The PP2IC course proceeds from the assumption that ‘the truth will make you free.’ Propaganda ipso facto operates as an enemy of freedom. It is the role of 3PTraining therefore to give you the tools to identify and expose propaganda wherever it is found, whether it originates from Russia, China, the United States, or elsewhere.

Currently there is a great deal of analysis of Russian ‘active measures’ information operations. However the gap in all or most of the discussion around Russian information operations is:

• an indifference to the existence of Western information operations;
• a naïve belief in the honesty and truthfulness of Western journalism; and
• an inability to recognise the manifest failures of many Western policies, and the thought control that takes place in ‘Western liberal democracies’.

This one sided analysis is then used to actually undermine freedom in ‘Western liberal democracies’ through censorship and vilification.

It is partly for that reason that the PP2IC course introduces you to US propaganda techniques – particularly those aimed at a domestic audience, in the InfoWar lessons.

Since everyone has a theory, 3P Training also has a theory about ‘fake news’ which is offered here. Currently there are two global visions in conflict. One represent economic, military, and cultural ‘full spectrum dominance’ by the United States. This necessarily entails the marginalisation of traditional and national identities and values. It represents an alliance of cultural Marxism with free market economics. That vision is advanced by the liberal elite in the United States and Europe. The contra vision is one of a community of nations and cultures in which nation states are primary. This is a multi-polar world which respects the rule of law and the sovereignty of nations and cultures. That vision is represented by President Putin and potentially President Trump, and is promoted by the alternative media. In that context, Russia offers an alternative model of international relations, and an alternative civilisational model based on traditional and cultural values.[1] Whether Russia actually lives up to that alternative, and Putin’s true motives, are separate issues. What is undeniable is that this contra vision is competitive and gaining traction with Western populations.

The attempt to shut down ‘fake news’ is therefore more than an attempt to counter Russian propaganda. It is an attempt by Western liberal elites to gain by force a monopoly in the market place of ideas.

[1] See full discussion of the Valdai Forum