A NEW COLD WAR: DISINFORMATION , POLITICAL WARFARE, AND INFLUENCE CAMPAIGNS TODAY: Dr. James Ludes, ExecutiveDirector, Pell Center for International Relations & Public Policy
Talk Abstract: Disinformation is as old as the human experience. In the Cold War, it played a central role as part of Soviet “active measures” to undermine the political and military cohesion of the West. Today, America’s adversaries, including Russia, use social media, English-language news outlets, and surrogates to sow chaos and divide America internally and from its allies. This lecture will explore the recent history of these dark-arts and how they have been used to target American democracy, the response to COVID, and even the West’s response to the war in Ukraine.
Speaker Bio: Dr. James M. Ludes is Vice President for Strategic Initiatives at Salve Regina University in Newport, RI, as well as Executive Director of the university’s Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy. He also holds an appointment in the department of history. An award-winning broadcaster and host of “Story in the Public Square” on SiriusXM and public television stations across the country, Ludes also has extensive experience in Washington, DC, where he served as Executive Director of the American Security Project, legislative assistant to Senator John Kerry for defense and foreign policy, and Editor-in-Chief of the National Security Studies Quarterly. From 2008 to 2009, Ludes was a member of President Obama’s transition team in the Department of Defense, running the team supporting the confirmation of the president elect’s priority nominees to run the department. Dr. Ludes earned his Ph.D. in history from Georgetown University. His dissertation, A Consistency of Purpose: Political Warfare and the National Security Strategy of the Eisenhower Administration, was completed in 2003. He is editor of, and
contributor to, Iraq Uncensored (2009) and co-editor of two previous books: Attacking Terrorism (2004) and Twenty-First Century Proliferation (2001).
