University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

The Russian Gambit and the US Intelligence Community: Russia's Use of Kompromat and Implausible Deniability to Optimize its 2016 Information Campaign against the US Presidential Election

Uhlmann, Allon J.; McCombie, Stephen

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/109267

Description

Title
The Russian Gambit and the US Intelligence Community: Russia's Use of Kompromat and Implausible Deniability to Optimize its 2016 Information Campaign against the US Presidential Election
Author(s)
  • Uhlmann, Allon J.
  • McCombie, Stephen
Issue Date
2020
Keyword(s)
  • political action
  • elections
  • intelligence community
Abstract
In the leadup to the 2016 US presidential election, Russia engaged in covert political action to disrupt the American political system and undermine candidate Clinton. Following Trump's shock victory, Moscow swiftly pivoted to leverage its pre-election intervention in order to degrade the coherence of the US strategic decision-making. Specifically, through seemingly feckless denial, the Kremlin sought to assert the depth and success of its meddling in the election, thereby driving a wedge between the White House on the one hand, and US intelligence community and political mainstream on the other, and keeping both sides at loggerheads. The fact that the main axis of Moscow's pre-election information campaign unfolded online helped it exploit anxieties over the unfettered circulation of information and enhance the effect of its postelection messaging. After describing the contours of this Russian gambit, we elaborate on three specific issues. We analyze the stratagem of implausible deniability—Russia's assertion of its role through seemingly feckless denial. We then ascribe the Russian intelligence community's agility to its chaotic structure and function. Finally, we account for the strategic oversight that allowed the US intelligence community to become an unwitting useful tool of Russian manipulation.
Publisher
Johns Hopkins University Press and the Illinois School of Information Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Series/Report Name or Number
Library Trends 68 (4). Spring 2020
ISSN
0024-2594
Type of Resource
text
Language
en
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/109267
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2020.0017
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2020 Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Owning Collections

Library Trends 68 (4) Spring 2020: Censorship and Information Behavior in the Age of Big Data PRIMARY
Library Trends 68 (4) Spring 2020: Censorship and Information Behavior in the Age of Big Data. Edited by Paul A. Watters.