Foreign Policy Research Institute A Nation Must Think Before it Acts Fake News and Russian Information Operations

Fake News and Russian Information Operations

  • March 9, 2017

Drawing on two-and-a-half years of closely watching Russia’s online influence operations and monitoring some 7,000 social media accounts, Clint Watts tells the disturbing story of the Kremlin’s army of trolls and their role in spreading disinformation to undermine trust in Western electoral systems. It was while investigating jihadis online that Watts came across the online activities of Russian trolls.

Watts is a Robert A. Fox Fellow in the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Program on the Middle East as well as a Senior Fellow with its Program on National Security. He serves as the President of Miburo Solutions, Inc. Watts’ research focuses on analyzing transnational threat groups operating in local environments on a global scale. Before starting Miburo Solutions, he served as a U.S. Army infantry officer, a FBI Special Agent on a Joint Terrorism Task Force, and as the Executive Officer of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point (CTC).

Related Program(s)

National Security Program

Middle East Program

Related Event(s)

Fake News and Russian Information Operations