Vytautas Matulevičius: Russia’s Goal Is to Make Us Afraid | Blind Spot #29
PODCAST
3/13/20261 min read
The latest episode of Blind Spot features a conversation with my colleague Vytautas Matulevičius, head of the communications agency Bosanova, about his first book, The Front of Fear (Baimės frontas). An excellent book that I highly recommend. I hope it will eventually be published in other languages, as its subject is relevant far beyond Lithuania.
Vytautas and I also took a broader look at Russia's objectives and the goals of information warfare. According to Vytautas, the purpose of Russia's information warfare is not simply to spread disinformation or propaganda. The real objective is to create an atmosphere of fear.
Russia wants to appear stronger than it actually is. This is a classic strategic principle, familiar from ancient theories of warfare: when you are weak, project strength.
Vytautas emphasises the importance of striking a balance between two extremes: neither overestimating nor underestimating the threat.
For Lithuania, Russia poses an existential threat. But from a global perspective, the picture looks quite different.
A united NATO and European Union are far stronger than Russia economically, politically and militarily. Yet information warfare works precisely because it seeks to distort our perception of reality.
When societies begin to doubt their own security, political pressure to make compromises emerges almost naturally.
Towards the end of our conversation, Vytautas recalls something he once heard from former Finnish Chief of Defence Timo Kivinen:
“The most important line of defence is in our minds.”
