Arguing that the United States has so far failed to invest seriously in understanding or pushing back against the problem of Russian propaganda and disinformation, Anne Applebaum, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Washington Post columnist, and Edward Lucas, a senior editor at the Economist, are launching this week a counter-disinformation initiative at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) in Washington, DC. 

While educational exchanges between the U.S. and Russia have suffered from the deterioration in bilateral relations, there are still some successful programs that are finding innovative ways to foster collaboration.

There is a growing anxiety among some observers in the EU that a disinformation strategy pursued by the Russian government since the Ukraine crisis might fragment and disintegrate the Union. It is claimed that Russia’s use of targeted disinformation is seeking to influence public opinion within the member states with the aim of paralysing decision-making processes at the EU level.

Despite the political dissimilarities between the UK and Russia, both the countries are now coming together to ensure a meaningful cultural relationship between them, by jointly celebrating their literary works. The British Council in Russia, which leads the UK's Year of Language and Literature 2016, have been discussing the influence of Shakespeare's works on the global culture, including that of Russia.

Brexit is in many ways just the British manifestation of the broader problem that the EU has never solved: There is a common European institution, but not a common European identity. [...] Obsessed with its own internal problems, it will fail to take the lead in standing up to Russia, it will fail to contribute to security in Africa or the Middle East...

In the modern era new tools have emerged that are used by superpowers. In Libya, Syria and Ukraine there is extensive use of hard power by non-state actors supported by these powers. In other countries intervention is made through soft power using social media and leaks. WikiLeaks and Panama Papers are part of this cyber war fare employed by non-state actors. In both these leaks there seems to be a particular pattern targeting select countries to put public pressure on governments.