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Information Wars: How We Lost the Global Battle Against Disinformation and What We Can Do About It Hardcover – October 8, 2019


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Disinformation is as old as humanity. When Satan told Eve nothing would happen if she bit the apple, that was disinformation. But the rise of social media has made disinformation even more pervasive and pernicious in our current era. In a disturbing turn of events, governments are increasingly using disinformation to create their own false narratives, and democracies are proving not to be very good at fighting it.

During the final three years of the Obama administration, Richard Stengel, the former editor of Time and an Under Secretary of State, was on the front lines of this new global information war. At the time, he was the single person in government tasked with unpacking, disproving, and combating both ISIS’s messaging and Russian disinformation. Then, in 2016, as the presidential election unfolded, Stengel watched as Donald Trump used disinformation himself, weaponizing the grievances of Americans who felt left out by modernism. In fact, Stengel quickly came to see how all three players had used the same playbook: ISIS sought to make Islam great again; Putin tried to make Russia great again; and we all know about Trump.

In a narrative that is by turns dramatic and eye-opening, Information Wars walks readers through of this often frustrating battle. Stengel moves through Russia and Ukraine, Saudi Arabia and Iraq, and introduces characters from Putin to Hillary Clinton, John Kerry and Mohamed bin Salman to show how disinformation is impacting our global society. He illustrates how ISIS terrorized the world using social media, and how the Russians launched a tsunami of disinformation around the annexation of Crimea – a scheme that became the model for their interference with the 2016 presidential election. An urgent book for our times, Information Wars stresses that we must find a way to combat this ever growing threat to democracy.


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Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Information Wars:

“With the eye of a historian and the passion of a man in the arena, Richard Stengel has given us a compelling and illuminating memoir of his time at the highest levels in the fight against disinformation and for American values. Richly observed and thoughtfully rendered, Stengel’s book is essential reading.” ―Jon Meacham

Information Wars is a gripping insider account of the U.S. government’s struggle to understand and fight back against a new generation of online threats from extremist messaging and Russian disinformation. As a celebrated journalist who moved into the frontlines of this fight, Richard Stengel sheds new light on how bad actors leverage technology to undermine trust, and helps us better understand what must be done to protect our democracy.” ― Madeleine K. Albright

“With colorful behind-the-scenes stories and razor-sharp insights, Stengel provides the first insider report from the front lines of the disinformation wars waged by Russia and ISIS. At the heart of the struggle was the way the internet allowed people to weaponize grievances, as Donald Trump did in his campaign. Countering this trend is the most crucial challenge for our democracy and free society. Stengel shows how we’ve failed and what we can do in the future.” ―Walter Isaacson

Information Wars ought to be a wake-up call. The message is that open, democratic societies are in retreat. There’s only one force powerful enough to save the day (one too little mentioned these days), and that’s the readers and viewers who consume information.”―David Ignatius, Washington Post

“As a Washington insider and former journalist, Stengel writes from a rare and illuminating double perspective…Stengel's recounting of the events and individuals, including Putin and Trump, involved in the surge in and fight against propaganda and misinformation is jarring yet hopeful as he concludes with a blueprint for remedy and change.” Booklist

“With great clarity, [Stengel] recounts the hurdles he encountered: bureaucratic procedures, acronyms and government-speak, endless vetting and turf battles, all of which slowed efforts to bring his print-oriented office into the era of social media…A revealing look at America's difficult struggle to combat false, misleading narratives” ―Kirkus Reviews

“The book introduces ways to reduce the impact of disinformation and propaganda, including real-time disclosure of who’s paying for political ads and more transparent sourcing in news reporting. Readers interested in how disinformation fits into today’s foreign affairs landscape will want to give this a look.” ―Publishers Weekly

“As Richard Stengel argues in his important book Information Wars, certain governments, such as Russia, and terrorist groups, such as the Islamic State (ISIS), engage in disinformation to create their own false and extremist narratives, which democracies, such as the United States, are proving to be ineffective at countering. Mr. Stengel is especially suited to discuss these issues.”―Washington Times


Praise for Richard Stengel and Mandela's Way:

“There is no man I admire more than Nelson Mandela. Rick Sten­gel’s wise and moving book captures the Nelson Mandela I have been privileged to know. But reading Mandela’s Way gave me new insights and inspiration. I am confident it will give the same gifts to others. I was inspired anew, and I know others will be too.”
―President Bill Clinton

“This delightfully inspiring book is a philosophical guide to how we can aspire to achieve Mandela’s grace and how we can draw upon his great­ness as a model for the comportment of our lives each day.”
―Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Harvard University

“Nelson Mandela has lived every word of his teaching, whatever the cost. His abiding lesson is about forgiveness.
Mandela’s Way takes us into the inner life of one of the most of important heroes of the century. There are lessons here that could radically change the way you live your life.”
―Deepak Chopra, author of The Ultimate Happiness Prescription

Mandela’s Way is a timely and welcome reminder of this great man’s political genius, personal integrity, and peerless instinct for survival and triumph. Every world leader should keep Mandela’s Way within easy reach.”
Tom Brokaw

“Here is the wisdom of the world’s greatest moral leader brilliantly distilled by a wonderful writer. From the time they spent working closely together on Mandela’s memoirs, Rick Stengel draws fifteen big life lessons plus hundreds of smaller insights, while also giving us an intimate and astonishingly honest look at this inspiring human being.”
Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs and Einstein

Mandela’s Way is an electrically exciting, direct, and vivid way of making greatness tangible, human and complex. Richard Stengel has honed all the elegance and lucidity of thirty years of brilliant cultural and political writing into a book to illuminate, to inspire―and to endure.”
Pico Iyer, author of The Open Road and The Lady and the Monk

About the Author

Richard Stengel was the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs from 2013-2016. Before working at the State Department, he was the Editor of TIME for seven years, from 2006-2013. From 1992 to 1994, he collaborated with Nelson Mandela on the South African leader's autobiography Long Walk to Freedom. Stengel later wrote Mandela's Way, a New York Times best-seller, on his experience working with Mandela. He is the author of several other books, including January Sun, a book about life in a small South African town as well as You're Too Kind: A Brief History of Flattery. He is an NBC/MSNBC analyst and lives in New York.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Atlantic Monthly Press (October 8, 2019)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0802147984
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0802147981
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.35 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1.25 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
230 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book has good information and is easy to read. They also appreciate the good stories. However, some readers missed the proposals.

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6 customers mention "Content"6 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's content good.

"...It reveals information needed for balanced analysis of current affairs and truth based decisionmaking." Read more

"...He explains the modern versions of all of those and provides useful insight into the necessity of protecting ourselves as we use modern media." Read more

"There is some good information here, which is what I bought the book for, but this guy starts with such mundane trivia about his life and meetings..." Read more

"Funny, informative, ominous...." Read more

4 customers mention "Readability"4 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well written, easy to read, and appreciate the author's clarification of terms.

"Very informative book regarding dis/misinformation. The book is well written and easy to read. Highly recommend this book!" Read more

"...This book is very well written." Read more

"I liked the authors clarification of terms. The material was aimed at those with a knowledge O did not have...." Read more

"Easy read. Flows well. I appreciate the author being humble in how the administration screwed up...." Read more

4 customers mention "Stories"4 positive0 negative

Customers find the stories in the book good. However, some readers feel the proposals are missing.

"...with the problem (at least partially), and his humble, amusing recounting of events...." Read more

"...It is more a memoir than a policy or analytic book. Good passages, good stories, yes- but I missed the proposals, the debate …" Read more

"Funny, informative, ominous. It is an eye-opening journey into the dark world of disinformation as only told by someone by someone who lived and..." Read more

"Compelling first hand narrative..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2023
This book is a must read for all persons seeking truth in our polarized political America. It reveals information needed for balanced analysis of current affairs and truth based decisionmaking.
Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2019
I enjoyed this book, written by a journalist (former editor of Time magazine) about his venture into the State Department's public information department. This book was not the usual statistics-and-policy accounting, but, instead, it is his personal description of how the State Department, perhaps one of the slowest-changing and most encrusted cabinet departments, came to understand how the Russians and ISIS were waging information war against the United States.

As a 70 year-old who does not own any of today's "platforms" (except, perhaps, this computer), I was astounded at how Russia and ISIS had overwhelmed the "information space" of the Middle East and the Ukraine. Honestly, it was eye-opening for me.

I came away from this book appreciating the author's labors in Foggy Bottom, his ability to build teams which came to grips with the problem (at least partially), and his humble, amusing recounting of events. An easy three-hour read, but it made clear to me exactly what disinformation is, and how radioactive and corroding it can be.
23 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2024
Very informative book regarding dis/misinformation. The book is well written and easy to read. Highly recommend this book!
Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2023
I was disappointed about the actual coverage about the underlying issue that I hoped the book was going to address. So much more could have been addressed.
3 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2023
Mr Stengel's book highlights two very important things about problems in American government which are still true today. First, the State Department's culture is stuck in the last century but trying to handle 21st century problems. Second, fighting disinformation and the people who use it is nearly impossible because the other side doesn't play fair. Written before Trump's election, it is interesting to see Trump use the same disinformation techniques as seen in the book as he fights his court cases just as Hamas Can claim their misfired rocket on the Israelis. Only the Palestinians need to believe them and it's what they want to hear.
One person found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2023
When Internet was made available it was initially thought that it will democratise access to information. However the readers are now exposed to fake news and its difficult to discern what is really true..
Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2021
Humans are inherently rational, but not intrinsically rational. Rationality must be achieved. For some, this is not too difficult. Given this general shortcoming, mass insanity is a possibility, especially under conditions of malevolent manipulation. This book describes efforts of the US State Department Office of Public Diplomacy to challenge malevolent foreign disinformation during the Obama administration. This book is very well written.
5 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2019
This book is a critical insider look at how our government attempted to understand and deal with disinformation. Stengel is quick to point out that government is not the best at competing with either ISIS or Russia due to inefficiencies in our federal government and our inability to work as fast as them.
The conclusion of the book ties our current president to the propaganda that allowed him to change the narrative during the 2016 election without showing political bias.
This is an excellent read and I’ve bought three copies for people I knew would find insightful.
12 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Information War - the next new weapon we must all be aware and wary about
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 9, 2020
This is a must read book the democratic government, strategist and most importantly people-at- large who believe they have right to chose their government and also care about the world they will ultimately leave behind children and grandchildren.
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Reads like a thriller
Reviewed in Australia on May 1, 2020
Superb book. Reads like a thriller.