Antisemitic influence campaigns geopolitical influence through the cyber domain

Lev Topor

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

Can religious hate and discrimination lead to global or regional power shifts, and how is it related to gas, oil, and trade routes? For an untrained eye, issues like antisemitism or racism might seem related just to personal beliefs and not to geopolitics and the global struggle for power. However, as history has shown us-hate is not just a personal belief; it has everything to do with politics, diplomacy, and regional balances of power. Nowadays, hate and hate speech like antisemitism is disseminated using the main mass communication platform-the Internet. Powers are constantly engaged in cyber warfare and influence campaigns as they exercise their sharp power to influence others' decisions. Russia and China are spreading misinformation/disinformation in many countries like the United States, United Kingdom, and European Union, to lower national stability and enhance social rifts. These, alongside other regional powers like Iran and Qatar, are engaged in the spread of antisemitism and anti-Zionism to downgrade from the global support to Israel, a regional power that aids with the Western dominance of gas, oil, and trading routes or decisions in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf. This chapter explains how antisemitism is used by powers to shape geopolitical conflicts in the twenty-first century, specifically through the cyber domain with examples of political warfare and misinformation/disinformation campaigns like "Project Nemesis" or "Raven Mission" or the "Mapping Project" which, as suggested, was founded to oppose legitimization with, and support of, the state of Israel.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Palgrave Handbook of Contemporary Geopolitics
PublisherSpringer Nature
Pages1375-1395
Number of pages21
ISBN (Electronic)9783031472275
ISBN (Print)9783031472268
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Nov 2024
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024. All rights reserved.

Keywords

  • Anti-Zionism
  • Antisemitism
  • Geopolitics
  • Influence campaigns
  • Israel
  • Sharp power

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Social Sciences
  • General Economics, Econometrics and Finance

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