Kevin Limonier: Exploring the world of Geopolitics and OSINT

Kevin Limonier is an expert in geopolitics. He holds the position of an associate professor in Geography and Slavic Studies at the French Institute of Geopolitics (Paris 8 University), serves as the deputy director of GEODE, and is a founding partner of Cassini, a company specializing in cartography and territorial intelligence. Previously, he worked as a lecturer at the Russian State University of Humanities (RGGU, Moscow) for several years. As a specialist in the Russian-speaking internet and territorial innovation policies in the USSR and contemporary Russia, Kevin's geopolitical research focuses on developing new methods of mapping cyberspace, particularly in the post-Soviet context. His research Beyond “hybrid warfare”: a digital exploration of Russia’s entrepreneurs of influence is available online and accessible to the public. He is also interested in the methodology and epistemology of geopolitics. In this episode, we delve into a variety of topics ranging from the meaning of OSINT within the field of geopolitics, the current limitations of OSINT, and some emerging challenges as the world and the internet rapidly evolve. We also discuss how authoritarian states, such as Russia, control their internet and its evolution over the years. 01:06 How do you envision OSINT in the context of geopolitics? 03:30 Tell us about your work and how you use OSINT! 07:11 How would the states employ and insert OSINT in a global geopolitical context 16:07 What are some of the limits of OSINT? 22:56 How does Russia control its internet and how has this control evolved over the years? 32:38 What's the difference between Russian Internet and Russian-speaking Internet? 38:09 What will happen to the countries using Russian internet services once Russia separates its internet from the world? 43:09 What is an entrepreneur of influence? 46:58 How does the system of entrepreneur of influence work? 55:51 What methodology did you use to track them down in Africa? ■ About The Pivot Brought to you by Maltego, The Pivot deep dives into topics pivoting from information security to the criminal underground. Each episode features interviews with experts from the industry and research fields and explores how they connect the dots. ■ About Maltego Used by investigators worldwide, Maltego is a graphical link analysis tool that allows users to mine, merge, and map data from OSINT and third-party data integrations for all sorts of investigations—cybersecurity, person of interest, fraud, and more. The podcast streams free on Spotify. You can also watch it all go down on ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠. Don't forget to subscribe to our ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ to stay on top of our latest updates, tutorials, webinars, and deep dives. For more information about Maltego, ⁠⁠visit our website⁠⁠.