Putin's power is built on lies – Columbia University Professor

Through his propaganda, Vladimir Putin managed to build strong authoritarianism in Russia.

Amb. Stephen Sestanovich, Professor at the Columbia University, Ambassador-at-large at the United States Department of State in 1997-2001expressed this idea at the 15^th annual Kyiv Security Forum, established by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s “Open Ukraine” Foundation.

“The war became possible because Putin built a power system with one person taking all decisions that no one else can challenge or oppose,” the expert believes.

According to Stephen Sestanovich, it was propaganda inside Russia that played a key role in this process.

“We need to expand our understanding of information warfare and learn more about information warfare within Russia. Over the past 30 years we have not witnessed anything as extreme as this combination of military might, aggression and propaganda,” he said.

“The West did not even attempt to refute Russian fakes. Still, inside Russia, it works... These stories were so ridiculous and feeble that we failed even to imagine someone falling for them,” the Professor admitted.

At the same time, he added that such a standpoint is unacceptable if we wish to win the information war.

Noteworthy, the 15^th annual Kyiv security forum “For Our and Your Freedom/ Fighting for NATO” will be held on May 25-26, 2023, with the participation of well-known international figures. In particular, at the Forum, the KSF Security Council will be established and a policy document will be adopted with recommendations for the NATO summit in Vilnius to be held this July.