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b"On the fifth episode of Russia Rising, we\\u2019ll explore the growing information war between Russia and the West. Whether it's a chemical weapons attack in Syria, the poisoning of a former Russian spy in England or the war in eastern Ukraine, the Kremlin often promotes a much different version of events from the one being presented by Western governments. And in an age of fake news, social media and countless alternative online news sources, it can be difficult to separate fact from fiction and know whom to trust.\\xa0 \\xa0 In this context, we\\u2019ll speak with Russian analyst Julian Lindley-French, who warns the Kremlin has deployed an effective propaganda strategy known as \\u2018Maskirovka.\\u2019 It began as a Russian military doctrine 600 years ago, but has recently evolved into a political weapon.\\n\\nWe\\u2019ll explore a number of recent examples of \\u2018Maskirovka\\u2019 by speaking with Rasmus Nilsson, an expert in Russian Politics and Foreign Policy at University College London.\\xa0 \\xa0 Edward Lucas, a Russia expert at the Center for European Policy Analysis, explains how each time the West accuses of Moscow of behaving badly, the Kremlin responds \\u2014 not only with denials \\u2014 but also by promoting numerous different theories and possible explanations. \\u201cThe main thing is to distract,\\u201d he says. \\u201cSpread as many different conspiracy theories and alternative explanations as possible, so people think: we don\\u2019t really know what\\u2019s going on and who\\u2019s to know what the facts are.\\u201d \\xa0 And spreading those alternative theories has never been easier, thanks to the internet and social media. We\\u2019ll speak via Skype with Lukas Andriukaitis, an analyst with the Atlantic Council\\u2019s Digital Forensic Research Lab, which tracks fake news online.\\n\\nAnd we\\u2019ll also take a tour behind the scenes of one of the world\\u2019s most controversial TV news networks: RT, formerly known as Russia Today, is a Kremlin-funded TV channel that\\u2019s broadcast\\xa0outside\\xa0of Russia to more than 100 countries, including Canada. The United States has accused RT of being a propaganda weapon for the Kremlin and its American subsidiary was forced to register as a \\u201cforeign agent.\\u201d We\\u2019ll put those allegations to the network\\u2019s deputy editor in Moscow, Anna Belkina.\\xa0\\n\\nContact:\\n\\nTwitter: @JeffSempleGN\\n\\nE-mail: RussiaRising@curiouscast.ca\\n\\nGuests:\\n\\nJulian Lindley-French, Canadian Global Affairs Institute@FrencLindley\\n\\nRasmus Nilsson, University College London@RNilsson79\\n\\nEdward Lucas, Center for European Policy Analysis@EdwardLucas\\n\\nLukas Andriukaitis, Digital Forensic Research Lab@LAndriukaitis\\n\\nAnna Belkina, Deputy Editor of RT@Anabelle10021\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices"