Thomas Kent (Adjunct Associate Professor of International Affairs) is quoted in a Washington Post editorial about Russia’s disinformation campaign regarding U.S. assistance to Ukraine during the war (March 29, 2023).

Thomas Kent, the former president of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, has pointed outthat the first hours are critical in such an asymmetrical conflict: Spreaders of disinformation push out lies without worrying about their integrity, while governments and the news media try to verify everything, and take more time to do so. Mr. Kent suggests speeding the release of information that is highly likely to be true, rather than waiting. For example, it took 13 days for the British government to reach a formal conclusion that Russia was behind the poisoning of Mr. Skripal, but within 48 hours of the attack, then-Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson told Parliament that it appeared to be Russia, which helped tip the balance in the press and public opinion.