Episode 27
The New Rules of War: Cyber & Disinformation
October 24th, 2025
1 hr 2 mins 35 secs
Season 2
About this Episode
This week on the Scinary Information Nexus, we are honored to welcome a very special guest: Lieutenant Colonel Steven Beseda, United States Army (Retired). With a deep background in both armored forces and Information Operations, Colonel Beseda joins Richard, Brazos, and John to pull back the curtain on the modern battlefield.
Forget everything you think you know about traditional warfare. We break down the crucial difference between misinformation and disinformation, exploring how state actors like Russia use it to shape narratives at home and abroad. Using fascinating historical examples-from General Schwarzkopf's classic deception operation in Desert Storm to the unprecedented OSINT (Open-Source Intelligence) coming out of the Ukraine war-we reveal how information has become a primary weapon.
The conversation then focuses on one of the world's most critical flashpoints: Taiwan. How is China using information warfare to prep the battlespace and undermine Taiwanese and U.S. resolve? And how does the global reliance on Taiwan's semiconductor industry play into this new era of conflict?
In this episode, we discuss:
- Misinformation vs. Disinformation: A military definition you need to know.
- Deception Operations: How the U.S. military fooled Saddam Hussein.
- The Russia-Ukraine War as a live-fire information warfare laboratory.
- The strategic use of OSINT and platforms like Telegram in modern conflicts.
- China's doctrine to win without fighting by targeting Taiwan's cognitive space.
- The shift from Nuclear MAD to a new "Cyber MAD" (Mutually Assured Destruction).
- The vulnerability of U.S. critical infrastructure to Chinese technology.
- Soft Power & Economic Warfare: China's "Belt and Road" initiative.
Is the next world war one that will be fought not with soldiers and tanks, but with keyboards and data streams? Let's get into it.
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