Ladakh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh has grown ever since China formulated her Five Finger Policy. The insurgencies in these Indian states have roots in communist China. Currently, the Indian state machinery is investigating China-backed ‘The Newsclick’ for stoking farmers’ protests, CAA protests, inciting Delhi riots and carrying out disinformation campaigns on Covid-19!

Influence and subversion are not new concepts. The ‘Mitrokhin Archives’ published by the UK gives a detailed account of how Russia infiltrated Indira Gandhi’s government back then.

Influence, civic mobilisation and destabilisation strategies have been used in the Great Power game over decades. It is called ‘The Color Revolution’ and is infamous amongst Russia and the Communist bloc since the Cold War. They considered this revolution ‘externally fuelled coordinated acts’ that manipulated the community sentiment and toppled the existing regime. Whereas in the West, this insidious influence to distort democracy is termed as ‘Influence Operations’.

Influence Operations (IOs) are cognitive war techniques wherein psychological, financial, political and technological influence is used to subvert the internal security and sovereignty of the targeted country. The authoritarian states use NGOs and Media houses to carry out long-term infiltration in targeted states. The academicians, journalists, film writers and media personalities are employed to craft strategic messages and fabricated distractions. The troll factories are set up to organise hate movements. These protests are aligned with globally appealing ideologies. The lavishly funded influence campaigns then make headlines in local and foreign media. The digital media is pitched in to legitimate the operation and mobilise larger groups to action. Young students are sent abroad to run propaganda campaigns against their motherland. The foreign diplomats actively participate in the consolidation of the opposition and extremists. And then the diplomatic pressure is built on the existing regime to perish or to be a puppet government!

The recent coup in Bangladesh highlights a typical standard operating procedure of IOs by the West. The Color Revolution history of Serbia, Georgia, Ukraine and Arab Spring exposes the US involvement to a great extent! Recently, the Biden government granted $ 50 million to an anti-Israel NGO on the pretext of saving the planet and fighting inflation! In 2023, Biden’s month-long Iran’s sanctions-relief enriched the anti-Israel front by more than $ 50 Billion!

IOs are now employing advanced technologies to access sensitive data. In 2020 the US Senate reported that President Putin personally directed the hacking and leaking of Hillary Clinton’s account to ensure Trump’s 2016 win! IOs are using AI and deepfake technology for interventionism. China’s doctored video on the Galwan Valley Flag and the fake videos of Bollywood A-listers criticising PM Modi and urging people to vote for Congress are recent examples of the disruptive information operation against the Indian government.

Pakistan, India’s troublesome neighbour too is engaged in non-kinetic operations. It has raised a network of 4000 Information Warfare Specialists to wage a cognitive war against India. The Pakistan Army’s Green Book 2020 exhorts its agencies to intensify Influence Operations against India by employing thousands of trolls to spread communal hatred. Their objectives include projecting the terrorist activities in J&K as an indigenous movement and supporting anti- Modi, anti-India elements. The Pak agencies run many illegal radio channels to spread fake news. They are polarising narratives about India’s inner conflicts to stoke religious and political tension. Though illegal stations are shut down frequently by Indian agencies, they are swiftly replaced by new ones!

IOs could have been an effective tool in the non-violent democratisation process of countries by exposing tyranny; instead, they are used by large geopolitical players for shifting global power dynamics at the cost of civic life.

The conventional war is costly and is governed by International Laws. On the other hand, technologically advanced non-military means like IOs have proven to be cost-effective. And so they are rapidly gaining a strategic role in world politics. In the absence of an international regulatory framework to punish malevolent foreign states, IO aggression has become boundless.

This is the fifth-generation warfare where the faceless people with invisible hands are waging Influence Operations for personal gains. All we see is some useful idiots unwittingly serving them! In this scenario, political awareness is the key. The knowledge and understanding can empower individuals to make informed decisions and safeguard their rights and freedom. We have more duties than just electing the right candidate; to be wise is one of them! Yuri Bezmenov rightly said, “The useful idiots are instrumental in the process of the subversion only to destabilise a nation…When their job is completed, they are not needed anymore, they will be lined up against the wall and shot.”