Syria’s Chemical Weapons Declaration Cannot Be Considered Accurate, Complete, Disarmament Affairs Chief Tells Security CouncilSeveral Members Question Meetings Frequency Given Lack of New Developments
ABSTRACT: While biological warfare has classically been considered a threat requiring the presence of a distinct biological agent, we argue that in light of the rise of state-sponsored online disinformation campaigns, we are approaching a fifth phase of biowarfare with a ‘‘cyber-bio’’ framing.
“We’re not just fighting an epidemic; we’re fighting an infodemic,” said World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the Munich Security Conference on February 15, 2020.
Despite its moniker, the 1918 “Spanish flu” pandemic almost certainly did not originate in Spain. The belligerents of World War I suppressed reporting on the outbreak in order to avoid harming morale, while Spain, as a neutral country, had a media free to report openly on the extent of the disease. Since most media coverage of the outbreak came from Spain, so too did its origin story.
The series "Arms Control in Today’s (Dis)information Environment," produced by scholars from the Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University, encompasses a trio of papers that delve into the intricate relationship between disinformation and arms control.