Bucharest, April 8 /Agerpres/ – Disinformation, propaganda, hostile influence campaigns, cyberattacks, cyber intelligence, data harvesting are all tactics used in the war for geopolitical influence, Dean of the Bucharest National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (SNSPA) Alina Bargaoanu said in remarks at the Digital Innovation Summit Bucharest (DISB) 2025 on Tuesday.

‘I think if we define what is happening as less than a war and rather as a war for influence, we miss out on the big picture. I think there are five wars going on at the same time as we speak. One is the trade war, another is the capital war, another is the technology war. In some parts of the world, we have an old-fashioned war. And the fifth type is the war for geopolitical influence. I think it is important, at least in my understanding, to center the conversation around the idea that disinformation, propaganda, hostile influence campaigns, cyberattacks, cyber intelligence, data harvesting are all tactics used in this war for geopolitical influence,’ explained Bargaoanu.

In he opinion, wars are fought through strategy and coordination, through resource pooling, through anticipatory thinking and disarming the enemy.

‘Finding an answer to this type of war is not about solutionism, but I feel that what is needed are systemic top-down interventions, bringing together different institutions, different disciplines, different people. We also need to do it at international level, because at least in the Western world, resilience has become a beauty contest,’ she said, noting that it doesn’t matter that much if a certain country is very resilient and another is not resilient at all, because the strength of an alliance is defined by its weakest member. ‘So, again, it is all about coming up with good interventions, not solutions, thinking about interventions and implementing them,’ the SNSPA official emphasized.

In her turn, Claudia Nicolae, managing director of the National News Agency AGERPRES highlighted the idea that it is important that information and propaganda be treated in a layered manner, because it is impossible for a journalist to have all-encompassing information.

Continuarea, aici.