Collaborating Pariahs: Does the Ukraine War Cement an Adversarial Cyber-Information Bloc?

Abstract

Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine has dramatically altered global politics, not least that several so-called pariah states appear to be cooperating at a deeper level than at any time since the end of the Cold War. Occupying a critical position between the pariahs and the rest of the community of nations is China, an adversary to the United States, but not a pariah to the degree of Russia or its allies North Korea and Iran. Each of these countries has advanced both cyber and information operations. Considered here is a frame- work for understanding linkages between China and the pariahs; a chronicle of cyberattacks by each of the countries mentioned as well as consideration of possible collaboration; and observations on their propagandistic information operations since the beginning of the Russo-Ukraine War.