‘Countering Russian disinformation’, the first event of the cycle of debates within the Defensa y Yo 2.0. contest, took place on Tuesday, February 22, 2022, at 16.00h, through Zoom Pro. It counted on the participation of experts:

Todd C. Helmus, senior researcher at RAND Corporation and advisor to the U.S. government on the Iraq and Afghanistan missions.

Jose Julio Fernández Rodríguez, Director of the Center for Security Studies (CESEG) and PhD professor at the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC).

Manuel Torres Soriano, Member of the Scientific Council at the Real Instituto Elcano and Professor at the Universidad Pablo de Olavide de Sevilla (UPO).

The debate was conducted in English and Spanish, and was moderated by Cristina Manzano, director of esglobal. Simultaneous translation was also provided.

After the meeting, the participating students will be able to develop and present their projects individually following the instructions and according to the contest rules, and will opt to win a trip to Brussels. To be eligible for the prize, students must have participated in at least two of the debates of the cycle.