Alistair Kidd

Alistair joined Loughborough University as a doctoral researcher in 2023 on a funded ESRC 3.5 programme. In 2021, he was awarded an MSc Political Communication with Distinction from the University of Glasgow after graduating in 2020 with a First-Class BA Honours in Politics, International Relations and Law from the University of Strathclyde. Alistair’s research interests are in foreign influence operations and state-backed disinformation campaigns. His doctoral research analyses the Ukrainian government’s use of counter-narratives and rhetorical persuasion to contest Russia’s global information operation surrounding the Russian-Ukraine war. Alistair has previously worked in the counter-disinformation sector within the Baltic region where he conducted research and coordinated communications campaigns on behalf of academic partners and government clients.

PGR Supervisors: Dr Vaclav Stetka; Professor John Downey

Alistair’s research focuses on foreign influence operations and counter-disinformation strategies, with particular attention to how states communicate during conflict. His doctoral research explores Ukraine’s international counter-disinformation response to Russia’s global information operation during the Russia-Ukraine war, analysing how the Ukrainian government uses counter-narratives and rhetorical persuasion to shape international perceptions of the conflict. The project explores Ukraine’s communications across both the message and narrative levels, investigating official government social media during the first two years of the war. Adopting a mixed-methods approach, Alistair combines thematic and content analysis to identify key strategic narratives, before evaluating their reception through an analysis of UK and US news coverage. By situating Ukraine’s communicative efforts within the wider context of crisis and strategic communication, the research contributes to a deeper understanding of how democratic states contest foreign disinformation in international media spaces.