Dark power

Mark Galeotti suggests that dark power is the ‘[…] the shadowy counterpart to 'soft power'. If soft power is the ability of a state to gets its way by attraction and positive example, then dark power is the capacity to bully. It is as if Putin has come to terms with the fact that Russia is unlikely to make any real friends – even allies such as Iran, Belarus and Syria are essentially pragmatic partners up to a point – without totally revising its approach and foreign policy goals, then instead it should make a virtue of necessity. If you are going to be a bully, then be a fearsome and formidable one. That way, rivals are deterred from challenging you, and are inclined to pacify you with deals and exemptions. In the long term, dark power is dangerous and self-destructive, but in the short term, it seems to work. Invading Ukraine (and before that, Georgia) and meddling in Western politics. Trying to dictate who can and cannot join foreign security alliances. Ramping up its intelligence operations and even murdering its enemies abroad. On the surface, Russia seems to a large extent to be getting away with behaviours antithetical to the world order, thanks to its dark power’ (Galeotti 2018).

For David Banks dark power can be seen as a ‘[…] means to disrupt and destabilize the international environment and undermine democratic states. It has three core characteristics: [f]irst, dark power truly is "dark" in that its effects on the international order are essentially destructive and nihilistic. […] Instead of advocating for an alternative logic of global order, dark power sows division and mistrust among and within the states it targets. Thus, dark power works to subvert existing ideologies and norms without promoting alternatives in their stead [….] Dark power promotes a more lawless, paranoid, and uncooperative international system in which values, institutions, and trust become eroded, to be replaced by a world of threats, coercion, and fear. [The] second characteristic is its anonymous use of the Internet and social media to shield its wielder from identification and potential retaliation. Much as al-Qaida weaponized modern civilian aircraft technology and turned it against the West, dark power exploits key features of the modern media and cyber realms, allowing its users semi-plausible deniability and the benefits that stem from uncertainty and lack of unquestioned proof. [Third] the disruptive activities of dark power disproportionately affect liberal democracies that rely on an informed citizenry and high levels of public trust to function. As such, the threat of dark power undermining the democratic norms, institutions, and social trust of a free society is one that cannot readily be "reflected back" against the actors most likely to use it. Authoritarian leaders, comparatively insulated from public pressure, are better equipped to neutralize the effects of dark power in their own states. Meanwhile, they can use the tools of dark power against democratic states with fractured media environments to make it increasingly difficult for citizens in democracies to distinguish between truth and lies, between fact and propaganda’ (Banks 2018).