Disrupting Peace

How and why do powerful actors use propaganda as a crucial war strategy? In this episode, we see what we can learn from Russia’s use of propaganda in its war with Ukraine, and explore the relationships between misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda. We also look at which communities are least susceptible to war propaganda, as well as what we can do to improve the quality of information we have access to worldwide.Daniel Silverman is Assistant Professor of Political Science in the Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy and Technology (CMIST) at Carnegie Mellon University. His research addresses the psychological factors – including the biases and misperceptions – that drive violent conflicts, and how they can be mitigated or leveraged to promote peace. He is the author of Seeing is Disbelieving: Why People Believe Misinformation in War, and When They Know Better (2024).Jeanne Cavelier is the Head of Eastern Europe & Central Asia Desk for the Paris-based organization, Reporters without Borders – often referred to by its French acronym, RSF. She contributes to the RSF’s Propaganda Monitor, the organization’s multimedia platform that aims to expose the many faces and tactics behind propaganda worldwide. She previously worked as a journalist, including in Moscow, Russia. Access RSF's Propaganda Monitor; and their report on Russia, Reporting under Russian fire: more than 175 journalists victims of abuse in Ukraine in the past four years.Additional Resources mentioned in this podcast:https://www.bellingcat.com/https://www.bbc.com/news/bbcverifyhttps://journalismtrustinitiative.org/https://www.osint.industries/Newsguard app in Apple App Store and on Google Play StoreDisrupting Peace is a production of the World Peace Foundation. The show is produced by Bridget Conley and Emily Shaw. Engineering by Jacob Winik and Aja Simpson. Marketing and Social media by Kaelen Song. Show artwork by Simon Fung.Special thanks to Lisa Avery and Alex de Waal, and the Tufts Digital Design Studio team.Find out more about the World Peace Foundation at worldpeacefoundation.org. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok at @worldpeacefdtn.

Targeting journalists doesn’t only have a devastating impact on individuals, communities, and the possibility of justice. It also limits what we know about conflicts. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Gaza right now.In this episode, we explore the overwhelming obstacles that journalists in Gaza face, why they are being targeted, and what we can do to increase the accuracy of information in the region.Mohammed R. Mhawish is a journalist and writer, born and raised in Gaza. He has covered his homeland for the New Yorker, MSNBC, The Nation, Al Jazeera, +972 Magazine, The Economist, and more. He left Gaza in 2024, and is currently based in the U.S. Follow Mohammed’s Substack at: https://www.mohammedmhawish.comHis latest writing for the New Yorker can be found at: https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/mohammed-r-mhawishHis Al Jazeera article “When Israeli soldiers shot at hungry Palestinians” can be found here: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2024/3/5/the-blood-was-everywhere-inside-israels-flour-massacre-in-gazaSara Qudah is Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an independent, nonprofit organization that promotes press freedom worldwide. The organization defends the right of journalists to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal. She was a journalist for 15 years, starting her career in the Middle East. Sara is currently based in Paris. Learn more about the Committee to Protect Journalists at https://cpj.org/. Follow Sara on Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-qudah/Disrupting Peace is a production of the World Peace Foundation. The show is produced by Bridget Conley and Emily Shaw. Engineering by Jacob Winik and Aja Simpson. Marketing and Social media by Kaelen Song. Show artwork by Simon Fung. Special thanks to Lisa Avery and Alex de Waal, and the Tufts Digital Design Studio team.Find out more about the World Peace Foundation at worldpeacefoundation.org. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok at @worldpeacefdtn.

In Season 4 of Disrupting Peace, we’re asking how we can dismantle the myths, mis- and dis-information that get in the way of achieving peace. Because we can’t move towards peace if we don’t have a clear picture of what’s actually happening. We’ll look at the spread of war propaganda, the targeting of journalists, how violent ideologies distort people's understanding of facts, what works to debunk bad information, how AI might help peace, and more.Season 4 launches on March 17th.Disrupting Peace is a production of The World Peace Foundation. Find out more at worldpeacefoundation.org. This season is partially funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

This week’s episode is from our friends at The Context podcast.Deva Woodly joins host Alex Lovit to discuss the importance of social movements for American democracy and the role they can play at this precarious moment in American political history. We need these networks of trust and coordinated action to push the country away from authoritarianism and toward a democracy that works for everyone.Deva Woodly is a scholar of social movements. She is a professor of political science at Brown University and a research fellow at the Charles F. Kettering Foundation.Subscribe to The Context here: https://pod.link/1726934311 Learn more about the Charles F Kettering Foundation here: https://kettering.org Disrupting Peace is a production of The World Peace Foundation. The show is produced by Bridget Conley and Emily Shaw. Engineering by Jacob Winik and Aja Simpson. Marketing and Social media by Kaelen Song. Show artwork by Simon Fung. Special thanks to Jeremy Helton, Lisa Avery, B. Arneson, and Alex de Waal, and the team from the Tufts Digital Design Studio, including Kimberly Lynn Forero-Arnias, and Miles Donovan. Find out more about the World Peace Foundation at worldpeacefoundation.org. Follow us on Bluesky at worldpeacefdtn.bsky.social, and on Instagram and TikTok at @worldpeacefdtn.

In our last episode of the season, we see what we can learn from Nepal about the connections between emergency response, peace, and resilience. Staying at the micro level, we closely examine a collaboration between the Nepalese organization Lumanti and the MIT based Urban Risk Lab.One note on this episode: Bridget references "Aceh province" during the opening quiz. To clarify, Aceh province is in Indonesia and was the epicenter of an earthquake and tsunami in 2004. Yatra Sharma worked as an architect and urban developer with the Kathmandu-based Lumanti Support Group for Shelter. The nonprofit works to improve housing for the urban poor in Nepal. Today she is a yoga teacher. Learn more at https://lumanti.org.np and check out the videos Yatra referenced at https://youtu.be/KL51C4j1Vt0?si=8w6Kn19uqNmSr3vp and https://www.instagram.com/tv/CMERBfGBB8_/?igsh=aHBtNGJ0em91ZTMz Larisa Ovalles is a Research Scientist at MIT’s Urban Risk Lab. She develops processes to increase emergency planning and preparedness at local and community levels. This includes developing alternative post-disaster housing solutions for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). And she was on the design team of the project in Nepal that we’ll discuss today. Learn more at: https://urbanrisklab.org. Disrupting Peace is a production of The World Peace Foundation. The show is produced by Bridget Conley and Emily Shaw. Engineering by Jacob Winik and Aja Simpson. Marketing and Social media by Kaelen Song. Show artwork by Simon Fung.Special thanks to Jeremy Helton, Lisa Avery, B. Arneson, and Alex de Waal, and the team from the Tufts Digital Design Studio, including Kimberly Lynn Forero-Arnias, and Miles Donovan.Find out more about the World Peace Foundation at worldpeacefoundation.org. Follow us on Bluesky at worldpeacefdtn.bsky.social, on Instagram at @worldpeacefdtn, and TikTok at @worldpeacefdtn.