Concepts and Goals of the Prolonged Russian Information Warfare

Thesis Proposal Instructions:

This assignment requires you to write a proposal that states your research question and your research strategy for addressing it.
Thesis Proposal:
The thesis proposal shall be 5 pages in length not including title page or references.
Your title page should include the working title of your thesis, your name, and your working abstract.
The abstract includes the following components: purpose of the research, methodology, findings, and conclusion. The body of the abstract is limited to 150-200 words.
Your thesis proposal should have the following sections:
Introduction: The introduction is where you identify your specific research question and where you set the general context for the study. In this section you need to include:
a statement of the problem or general research question and context leading to a clear statement of the specific research question;
background and contextual material justifying why this case or topic should be studied; and
a purpose statement.
Literature Review: This short preliminary literature review section reviews the literature important to your specific research question. The literature review focuses on discussing how other researchers have addressed the same or similar research questions. It introduces the study and places it in larger context that includes a discussion of why it is important to study this case. It provides the current state of accumulated knowledge as it relates to your specific research question. In this section you should:
Summarize the general state of the literature (cumulative knowledge base) on the specific research question. For example if you discuss other studies that have been conducted you would summarize the researcher's findings, how those findings were obtained, and conduct an evaluation of biases in the findings.
This section should provide a broad overview of the primary arguments related to the topic and organizes the general views on the main aspects of the topic by theme, which could be the prevailing arguments or schools of thought, or commonly held beliefs that your particular topic may challenge.
Include a short conclusion and transition to the next section.
Theoretical Framework/Approach: The theoretical framework section develops the theories or models to be used in the study and shows how you have developed testable research hypotheses. This section should include:
an introduction discussing gaps in the literature, how this study will help fill some of those gaps, and justification for the theory or model to be used in study;
a summary of the theory or model to be used in the study, including a diagram of the model if appropriate; and a statement of hypotheses to be tested. For some additional information on how select a theoretical framework check out this video; for help organizing your theoretical framework into your paper, check out this USC Library guide on Theoretical Frameworks.
Research Design & Methods: Describes how you will test the hypothesis and carry out your analysis. This section describes the data to be used to test the hypothesis, how you will operationalize and collect data on your variables, and the analytic methods that to be used, noting potential biases and limitations to the research approach. It should include:
identification and operationalization (measurement) of variables;
a sampling plan (i.e., study population and sampling procedures, if appropriate);
justification of case studies used; data collection/sources (secondary literature, archives, interviews, surveys, etc.); a summary of analysis procedures (pattern-matching, etc.); and the limitations of study and bias discussion.
Conclusion: Should re-emphasize the importance of the study and bring the proposal full circle.
Reference List: References the works that you have cited (direct quotes or paraphrases) in the text. This list must be in the Turabian "Reference List" style rather than in the "Bibliography" style. Remember that the references you use demonstrate your knowledge of the topic area. This research proposal is meant to convince your professor that you not only have identified a worthy question in need of investigation, but that you are also capable of carrying out the research involved to successfully answer that question. At the very least you should have referenced 6-10 sources in this proposal.rmat:
Standard academic format will suffice: 1-inch borders on all four sides, double spaced, with times new roman 12-point font.

Thesis Proposal Sample Content Preview:

INFORMATION WARFARE: THESIS PROPOSAL
Name
Subject
Professor
Abstract
This paper aimed to identify the goals of the prolonged Russian information warfare Russian against the rest of the world, mainly the West (EU, USA, and NATO) and Ukraine. A descriptive research design is adopted, and the approach helps identify and collect information used to characterize and describe Russian information warfare phenomena systematically. Qualitative data is obtained from secondary sources, mainly on articles focusing on Russian information warfare, where cyberwarfare is incorporated in the past and present. The results show that the Russian Federation uses disinformation and manipulation to spread information that affects the public perception of target countries and weakens adversaries. Information superiority enables Russia to exploit information warfare in cyberspace, and information is a powerful tool against adversaries without military action. Russian state media, pro-Kremlin websites, and social media accounts are well-coordinated in spreading disinformation to advance strategic political, military, and economic goals.

Introduction
Background
The Russian–Ukrainian information war has escalated gradually, with government and non-governmental actors on both sides waging information warfare. Still, Russia has aggressively targeted Ukraine, intending to extend political, military, and economic influence in Ukraine. Before, during, and after the 2014 Russian invasion of Crimea in Ukraine, information warfare was used, including social and traditional media disinformation. The Russian state media has been used to sustain claims that Russian speakers are in danger in Eastern Ukraine, and social media has amplified such claims. Furthermore, Russian-based attackers have compromised the Ukrainian government’s information technology infrastructure. NATO’s presence in Europe is also framed as a security threat to Russia as NATO is likely to expand to Eastern Europe and former Soviet republics (Hutchinson and Warren 2012). However, using information warfare to spread information on Russia’s military actions legitimizes Russia’s actions, including their presence in Ukraine.
Russia has leveraged hybrid warfare to integrate conventional and unconventional warfare, and the latter includes information warfare and further supports military and intelligence operations (Čížik et al. 2017). Increasingly, countries are leveraging information control for political, security, economic and military goals. The purpose of this paper is to identify and evaluate the goals of Russian information warfare and clarify how disinformation and propaganda advance Russia’s strategic interests.Statement of the problem: Russian state and non-state actors have waged information warfare and disinformation campaigns mainly in the West and Eastern Europe and other adversaries. Cyberspace has allowed Russia to advance its political and military goals, including strategic political preferences in target countries.The research question is, “Many countries, intelligence agencies, and military organizations often engage in cyber warfare; what are the main reasons for the prolonged Russian informa...

Updated on January 26, 2024

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Concepts and Goals of the Prolonged Russian Information Warfare

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