Dragon's Roar and Bear's Howl: Convergence in Sino-Russian Information Operations in NATO Countries?

Russian – and increasingly also Chinese – information operations have in recent years been at the forefront of the threats assessment in NATO countries. The concerns about China’s power and its challenge to the existing Western-led international order, together with its attempts to increase its information influence, make the Chinese efforts in the informational domain a strategic and security issue, leading to its explicit inclusion in the new NATO Strategic Concept at the Madrid 2022 summit. Russia’s 2022 full-fledged invasion of Ukraine dramatically raised the stakes in countering the longstanding Russian influence operations in the NATO countries. While there has been growing similarities in China’s and Russia’s information activities, there also continue to be important differences. This report examines both countries' information activities, discusses areas of convergence and differences, and implications.