Post-2016 IR: What is going on? Flashcards

1
Q

How do conspiracy theories advance Russia’s agenda?

A

they divide Americans

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2
Q

Russian disinformation seeks to “promote _____” particularly the _______

A

promote political driven falsehoods, particularly the “fictional narrative” that it was in fact Ukraine that meddled in the 2016 elections, not Russia

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3
Q

Who testified and when about Russian disinformation

A

NSC Russia Expert Fiona Hill on Nov. 21,2019

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4
Q

describe Russian hacking and the 2016 US election genrally

A
  • in June 2016, US intellignece and law-enforcement services detected Russian hacking of Democratic National Committee
  • Russian military intelligence units had hacked into email servers, private accounts
  • Russian “fake news” sites spread disinformation calibrated to polarize US polities
  • US intelligence assessments were that Russia favored Donald Trump’s candidacy and were actively trying to help him succeed
  • Trump’s Republican rivals (Rubio) also reported being hacked
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5
Q

Describe some evidence with individuals in Trump’s administration of Russian interference

A
  • FBI director James Comey knew about Russia-Trump campaign connections in summer 2016, but remained silent
  • July 2016: Trump called for Russia to hack Clinton’s emails (“Russia if you’re listening”), later said it was a “joke”
  • 20 March 2017: Comey told Congress that there was ongoing investigation of Russian attempts to influence “links” to the Trump campaign
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6
Q

Describe Trump’s Russia connections

A
  • Trump has demonstrated an unusual fondness for Russia’s Putin
  • his first campaign manager, Paul Manafort, resigned after his ties to Russian-backed Ukrainian ex-president Yanukovych became clear
  • his national security advisor, Michael Flynn, was forced to resign after it became c;ear that he had lied about meeting with the Russian ambassador to US
  • Attorney General Jeff Sessions was forced to recuse himself from the federal investigation into Trump-Russia connections after lying about his own meetings with the Russian ambassador
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7
Q

What happened during a joint summit in July 2017 between Putin and Trump?

A

Trump told the media he believed Putin’s claims that Russia had not interfered in the US elections
-this publicly undermined his own intelligence agencies, which found that Russia did interfere and would do so again in 2020

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8
Q

What are some key findings of the Mueller Report?

A
  • Russia interfered with the 2016 election in “sweeping and systematic fashion”
  • FBI investigation started after Trump campaign member George Papadopoulos told Aussi diplomat he had intenl, seemingly from the Russian government, that it was going to help the Trump campaign
  • 9 June 2016: Don Jr., Jared Kushner meet with Russiand at Trump Tower about Russian election assistance
  • 2 August 2016: Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort meets Russian spy Konstantin Kilimnik in NYC, discusses Midwestern strategy, gives electoral data on Midwestern swing-states
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9
Q

What were some limitations of the Mueller report?

A
  • “did not establish (beyond reasonable doubt) that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities”
  • Report p.10: “a statement that the investigation did not establish particular facts does not mean there was no evidence of those facts”
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10
Q

describe the Congressional impeachment investigation

A
  • 21/4/2019: Trumo asked Ukraine Pres. Zelensky to investigate Biden family instructs Zelensky to speak to Trump’s lawyer Giuliani and Attorney Gen. Bill Barr
  • Republicans are trying to say that Ukraine tried to interfere with the elections to support Clinton
  • threatens to withhold $397M in foreign military aid
  • Oct 2019: Dem. speaker Pelosi to Trump: “All roads with you lead to Putin”
  • questions: does this constitue bribery? High crimes and misdemeanors? Is it impeachable?
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11
Q

cyberwarfare is a_______

A

powerful new tool in IR

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12
Q

hacking foreign secrets less potent than ______

A

shaping foreign populations’ thinking

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13
Q

shadowy data companies (eg. Cambridge Analytica) manipulate ____

A

manipulate online data, target ads to shape perceptions and voter behavior

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14
Q

What kind of apps drew great interest form US, UK intel agencies?

A

apps measuring personality traits via Facebook “likes” (Shaw)

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15
Q

“Personality research and the behavioral technologies” that civilian researchers gathered “with the new tool of big data (via the astonishing resources provided by Social media)” has “created ______” (shaw)

A

an important template for what is now the cutting edge work America’s intelligence community

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16
Q

What was part of Russia’s disinformation idea?

A

to get groups who would vote for Hillary to not vote at all (eg African Americans in Milwaukee)

17
Q

What are the key points of Krugman’s “Fall of the American Empire”?

A
  • Trump’s administration is accelerating the downfall of the US as a superpower
  • US “goodness” has supported its “greatness” : promoting democracy, human rights, free trade, and bolstering allies
  • imprisoning migrant children, starting trade wars, alienating allies, sowing domestic divisions, all weaken foundations of US power
  • the US is becoming a “bully” and its bullying likely won’t work