Publications
Integrating Information Activities into Training
This report draws from a talk prepared and delivered by Alicia Wanless at the 40th Multi National Information Operations Experiment Workshop in Germany on 7 April 2018. The aim of this paper is to help militaries integrating information activities into training exercises, recommending nine key points for enhancement. The recommendations put forward are based, in part, on several consecutive research projects related to propaganda and the information environment (and outlined here insomuch as they directly contribute), as well as the authors’ experience applying that knowledge to training exercises and in strategic communications campaigns.
Tworek, Heidi and Alicia Wanless. “Time for Transparency From Digital Platforms, But What Does That Really Mean?” Lawfare (20 January 2022)
Shapiro, Jacob N., and Alicia Wanless. “Why Are Authoritarians Framing International Approaches to Disinformation?” Lawfare (28 December 2021)
Wanless, Alicia. “What’s Working and What Isn’t in Researching Influence Operations?” Lawfare, (22 September 2021)
Yadav, Kamya, Ulaş Erdoğdu, Samikshya Siwakoti, Jacob N. Shapiro and Alicia Wanless. “Countries have more than 100 laws on the books to combat misinformation. How well do they work?,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 77:3, 124-128, (11 May 2021) DOI: 10.1080/00963402.2021.1912111
Fridman, Ofer and Alicia Wanless. “Worried About Disinformation? Let’s Get Strategic,” The National Interest, (12 April 2021).
Schneier, Bruce and Alicia Wanless. “The Peril of Persuasion in the Big Tech Age,” Foreign Policy, (11 December 2020)
Shapiro, Jacob N., Natalie Thompson, Alicia Wanless. “Research Collaboration on Influence Operations Between Industry and Academia: A Way Forward,” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, (16 July 2020)
Smith, Victoria and Alicia Wanless. “Unmasking the Truth: Public Health Experts, the Coronavirus, and the Raucous Marketplace of Ideas,” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, (3 December 2020)
Dobrowolski, Daniel, David V Gioe, and Alicia Wanless. “How Threat Actors are Manipulating the British Information Environment”, RUSI Journal, (17 June 2020).
Thomas , Elise, Natalie Thompson, and Alicia Wanless. “The Challenges of Countering Influence Operations “, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, (10 June 2020)
Wanless, Alicia, and Michael Berk “The Audience is the Amplifier: Participatory Propaganda”. In The SAGE Handbook of Propaganda by (Eds) Paul Baines, Nicholas O’Shaughnessy & Nancy Snow. London: Sage, (2019). p. 85-104
Wanless, Alicia. “Computational & Network Propaganda: A Practitioner’s Review of Two Books.” Journal of Communication (2019).
Wanless, Alicia and Michael Berk. “The Changing Nature of Propaganda: Coming to Terms with Influence in Conflict.” In The World Information War Western Resilience, Campaigning and Cognitive Effects by (Eds) Timothy Clack and Robert Johnson. Routledge. (In Press)
Wanless, Alicia and James Pamment. “How Do You Define a Problem Like Influence?” In Journal of Information Warfare, Special Edition, (Eds). James Pamment and Alicia Wanless, (2019).
Gioe, David V., Michael S. Goodman, and Alicia Wanless. “Rebalancing Cybersecurity Imperatives: Patching the Social Layer” Journal of Cyber Policy 4, no. 1 (2019): 117-137.
Berk Michael, and Alicia Wanless. Preparing for Strategic Communication Blowback: A Case Study of the White Helmets. Shrivenham; Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre, UK Ministry of Defence, 2018.
Wanless, Alicia. ‘Integrating Information Activities into Training’. In proceedings of the 40th Multi National Information Operations Experiment Workshop, Germany (7 April 2018).
Esteve Del Valle, Marc, Alicia Wanless-Berk, Anatoliy Gruzd, and Philip Mai. “Unpredictably Trump?: Predicting Clicktivist-like Actions on Trump’s Facebook Posts During the 2016 US Primary Election.” In Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Social Media and Society, pp. 64-70. ACM, 2018.
Valle, Marc Esteve Del, Alicia Wanless-Berk, Anatoliy Gruzd, and Philip Mai. “I Click, Therefore I am: Predicting Clicktivist-like Actions on Candidates’ Facebook Posts During the 2016 U.S. Primary Election” Facebook Posts During the 2016 US Primary Election.” In Networks, Hacking, and Media–CITA MS@ 30: Now and Then and Tomorrow, by (Eds.) Barry Wellman, Laura Robinson, Casey Brienza, Wenhong Chen and Shelia Cotten, Bingley, UK:Emerald Publishing Limited, 2018 pp. 137-154.
Briant, Emma and Alicia Wanless, “A Digital Ménage à Trois: Strategic Leaks, Propaganda and Journalism” In Countering Online Propaganda and Extremism: The Dark Side of Digital Diplomacy, by (Eds.) Corneliu Bjola, and James Pamment, Abingdon, UK: Routledge, 2018.
Wanless, Alicia. “Cambridge Analytica has blurred the line between persuasion and manipulation,” CBC (23 March 2018).
Wanless, Alicia and Michael Berk. “For Every Action There is an Information Reaction: How Exercises Need to Adapt in a Digital Age,” The Strategy Bridge (27 March 2018).
Wanless, Alicia and Michael Berk.”The Strategic Communication Ricochet: Planning Ahead for Greater Resiliency,” The Strategy Bridge (7 March 2018)
Wanless, Alicia. “Yes, Canada is vulnerable to information cyber attacks“, CBC, (7 March 2018)
Wanless, Alicia and Michael Berk, “Participatory Propaganda: The Engagement of Audiences in the Spread of Persuasive Communications” . In Proceedings of Social Media & Social Order, Culture Conflict 2.0, 1 December 2017, Oslo.
Wanless, Alicia. “As Canadian troops arrive in Latvia, the battle for support lands at home.” CBC News, (14 July 2017).
Wanless, Alicia. “We keep looking to tech giants to solve our propaganda problems”. We’re looking in the wrong place”. CBC, (2 December 2017).
Interviews & Features
Rogers, Zac, Emily Bienvenue and Maryanne Kelton. “The new Age of Propaganda: Understanding Influence Operations in the Digital Age.” War on the Rocks (1 May 2019)
Betoret Garcia, Isabela. “PS21 Event Writeup: ‘Changing Face of Conflict’ (January 28)” PS21 (25 March 2019).
Brewster, Murray, “Canadian agency astonished to be targeted by alleged Russian cyberattack“, CBC, (5 October 2018).
Brewster, Murray, “As Britain reveals its first-ever cyberattack against ISIS, experts ask if Canada will be as open,” CBC, (19 May 2018).
Scotti, Monique, “Canadian pollsters build fortresses around their data to protect from hacks,” Global News (8 April 2018).
Harris, Kathleen, “Elections Canada prepares to fight fake news, foreign influence in 2019 vote,” CBC, (20 March 2018).
Sweezey, Mathew, “President Trump And The Rise Of A New Public Relations Model,” Forbes, (30 November 2017).