Conspiracy theory is a global phenomenon that state elites themselves deploy

Evidence

Conspiracy theories are, for example, wildly popular in the Middle East, many of them anti-Semitic or anti-Israel, holding either Jews or Israelis responsible for events at home (the most bizarre was in 2010, when an Egyptian government official claimed that a series of shark attacks at a Red Sea resort were directed by Israel, that the sharks themselves were “sent by Mossad”) or events abroad (9/11, the assassination of U.S. presidents). … Sometimes they originate from the state itself, as in Russia, where disinformation and elaborate conspiratorial explanations emanate constantly from both the government and respected public intellectuals. Russian conspiracies are as numerous as dandelions on a spring day, and a lot of them center on the United States; the so-called Dulles Plan holds that the CIA plotted to bring down the Soviet Union by promoting vice and sin through art and literature, among other things. … The Hungarian government has a single-minded obsession with Hungarian-born liberal billionaire George Soros, who lives in the United States, accusing him of plotting to smuggle refugees into Europe. — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 60

Categorization

• XREF: Contrasts with the vault’s US-centered conspiracy framings; conspiracy belief operates on the same scapegoating/threat mechanisms the vault claims for authoritarianism and Christian nationalism, but state-originated rather than grass-roots. — connects to: Even elite African leaders and Nobel laureates embraced the AIDS-as-weapon conspiracy theory — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 178; Conspiracy theories often stem from legitimate populist suspicion of elites — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 66; Conspiracy belief inside power drives state actions, not just civilian politics — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 82 (+4 more)
• CANDY: The shark-attacks-by-Mossad claim is a genuinely tweetable bizarre fact.

Broader Connections

• Conspiracy belief inside power drives state actions, not just civilian politics #corroborates (0.90) — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 82
• Conspiracy theories often stem from legitimate populist suspicion of elites #complicates (0.85) — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 66
• Elites can publicize conspiracies but cannot invent them from nothing #qualifies (0.80) — Joseph E. Uscinski and Joseph M. Parent, American Conspiracy Theories, 681
• Elite rhetoric substantially raises public conspiracy talk #expands (0.75) — Joseph E. Uscinski and Joseph M. Parent, American Conspiracy Theories, 679
• New conspiracism offers cheap knowingness as an elite status #expands (0.75) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 95