There is nothing new about using information to help win wars. Britain’s War Propaganda Bureau, better known as Wellington House, was set up with such an aim in 1914.
Leading authors of the day, including Rudyard Kipling and H. G. Wells, were invited to discuss ways to promote Britain’s interests, and pamphlets were produced documenting genuine and alleged atrocities carried out by German forces.
President Putin is no stranger to the power of propaganda. A spy during the Cold War, he was specifically trained in the art of information-gathering and exploitation.
As president, he has the ability to influence all Russian speakers at home and abroad by using state-run television channels and newspapers to churn out his messages.
Britain and its Nato allies have been slow to respond. They talk about the need to establish Russian media channels in member states such as Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia to offer their Russian-speaking minorities a counter-narrative to the Kremlin-backed propaganda.
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David Cameron last month even said the British government should support the BBC to provide Russian-language news.
The army, meanwhile, is reviving the spirit of the Chindits — a Second World War special forces unit that penetrated enemy lines in Burma — to bring the art of unconventional warfare into the 21st century.
A new 77th Brigade will be created, comprising up to 2,000 soldiers skilled at using propaganda rather than bullets. They must understand political activism and how to use social media to spread ideas.