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Global Challenges
Issue no. 13 | May 2023
The Global Disinformation Order
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Articles for this issue
Global Challenges
Issue no. 13 | May 2023
The Global Disinformation Order

The present issue seeks to better apprehend the nature of this new era of digital disinformation and how it differs from prior eras marked by the dissemination of more traditional propaganda (notably the Cold War) or by the spread of American (or liberal) soft power through mass media and consumption. In so doing the issue seeks to address a series of questions such as: has traditional propaganda consisting in over-selling a model or ideology by means of manipulation and mass media been replaced by the generalisation of disinformation in the post-truth era characterized by systematic epistemic deconstruction and the outright discreditation of any truth claims? What is the role of states (as opposed to other actors) in this process and what tools and operational mechanisms are they mobilizing to pursue their global (dis-)information campaigns? What is the impact of the generalisation of alternative facts and disinformation campaigns on the international order? Who is to win and lose from it? What can be done, notably at the international level and the UN, to counter the noxious effects of global disinformation campaigns and to recreate trust in the global information order?

Articles for this issue

The Global Disinformation Order

Dossier produced in collaboration with Marc Galvin, Nathalie Tanner and Kristina Arseneau, Research Office, Geneva Graduate Institute

Other Issues
Issue no. 17 | May 2025
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Diplomacy Today
Global Challenges
Issue no. 17 | May 2025
Diplomacy Today
Post–Cold War diplomacy has been a diplomacy of globalisation, building on multilateralism and cooperation. The recent questioning of globalisation has led to the questioning of diplomacy, which seems to have been dealt the final blow by Trump’s second election as President of the United States. His vision of a hyper–diplomatic realism — transactional, disruptive, based on force and serving the sole interests of America — clashes with the project of a new diplomacy that many actors in the international community are calling for. But what is this new diplomacy? What are its strengths and challenges? In this dossier, professors and researchers from the Institute provide contrasting analyses of the opportunities that a new diplomacy could bring to trade, inclusiveness, the United Nations and International Geneva, not forgetting the impact of new media and AI.
Issue no. 1 | February 2017
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South China Sea:
War on the Horizon?
Global Challenges
Issue no. 1 | February 2017
South China Sea: War on the Horizon?

While the global balance of power, under the impetus of the steady rise of China, is shifting towards the Asia-Pacific, and because the future of US policy is uncertain after the election of Donald Trump, tensions in the South China Sea have once again become a major strategic concern. The South China Sea is witnessing a series of sovereignty disputes between littoral states defending rivalling claims to maritime rights and boundaries. Adding weight and urgency to the disputes are the significant natural resources found in the coveted archipelagos and sea beds as well as the rising national sentiments in many of the claimant states. The geostrategic dimension of these quarrels is largely transcending the region and the involvement of external powers such as the United States further complicates the equation. The recent legal victory of the Philippines over China can be seen as a supplementary cause for anxiety in a latent conflict that may at any time escalate into a regional or global confrontation. Henceforth the search for a negotiated solution becomes crucial as military budgets continue to soar in the region.

Issue no. 13 | May 2023
image
Start reading
The Global Disinformation Order
Global Challenges
Issue no. 13 | May 2023
The Global Disinformation Order

The present issue seeks to better apprehend the nature of this new era of digital disinformation and how it differs from prior eras marked by the dissemination of more traditional propaganda (notably the Cold War) or by the spread of American (or liberal) soft power through mass media and consumption. In so doing the issue seeks to address a series of questions such as: has traditional propaganda consisting in over-selling a model or ideology by means of manipulation and mass media been replaced by the generalisation of disinformation in the post-truth era characterized by systematic epistemic deconstruction and the outright discreditation of any truth claims? What is the role of states (as opposed to other actors) in this process and what tools and operational mechanisms are they mobilizing to pursue their global (dis-)information campaigns? What is the impact of the generalisation of alternative facts and disinformation campaigns on the international order? Who is to win and lose from it? What can be done, notably at the international level and the UN, to counter the noxious effects of global disinformation campaigns and to recreate trust in the global information order?