Readings 2020: Thomas Rid (2020). Active Measures: The Secret History of Disinformation and Political Warfare
In 2020 I committed to writing short thoughts on my readings.
Today, it’s Active Measures: The Secret History of Disinformation and Political Warfare (2020) by Thomas Rid.
Summary
Active measures is both a timely and time-lasting book. It is timely, as it contextualises the current-day use of disinformation targeted at societies. It is time-lasting, as it is a history, covering the use of disinformation chronologically throughout the 20th century up to the present day. It is a well-written and interesting read, telling its stories in 31 numbered chapters (+introduction&conclusion).
According to the introduction, Rid wants to make three main arguments. 1. conceptually, disinformation campaigns target the liberal epistemic order; 2. historically, the book wants to investigate the moral equivalence argument (i.e. did the West engage in such operations? why did the CIA retreat from them?); 3. How has the digital revolution altered the disinformation game (Rid’s answer: cheaper, quicker, more reactive, less risky, but also more active and less measured. More scalable, harder to control, and harder to assess once they have been launched. More dangerous…).
Upside
I liked the short chapters and the author’s superb use of source material, particularly from the Cold War period. An avid reader will recognize a story here and there, but Rid also unearthed active measures that were previously completely uncovered. Where possible, the author linked the sources on the Internet Archive, a practice I recommend to future authors.
For me a particularly interesting insight was this:
Disinformation operations rely on “tactics that exploit technology, political divisions and tensions between allies (p.140). All three are important and can be studied across time. Rid concludes:
The higher the quality of all three, the more active a measure will be – or put another way, the lesser the political divisions within the target organization, and the more primitive the telecommunications environment, the more value the attacker will have to add at all stages of an operation in order to make and sustain an active measure. (Active Measures, p. 140)
Critique
The book tells you that it is "a history”. Hence, my first criticism is slightly unfair. However, I would have hoped for a more conceptual/theoretical contribution to be developed in the book. Rid hints at having such a contribution, particularly in the passage quoted above and in the conclusion. However, as is, it remains steadfast a history.
A second criticism pertains Rid’s extensive use of intelligence archives as sourcing (which I think overall is an asset). However, I would have hoped for a more critical engagement with the peculiarity of that sourcing. Particularly, there is a colluding bias in that each agency wants to magnify its opponent to stay relevant with its own policymakers. In my opinion, this could have been highlighted more.
Conclusion
Rid’s long-durée investigation of Active Measures provides an important perspective on the current day hype around disinformation and in many ways provides a corrective. Particularly, its assessment of the 2016 election interference provides a counter-voice to the hyped-up claims around the effectiveness of that particular interference. However, it also provides stark reminders that sometimes, less visible forms of interventions can be just as decisive. I enjoyed the book and recommend reading it.