Strategic information operations (e.g. disinformation, political propaganda, and other forms of online manipulation) are a critical concern for democratic societies-as they destabilize the "common ground" that we need to stand upon to govern ourselves. In this talk, I argue that defending against strategic information operations will require a more nuanced understanding of the problem. In particular, we will need to move beyond focusing on "bots" and "trolls" to looking at the collaborative nature of disinformation campaigns that target, infiltrate, shape, and leverage online communities. Drawing from three distinct case studies, I describe how orchestrated campaigns can become deeply entangled within "organic" online crowds and I highlight a persistent challenge for researchers, platform designers, and policy makers-distinguishing between orchestrated, explicitly-coordinated information operations and the emergent, organic behaviors of an online crowd.