Fake news as a geopolitical weapon in international politics

Fake news as a geopolitical weapon in international politics

International politics are usually perceived as nuclear conflict, military interventions and diplomatic meetings between statesmen (and women); however, a new form of international politics is on the rise, that is the case of the geopolitical usage of fake news. It is widely recognized that there were connections that linked Donald J. Trump’s presidential campaign to Russian officers in 2016 US elections. It is evident that the tool of fake news is used by supporters within the country to promote their favorite candidate, but why were the Russians interested in Trump’s candidacy?

Nowadays disinformation and control of the media is key in politics and in international relations, it is part of the so-called “soft-power”. By these means, foreign agents can influence democratic processes to favor their national interests, as done by the Russians in 2016, as claimed by many people. Former candidate Trump expressed many times his positive view of Putin’s policies and ways of doing, he stated that the US and Russia should cooperate in Syria for instance, not to confront each other. Current POTUS’ views have strong impact on the international field, as the “leader of the free world”; e.g. if president Trump does not interfere in Russian foreign policies, then Putin’s Government feels free to do what it pleases, because the US would not oppose hardly to actions which in case of having Hillary Clinton in power would be difficult to tolerate by the US Administration.

Fake news can be a very useful weapon to reach national objectives, it is not just a matter of political parties and circles with interests wanting their party to win. Let’s suppose that Russians too were implied in fake news and disinformation in the Brexit referendum. If it were true, it would be very logical from the Russian national interest’s perspective, for the Eastern country is interested in a weak EU, so they would have been wise to influence voters in the UK for them to choose “leave”.

Although it is Russia who has been used as a theoretical tool for us to reflect on the idea, any state is potentially capable of using fake news for international relations’ purposes beyond Vox willing to deceive citizens concerning gender-based violence.