The Russian information war as a threat to the Netherlands

.The Russian information war is a threat to the Netherlands, but not in the traditional military sense of the word. Russia attacks in the Netherlands through information operations and espionage, in combination with and strengthened by followers who spread the Kremlin propaganda. The Kremlin consistently seeks to influence decision-making and the public opinion in the Netherlands by sowing chaos. This threat must be taken seriously, especially because it targets key-values of the Dutch society, like freedom of press; rule of law; trust in institutions and the government in general and trust in international Western cooperation. The whole Dutch society is a target, and especially right-wing radicals are easy victims to the Russian information war. This thesis aims to expose the Russian information war and map effects of the Russian information war in the Netherlands, based on eight characteristics that are described in the theoretical part. The two main battles in this War so far, the ‘Ukraine-Referendum’ and ‘MH17’, are used here as case studies to see the characteristics of the Russian information war in action. An analytical tool is created to assess the existence of the Russian information war and monitor its effects. Several options for the Dutch authorities that are in line with its strategic culture will be proposed, however the main focus of this thesis is to expose and identify the Russian information war as a threat to the Netherlands that needs to be taken seriously