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The Cognitive Crucible is a forum that presents different perspectives and emerging thought leadership related to the information environment. The opinions expressed by guests are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of or endorsement by the Information Professionals Association. During this episode, Amb. Roger Carstens discusses the United States hostage recovery enterprise and how his office helps bring U.S. citizens home. After explaining the legislative landscape, Roger explains the differences between kidnapping, wrongful detention, and hostage scenario, as well as engagement with state compared to non-state actors. Roger also discusses today's media landscape, weaponization of the international rules-based system, geopolitical dynamics, maneuver warfare, and a tech research agenda. Resources: Amb. Roger Carstens, Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs (SPEHA) Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell National Security Council FACT SHEET: U.S. Government Hostage Policy Presidential Policy Directive 30 (PPD 30) Executive Order -- Hostage Recovery Activities Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act We Want to Negotiate: The Secret World of Kidnapping, Hostages and Ransom by Joel Simon Prisoner: My 544 Days in an Iranian Prison - Solitary Confinement, a Sham Trial, High-Stakes Diplomacy, and the Extraordinary Efforts It Took to Get Me Out by Jason Rezaian The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Link to full show notes and resources https://information-professionals.org/episode/cognitive-crucible-episode-99 Guest Bio: Roger D. Carstens is the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs (SPEHA) at the U.S. Department of State. Mr. Carstens was the former Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor at the U.S. Department of State, where he oversaw the Bureau's work in Near Eastern Affairs, Western Hemisphere Affairs, and the Office of Security and Human Rights. Previously, he served in Amman, Jordan, as the Country Director for a U.S.-based INGO that provided humanitarian assistance and stability support to Syrian refugees and internally displaced persons. Prior positions include Senior Civilian Advisor on the Commander's Advisory and Assistance Team (CAAT) in Afghanistan; Project Director for an INGO based in Somalia; Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security; and Special Assistant for Legislative Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Mr. Carstens is a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel who served in Special Forces and the 1st Ranger Battalion. He is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy and holds master's degrees from the U.S. Naval War College and St. John's College. About: The Information Professionals Association (IPA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to exploring the role of information activities, such as influence and cognitive security, within the national security sector and helping to bridge the divide between operations and research. Its goal is to increase interdisciplinary collaboration between scholars and practitioners and policymakers with an interest in this domain. For more information, please contact us at communications@information-professionals.org. Or, connect directly with The Cognitive Crucible podcast host, John Bicknell, on LinkedIn. Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, 1) IPA earns from qualifying purchases, 2) IPA gets commissions for purchases made through links in this post.
As COVID-19 began to spread around the world in 2020, so did a steady stream of information — and disinformation. Running parallel to the pandemic was an “infodemic,” a digital and physical deluge of information that resulted in mass confusion and censorship. In their new book, The Infodemic, authors Joel Simon and Robert Mahoney lay bare the mechanisms of a modern brand of “censorship through noise” that moves beyond traditional means of state control (jailing critics and restricting the flow of information, for example) to open the floodgates of misinformation. The result? A public overwhelmed with lies and half-truths. Simon and Mahoney have traveled the world for many years defending press freedom and journalists' rights as the directors of the Committee to Protect Journalists. They've charted COVID censorship beginning in China, through Iran, Russia, India, Egypt, Brazil, and inside the Trump White House. They argue that increased surveillance in the name of public health, the collapse of public trust in institutions, and the demise of local news reporting all contributed to help governments hijack the flow of information and usurp power. Through vivid characters and behind-the-scenes accounts, Simon and Mahoney argue that under the cover of a global pandemic, governments have undermined freedom and taken control — and that this new political order may be the legacy of the disease. Truth may seem like a simple concept, but Simon and Mahoney highlight how complex it really is. What do you consider a fact? How do you know what a fact is? In this installment of Town Hall's In the Moment podcast, radio host Katy Sewall interviews Simon and Mahoney about these questions in the context of today's pandemic and political powers. Joel Simon is a fellow at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia Journalism School and formerly the Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists. Before joining CPJ, he worked as a journalist in Latin America and California. He is the author of three books, including We Want to Negotiate: The Secret World of Hostages, Kidnapping, and Ransom, also from Columbia Global Reports. He lives in Brooklyn, New York. Robert Mahoney is Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists. He was a Reuters correspondent with postings in Southeast Asia, West Africa, India, Israel, France and Germany. This is Robert's first book. He lives in New York City. Katy Sewall is a back-up announcer/host for KUOW and a feature reporter. She's a PRINDI award-winning producer who trained with Radiolab and toured with A Prairie Home Companion. Her work has appeared on The Takeaway, Here & Now, the BBC, and more. Katy spent nine years as the Senior Producer of Weekday with Steve Scher and is currently the host and creator of the international podcast The Bittersweet Life. Buy the Book—The Infodemic: How Censorship and Lies Made the World Sicker and Less Free Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation click here.
As COVID-19 began to spread around the world in 2020, so did a steady stream of information — and disinformation. Running parallel to the pandemic was an “infodemic,” a digital and physical deluge of information that resulted in mass confusion and censorship. In their new book, The Infodemic, authors Joel Simon and Robert Mahoney lay bare the mechanisms of a modern brand of “censorship through noise” that moves beyond traditional means of state control (jailing critics and restricting the flow of information, for example) to open the floodgates of misinformation. The result? A public overwhelmed with lies and half-truths. Simon and Mahoney have traveled the world for many years defending press freedom and journalists' rights as the directors of the Committee to Protect Journalists. They've charted COVID censorship beginning in China, through Iran, Russia, India, Egypt, Brazil, and inside the Trump White House. They argue that increased surveillance in the name of public health, the collapse of public trust in institutions, and the demise of local news reporting all contributed to help governments hijack the flow of information and usurp power. Through vivid characters and behind-the-scenes accounts, Simon and Mahoney argue that under the cover of a global pandemic, governments have undermined freedom and taken control — and that this new political order may be the legacy of the disease. Truth may seem like a simple concept, but Simon and Mahoney highlight how complex it really is. What do you consider a fact? How do you know what a fact is? In this installment of Town Hall's In the Moment podcast, radio host Katy Sewall interviews Simon and Mahoney about these questions in the context of today's pandemic and political powers. Joel Simon is a fellow at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia Journalism School and formerly the Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists. Before joining CPJ, he worked as a journalist in Latin America and California. He is the author of three books, including We Want to Negotiate: The Secret World of Hostages, Kidnapping, and Ransom, also from Columbia Global Reports. He lives in Brooklyn, New York. Robert Mahoney is Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists. He was a Reuters correspondent with postings in Southeast Asia, West Africa, India, Israel, France and Germany. This is Robert's first book. He lives in New York City. Katy Sewall is a back-up announcer/host for KUOW and a feature reporter. She's a PRINDI award-winning producer who trained with Radiolab and toured with A Prairie Home Companion. Her work has appeared on The Takeaway, Here & Now, the BBC, and more. Katy spent nine years as the Senior Producer of Weekday with Steve Scher and is currently the host and creator of the international podcast The Bittersweet Life. Buy the Book—The Infodemic: How Censorship and Lies Made the World Sicker and Less Free Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation click here.
Hosted by Andrew Keen, Keen On features conversations with some of the world's leading thinkers and writers about the economic, political, and technological issues being discussed in the news, right now. In this episode, Andrew is joined by Joel Simon, author of The Infodemic: How Censorship and Lies Made the World Sicker and Less Free. Joel Simon is a fellow at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia Journalism School and formerly the Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists. Before joining CPJ, he worked as a journalist in Latin America and California. He is the author of three books, including We Want to Negotiate: The Secret World of Hostages, Kidnapping, and Ransom, also from Columbia Global Reports. He lives in Brooklyn, New York. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Resources: Does the U.S. No-Concessions Policy Deter Kidnappings of Americans? (https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PE277.html) University of Maryland START Global Terrorism Database (https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/) Held Hostage: Analyses of Kidnapping Across Time and Among Jihadist Organizations (https://ctc.usma.edu/held-hostage-analyses-of-kidnapping-across-time-and-among-jihadist-organizations/) To Pay Ransom or Not to Pay Ransom? (https://www.newamerica.org/international-security/policy-papers/pay-ransom-or-not/) Why concessions should not be made to terrorist kidnappers (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0176268016300143) We Want to Negotiate: The Secret World of Kidnapping, Hostages and Ransom (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38392505-we-want-to-negotiate) Presidential Policy Directive -- Hostage Recovery Activities (https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2015/06/24/presidential-policy-directive-hostage-recovery-activities) Bringing Americans Home: The First Non-Governmental Assessment of U.S. Hostage Policy and Family Engagement (https://www.newamerica.org/international-security/reports/bringing-americans-home/)
While some nations are willing to pay ransom to terrorists in order to free hostages, the US and Britain do not negotiate. As a result, a high number of American and British hostages have been killed. Should the US and Britain rethink their strategies? Joel Simon, author of the new book “We Want to Negotiate: The Secret World of Kidnapping, Hostages and Ransom,“ talks with Markos Kounalakis, WorldAffairs co-host and visiting fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution, about the conflicts and consequences in negotiating with terrorists and paying ransom. We want to hear from you! Please take part in a quick survey to tell us how we can improve our podcast: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PWZ7KMW
In a world that is increasingly more authoritarian, in a political atmosphere that is more and more polarized and tribal everywhere, the threat of global hostage-taking has increased exponentially. As the murder of Jamal Khashoggi illustrates, this threat has particularly increased for journalists, many of whom are on the front lines of reporting on repression and brutality. A record 262 journalists were jailed around the world at the end of 2018. All of this raises the far larger question, one that journalists have to think about every day, of how should we deal, as a matter of public policy, with journalists or anyone other citizen that is taken, hostage. The American policy has been that "we do not negotiate with hostage takers." This policy is not universal. Many nations, including France, Spain, and others have taken a different view. The answer is not clear cut or obvious. What is clear is that sometimes playing mister tough guy is just plains stupid. Joel Simon, a long time journalists in California and Latin America, is the Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Journalist. His new work is We Want to Negotiate: The Secret World of Kidnapping, Hostages and Ransom. My conversation with Joel Simon:
ON THIS WEEK'S EPISODE, CJR Editor and Publisher Kyle Pope speaks with Joel Simon, executive director of Committee to Protect Journalists about his latest book We Want to Negotiate: The Secret World of Kidnapping, Hostages and Ransom. They were joined by Janine di Giovanni, a human rights reporter in conflict zones and a senior fellow at Yale University, as they discussed hostage policy and the ethical and legal concerns behind it.
As the Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, Joel Simon spends his time taking action on behalf of journalists who are targeted, attacked, imprisoned, or killed. He is an expert on how countries around the world handle the kidnapping of their nationals, including how they analyze and respond to intelligence and provide support for the hostage families. At a time when journalists are in greater danger than ever before, Simon’s newest book draws on his extensive experience interviewing former hostages, their families, employers, and policy makers to lay out a new approach to hostage negotiation. He is joined onstage by Sewell Chan, deputy managing editor at the Los Angeles Times, as well as Federico Motka, an Italian aid worker who spent a year as a hostage of Isis in Syria.
Two new books explore what it's like for journalists behind bars -- one from the perspective of the prisoner and one from the perspective of the advocate trying to get him out. Jason Rezaian, author of "Prisoner," reflects on his time in Iranian captivity. And Joel Simon, author of "We Want to Negotiate: The Secret World of Kidnapping, Hostages and Ransom," examines the dynamics of kidnappings by "non-state actors." They compare and contrast their work, and takeaways from each book, with Brian Stelter.
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