By Vincent DiFonzo – Ike’s Anvil

By Vincent DiFonzo ’25, Managing Editor

Vincent DiFonzo ’25 at the Israeli-Jordanian Border during the EI Contours of the Middle East 2023 trip.

Russia Today is an English-language Russian state-owned media outlet widely known for its biased reporting and spread of misinformation in order to defend the government of Vladimir Putin. The network specifically broadcasts in English to reach foreign audiences, giving the Kremlin a voice to whisper in the Western public’s ear.

Last week, the United States Department of Justice formally accused Russia of election interference through the spread of disinformation, largely due to U.S. support for Ukraine in their ongoing war and U.S. deterrence of Russian aggression against its neighbors since the Russian Federation’s founding in 1991.

Continue reading “The Information War: How Foreign Actors Use Disinformation to Destabilize the West”

By Vincent DiFonzo ’25 Managing Editor, Ike’s Anvil

Last March, I had the opportunity to travel to Israel as part of the Eisenhower Institute’s Contours of the Middle East program. I visited during a time of political crisis. Israel’s young democracy was being challenged—not by a foreign power—but by their own prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. During the trip, our group met with a diverse range of people from the region, including both a retired Israeli Defense Force (IDF) general and a member of the Palestinian National Authority, the provisional government of the West Bank. These two people, from opposite sides of the conflict, disagreed on many things, yet they likely would have agreed on one: Netanyahu’s attempted judicial reforms, which would allow him to end his own corruption trial, are harmful to Israel. Israelis overwhelmingly opposed the changes and took to the streets in massive numbers to protest Netanyahu’s power grab.

Continue reading “Reevaluating America’s Role in Israel”