How to pronounce "influencing"

in resolving the crisis.

The media covers the phone call,

and then the ensuing diplomatic backlash

leaves Washington and Europe reeling.

And it creates a fissured response and a feckless attitude

towards Russia's land grab in Ukraine.

Mission accomplished.

So while hacked phone calls and emails and networks

keep grabbing the headlines,

the real operations are the ones

that are influencing the decisions you make

and the opinions you hold,

all in the service of a nation-state's strategic interest.

This is power in the information age.

And this information is all that much more seductive,

all that much easier to take at face value and pass on,

when it's authentic.

Who's not interested in the truth that's presented in phone calls and emails

that were never intended for public consumption?

But how meaningful is that truth

if you don't know why it's being revealed to you?