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Michel Chossudovsky

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Michel Chossudovsky (born 1946) is a Canadian economist and author. He is professor emeritus of economics at the University of Ottawa[1][2] and the president and director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), which runs the website globalresearch.ca, founded in 2001, which publishes falsehoods and conspiracy theories.[3][4][5] Chossudovsky has promoted conspiracy theories about 9/11.[6][7][10][11]

Michel Chossudovsky
Chossudovsky speaks in Montreal in 2017
Born1946 (age 77–78)
NationalityCanadian
Academic career
FieldEconomic development
Globalization
International financial institutions
World economy
InstitutionProfessor Emeritus, University of Ottawa
Centre for Research on Globalization

In 2017, the Centre for Research on Globalization was accused by information warfare specialists at NATO’s Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence (STRATCOM) of playing a key role in the spread of pro-Russian propaganda.[12] A report by the U.S. State Department in August 2020 accused the website of being a proxy for a Russian disinformation campaign.[13]

Biography

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Chossudovsky is the son of a Russian Jewish émigré, the career United Nations diplomat and academic Evgeny Chossudovsky, and an Irish Protestant, Rachel Sullivan. Raised in Switzerland, Chossudovsky moved to Canada and joined the University of Ottawa in 1968.[10] According to the Ottawa Citizen, Chossudovsky's academic research kept him "on the margins of mainstream academia," but won praise from anti-establishment intellectuals such as Noam Chomsky. In 2005, shortly after Chossudovsky began writing about terrorism, the Citizen reported that Chossudovsky's was "a popular figure among anti-globalization activists," and that some of his students referred to him as "Canada's Chomsky."[10] At that time, some colleagues were becoming uncomfortable with Chossudovsky's ideas, with one professor describing them as having "a conspiratorial element."[10]

In 2005, Chossudovsky published the book America's "War on Terrorism". According to The New York Times, the "conspiracy-minded book... argued that the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks were simply a pretext for American incursions into the Middle East, and that Bin Laden was nothing but a boogeyman created by the United States".[6] The book was found on a bookshelf in Osama bin Laden's Abbottabad, Pakistan compound.[6][14][7] According to the Vox website, the book's theory is that "9/11 was a United States government conspiracy to start the Iraq War and enable a 'new world order' to help corporate interests. Bin Laden was, at best, a pawn in CIA interests."[7]

Chossudovsky has contributed to the French magazine Le Monde diplomatique.[15] He is frequently quoted by or appears on the Kremlin-backed RT (formerly known as Russia Today) or in material issued by the Sputnik news agency.[12] The Centre for Research on Globalization regularly reposts content from both outlets.

Centre for Research on Globalization

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"Globalresearch.ca" redirects here. Not to be confused with Global News or GlobalSecurity.org.

In 2001, Chossudovsky founded the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), becoming its director and the editor of its online resource, Global Research. Located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the CRG describes itself as an "independent research and media organization" providing "analysis on issues which are barely covered by the mainstream media".

The Centre for Research on Globalization promotes conspiracy theories and falsehoods.[22] According to Peter Knight, it "published influential early articles alleging that the U.S. intelligence agencies had far more forewarning than they claimed" of the September 11 attacks.[23] that the United States and its allies fund al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, and that sarin was not used in the Khan Shaykhun chemical attack, which globalresearch.ca articles characterized as a false flag operation orchestrated by terrorists opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.[12][16] Other articles published on the site have asserted that the 7 July 2005 London bombings were perpetrated by the United States, Israel, and United Kingdom.[10] Chossudovsky has himself posted articles on the site which suggested that Osama bin Laden was a CIA asset, and accusing the United States, Israel and Britain of plotting to conquer the world.[10] The centre has also promoted the Irish slavery myth, prompting a letter by more than 80 scholars debunking the myth.[21]

According to PolitiFact, the Centre "has advanced specious conspiracy theories on topics like 9/11, vaccines and global warming."[17] Foreign Policy magazine has commented that the Centre "sells books and videos that 'expose' how the September 11 terrorist attacks were 'most likely a special covert action' to 'further the goals of corporate globalization.'"[18] A 2010 study categorized the website as a source of anti-vaccine misinformation.[19] The Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab described it as "pro-Putin and anti-NATO".[24] The Jewish Tribune, citing a complaint from B'nai Brith Canada, describing the website as being "rife with anti-Jewish conspiracy theory and Holocaust denial."[25] Writing for The New Republic in 2013, Muhammad Idrees Ahmad, lecturer in digital journalism at the University of Stirling, describes the centre's website as a "conspiracy site".[20]

In November 2017, The Globe and Mail reported that the centre's website was "in the sights" of NATO information warfare specialists investigating "the online spread of pro-Russia propaganda and of disinformation." According to the Globe, NATO's Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence (StratCom) believed that the site was playing a "key accelerant role in helping popularize articles with little basis in fact that also happen to fit the narratives being pushed by the Kremlin" and the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad. The report described the site as an "online refuge for conspiracy theorists" and suggested that NATO specialists viewed it as "a link in a concerted effort to undermine the credibility of mainstream Western media—as well as the North American and European public's trust in government and public institutions."[12] Asked to comment on the report, Chossudovsky responded through his lawyer, saying that the Centre did not have ties to pro-Russia or pro-Assad networks, was not "affiliated with governmental organizations" and did not benefit from their support.[12]

An August 2020 report by the U.S. State Department Global Engagement Center stated that Global Research is, by a significant margin, the most accessed proxy website allied with the pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign. By the estimation of report's authors, it has accumulated 12.4 million page views, with around 351,247 readers for each article. Chossudovsky is a board member of other pro-Russian websites which attempt to spread conspiracy theories.[13] Responding via his lawyer, this time to CBC News, Chossudovsky again denied the 2020 accusations made against him.[5]

The CRG has been accused of spreading CCP propaganda.[26][27] An article on Global Research making the false assertion that the coronavirus pandemic was not real was carried by 70 other outlets, according to the August 2020 State department report.[13] Chossudovsky himself has described it as being a "manufactured pandemic".[5] Earlier in 2020, his list of 10 questions was tweeted by the foreign minister of Iran. They included the claim that the United States government was responsible for the international coronavirus pandemic.[28] Global Research published an article entitled "COVID-19: Further Evidence that the Virus Originated in the US" was posted on social media by a senior official in the Chinese foreign ministry.[27][29][30] Chinese state media have reported such unfounded speculation which has been carried by Chossudovsky's website with, according to The Globe and Mail, misattributed sources.[30] Reportedly, the two articles on this theme have since been removed from the globalresearch.ca website.[31]

Works

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  • War and Globalisation: The Truth Behind September 11, Global Research, 2003, ISBN 9780973110906
  • The Globalization of Poverty and The New World Order, Global Research, 2003, ISBN 9780973714708
  • America's "War on Terrorism", Global Research, 2005, OCLC 785862235
  • Towards a World War III Scenario: The Dangers of Nuclear War, Global Research, 2011, OCLC 940588105

Awards

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References

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  1. ^ "Michel Chossudovsky". Department of Economics. University of Ottawa. Archived from the original on 6 December 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  2. ^ Faculty of Social Sciences; Department of Economics, University of Ottawa
  3. ^ "How a pair of self-publicists wound up as apologists for Assad". The Economist. 15 April 2017. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 10 May 2019. This idea was then picked up by several websites, including the Centre for Research on Globalisation, a hub for conspiracy theories and fake stories.
  4. ^ a b Pogatchnik, Shawn (16 March 2017). "AP FACT CHECK: Irish "slavery" a St. Patrick's Day myth". Associated Press. Retrieved 10 May 2019. The story quotes at length from the original 2008 post on the Canadian-based Global Research site, which still displays its own article today with a disclaimer conceding it "includes a number of factual errors." It declines to specify the errors.
  5. ^ a b c Daigle, Thomas (21 October 2020). "Canadian professor's website helps Russia spread disinformation, says U.S. State Department". CBC News. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  6. ^ a b c Kakutani, Michiko (21 May 2015). "Osama Bin Laden's Bookshelf Reflects His Fixation on West". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 30 March 2017. Also in his library was a copy of Michel Chossudovsky's conspiracy-minded book "America's 'War on Terrorism,'" which argued that the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks were simply a pretext for American incursions into the Middle East, and that Bin Laden was nothing but a boogeyman created by the United States.
  7. ^ a b c Edwards, Phil (20 May 2015). "The 8 craziest conspiracy theories on Osama bin Laden's bookshelf". Vox. Retrieved 30 March 2017. The theory: Chossudovsky says 9/11 was a United States government conspiracy to start the Iraq War and enable a "new world order" to help corporate interests.
  8. ^ Tam, Pauline (20 August 2005). "U of O professor accused of hosting anti-Semitic website". Ottawa Citizen. p. A1. Retrieved 10 May 2019 – via Newspapers.com. The organization singles out a discussion forum, moderated by Mr. Chossudovsky, that features a subject heading called "Some Articles on the Truth of the Holocaust." The messages have titles such as "Jewish Lies of Omission (about the 'Holocaust')," "Jewish Hate Responsible For Largest Mass Killing at Dachau," and "Did Jews Frame the Arabs for 9/11?"
  9. ^ Tam, Pauline (20 August 2005). "U of O professor accused of hosting anti-Semitic website". Ottawa Citizen. p. A8. Retrieved 10 May 2019 – via Newspapers.com. A forthcoming book entitled America's "War on Terrorism" In the Wake of 9/11 is described on globalresearch.ca as an exposé that "blows away the smokescreen, put up by the mainstream media, that 9/11 was an 'intelligence failure.'
  10. ^ a b c d e f [8][9]
  11. ^ Sherwell, Philip (20 May 2015). "Osama bin Laden's bookshelf featured conspiracy theories about his terror plots". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 10 May 2019. In "America's 'War on Terrorism'" Michel Chossudovsky is described as "blowing away the smokescreen put up by the mainstream media that the attack was conducted by Islamic terrorists".
  12. ^ a b c d e Clark, Campbell; MacKinnon, Mark (17 November 2017). "The Credibility Machine; An obscure Canadian website that disseminates conspiracy theories and Kremlin-friendly points of view is an amplifier of global disinformation, according to NATO". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 17 November 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2019. Global Research has from the beginning espoused conspiracy theories, including that the United States and its allies continue to support and fund Islamist extremists, including al-Qaeda and IS, and has taken the view that the U.S.-led NATO alliance is fomenting war around the world
  13. ^ a b c Barnes, Jullian E. (20 August 2020). "State Dept. Traces Russian Disinformation Links". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  14. ^ Sherwell, Philip (20 May 2015). "Osama bin Laden's bookshelf featured conspiracy theories about his terror plots". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  15. ^ "Michel Chossudovsky archives". Le Monde diplomatic. Archived from the original on 19 June 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  16. ^ a b "From Al-Masdar to InfoWars: How a pro-Assad conspiracy theory got picked up by the far-right – Business Insider". Business Insider. 9 April 2017. Archived from the original on 29 June 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
  17. ^ a b Tsang, Derek (19 August 2014). "Bloggers: Edward Snowden leaked NSA documents show U.S., Israel created Islamic State". Politifact. Retrieved 21 March 2017. The only lucid defense of the idea that Western intelligence agencies created the Islamic State intentionally comes from the Center for Research on Globalization (CRG), a Canadian website that bills itself as an alternative news source, but has advanced specious conspiracy theories on topics like 9/11, vaccines and global warming.
  18. ^ a b Strauss, Mark (2 November 2009). "Anti-globalism's Jewish Problem". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  19. ^ a b Kata, Anna (2010). "A postmodern Pandora's box: Anti-vaccination misinformation on the Internet" (PDF). Vaccine. 28 (7). Elsevier BV: 1709–1716. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2009.12.022. PMID 20045099. S2CID 7143888. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 August 2017. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  20. ^ a b Idrees Ahmad, Muhammad (12 September 2013). "The New Truthers: Americans Who Deny Syria Used Chemical Weapons". The New Republic. New Republic. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  21. ^ a b Varner, Natasha (17 March 2017). "The curious origins of the 'Irish slaves' myth". Public Radio International. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  22. ^ [4][16][17][18][19][20][21]
  23. ^ Knight, Peter (2008). "Outrageous Conspiracy Theories: Popular and Official Responses to 9/11 in Germany and the United States". New German Critique. 35 (103). Duke University Press: 165–193. doi:10.1215/0094033X-2007-024. ISSN 0094-033X. JSTOR 27669225. Michel Chossudovsky (a Canadian who runs the Center for Research on Globalization) likewise published influential early articles alleging that the U.S. intelligence agencies had far more forewarning than they claimed.
  24. ^ Nimmo, Ben. "Three thousand fake tanks". medium.com. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  25. ^ "Conspiracy web site headed by Ottawa professor sets dangerous example for students". Jewish Tribune. 25 August 2005. Archived from the original on 4 November 2005.
  26. ^ Walden, Max. "Coronavirus began in US, not China, Chinese official suggests" ABC News. 13 March 2020.
  27. ^ a b Broderick, Ryan (13 March 2020). "Chinese Diplomats Are Pushing Conspiracy Theories That The Coronavirus Didn't Originate In China". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  28. ^ "Coronavirus: Jordanians face a year in prison for stepping outdoors". The Times. London. 25 March 2020. Retrieved 15 September 2020. (subscription required)
  29. ^ Kamm, Oliver (23 April 2020). "The West is fighting two threats: the virus and a fierce propaganda war". CapX. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  30. ^ a b VanderKlippe, Nathan (14 March 2020). "Chinese official promoting unfounded Canadian theory that coronavirus has roots in U.S. military". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  31. ^ "GEC Special Report: Pillars of Russia's Disinformation and Propaganda Ecosystem" (PDF). U.S. Department of State. 4 August 2020. p. 29. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  32. ^ "Government House: Awards To Canadians". Canada Gazette. Vol. 148. 31 May 2014. Archived from the original on 5 August 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2015.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
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