SHAPING THE INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ENVIRONMENT THROUGH THE INTENTIONAL DISCLOSURE OF CLASSIFIED INFORMATION

Abstract

The disclosure of classified information to the general public played an important role in the period before the start of the conflict between the Russian Federation and Ukraine. This strategy involved the disclosure of classified information at an unprecedented scale and speed, with the aim of achieving specific effects, while using emerging technologies such as those associated to the open- source intelligence toolbox. The hypothesis under consideration is that the state may intentionally disclose classified information in order to shape the reactions and behaviours of other international actors. The research approach was based on the case study on the disclosure of classified information in the period July 2021– February 2022 in the context of the imminent invasion of the Russian Federation in Ukraine. The data collected from open sources were correlated with the aim of analysing in detail the disclosure strategy of classified information, its characteristics, the factors that potentiate it and its effects. The obtained results lead to the conclusion that the disclosure of classified information belongs to the tools of the ways of exercising the state power, with multiple effects, from influencing opponents to increasing the resilience of own population to the phenomenon of fake news.

Keywords

• international relations
• intelligence
• conflict
• classified information
• diplomacy