Michel Chossudovsky is a Canadian economist, author and conspiracy theorist. He is professor emeritus of economics at the University of Ottawa and the president and director of the Centre for Research on Globalization, which runs the website globalresearch.ca and publishes conspiracy theories. Chossudovsky has promoted 9/11 conspiracy theories. In 2017, the Centre for Research on Globalization was accused by information warfare specialists at NATO’s Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence of playing a key role in the spread of pro-Russian propaganda. The CRG was also accused of spreading Chinese propaganda.
Biography
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. 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." At that time, some colleagues were becoming uncomfortable with Chossudovsky's ideas, with one professor describing them as having "a conspiratorial element." 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". The book was found on a bookshelf in Osama bin Laden's Abbottabad, Pakistan compound. 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." Chossudovsky has contributed to the French magazine Le Monde diplomatique. He is frequently quoted by or appears on the Kremlin-backed RT or in material issued by the Sputnik news agency. The Centre for Research on Globalization regularly reposts content from both outlets. Chossudovsky was interviewed in the documentary film The Weight of Chains, which was partly sponsored by the Centre for Research on Globalization.
Centre for Research on Globalization
In 2001, Chossudovsky founded the Centre for Research on Globalization, becoming its editor and director. Located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, it describes itself as an "independent research and media organization" that provides "analysis on issues which are barely covered by the mainstream media". The Centre for Research on Globalization promotes conspiracy theories and falsehoods. It has reported that the September 11 attacks were a false flag attack planned by the CIA, that the United States and its allies fund al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, and that sarin gas 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. 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. 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. The Centre has also promoted the Irish slavery myth, prompting a letter by more than 80 scholars debunking the myth. According to PolitiFact, the Centre "has advanced specious conspiracy theories on topics like 9/11, vaccines and global warming." 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.'" A 2010 study categorized the website as a source of anti-vaccine misinformation. The Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab described it as "pro-Putin and anti-NATO". The Jewish Tribune described the Centre as being "rife with anti-Jewish conspiracy theory and Holocaust denial." Writing for The New Republic, Muhammad Idrees Ahmad, lecturer in digital journalism at the University of Stirling, describes the Centre's website as a "conspiracy site". 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 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." 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.
