Spreading the “Smog of War”: The Impact of Propaganda, Social Media, and OSINT on U.S. Civil-Intelligence Relations

Propaganda, more politely called ‘information operations’ these days, has been a prominent feature of the Russo-Ukrainian War. Both the Russians and Ukrainians have used propaganda to court global public opinion, shape military operations, and secure or destabilize alliances. However, although they have each tried to control the war’s narrative through propaganda, they cannot control social media – the enormous, entangled web of technology, actors, and interests that allows billions of users to interact, argue, and influence. This article will explain how the combination of propaganda and social media in the Russo-Ukrainian War has destabilized American civil-intelligence relations and raised political, social, and ethical questions concerning the role of citizens, both individually and collectively, in foreign wars.