Russian state media last week hammered the United States over its response to the migrant crisis at the southern border, suggesting that the Biden administration is intentionally downplaying and concealing the poor conditions. State media amplified [...]
WASHINGTON—The German Marshall Fund of the United States is pleased to welcome Bonnie Glaser as director of the Asia Program and Laura Thornton as director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy. Both Glaser and Thornton will serve on GMF’s leadersh [...]
In the lead up to the 2020 election, the government, private sector, and civil society took more than 200 actions to secure the election against foreign interference. They made substantial progress, but in many cases didn't anticipate that a domesti [...]
Announcements We are thrilled to announce Laura Thornton as ASD’s new director! She brings deep knowledge of and experience with strengthening democracy around the world. Our Take For nearly a year, our team has documented steps that government, [...]
Executive Summary The 2016 presidential election served as a wakeup call to the threat of authoritarian interference, and in the years since, many segments of American society—from the federal government to private companies and civil society gro [...]
Head of Policy and Research Jessica Brandt details the threats these authoritarian states pose and how the Biden administration should respond. The United States and other liberal democracies are engaged in a persistent, asymmetric competition with [...]
The V4 countries are only a political decision away of improving their digital infrastructure; they should be more ambitious, Senior Fellow Kristine Berzina said in an interview with EURACTIV Czech Republic. The European countries are not united w [...]
Our Take Ahead of the Biden administration’s first face-to-face meeting with top Chinese officials last week, China Analyst Bryce Barros noted that a reset is unlikely, and Emerging Technologies Fellow Lindsay Gorman explained why Beijing’s “divide [...]
Following the publication of the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment of foreign interference in the 2020 election, Russian state media last week highlighted predictable backlash and denials from Russian government figures, with a small amount o [...]
Program Manager and Fellow Nad’a Kovalčíková joined a virtual panel on the topic of “Future of Digital Platforms: Improving transparency of political advertising,” organized by the GLOBSEC-led Alliance for Healthy Infosphere, to discuss the perspect [...]
Richard Nixon's 1969 Guam doctrine led America's allies in Asia to pursue a variety of strategies based on perceptions of America's reliability. If the Biden administration wants to strengthen the country's alliances moving forward, and avoid repeat [...]
Acting Director David Salvo joined Julie Mason to discuss Russia’s tools, tactics, and motivations for attempting to interfere in the U.S. elections. Related reading: Leaks, Lies, and Altered Tape: Russia’s Maturing Information Manipulation Playbook [...]
Program Manager and Fellow Nad’a Kovalčíková joined the Geremka Foundation to discuss information manipulation in Europe and possible policy measures to better address it, with a focus on EU, Poland and Western Balkans. Disinformation is currently [...]
Does the U.S. need another presidential election commission? Elections Integrity Fellow David Levine argues yes, the U.S. does need a presidential election commission in this point-counterpoint edition of Electionline. January 6’s deadly insurrecti [...]
A messaging strategy is only as good as the goal it serves; as Xi Jinping has made clear, China is seeking to make the world safer for its brand of authoritarianism by reshaping the world order. An analysis of messaging from China’s diplomats, state [...]
Ahead of the first face-to-face meeting between the Biden administration and top Chinese officials, experts from GMF’s Alliance for Securing Democracy and its Asia program are available for context and analysis from various angles. Below please find [...]
Just as the other EU countries, the Visegrad states are endangered by the amplification of manipulated information, and the coronavirus pandemic has only contributed to the problem. Combatting disinformation is a whole society effort that requires a [...]
With the advent of COVID-19 vaccines in Europe, there is hope for an end to the pandemic. But vaccination campaigns have come under fire by the mainstreaming of conspiracy theories such as QAnon and conspiracy videos like Plandemic, which erode trus [...]
Elections Integrity Fellow David Levine joins "High Turnout Wide Margins" for a conversation about his recent recommendation for a presidential commission for election security and best practices. Further reading: Trusting the Vote: Establishing a P [...]
Announcement In case you missed it, we analyzed more than 35,000 Russian, Chinese, and Iranian vaccine-related messages captured on our Hamilton 2.0 dashboard to understand the impact of these information operations. Tweet us your question to recei [...]
Prior to President Biden’s address to the nation last Thursday, Russian state media covered speculation and reported concerns about Biden’s lack of press conferences, at times questioning his physical and/or mental health. They also highlighted an i [...]
If democracies are to stand up to Chinese coercion, they will have to join forces, Emerging Technologies Fellow Lindsay Gorman writes in Foreign Policy. This month, China banned imports of Taiwanese pineapples, the latest in a string of punitive t [...]
Great power competition can't be won on interests alone, Co-Director Zack Cooper and Hal Brands argue in Foreign Affairs. On the campaign trail, U.S. President Joe Biden pledged to put values at the heart of his administration’s China policy. Sinc [...]
Later this month the Netherlands—an increasingly influential European Union member, particularly in the wake of the United Kingdom’s departure—will hold parliamentary elections. As the largest country to hold a parliamentary election since the pande [...]
There are two possible outcomes of U.S.-China competition—but Washington should prepare for the more turbulent one, Co-Director Zack Cooper and Hal Brands argue in Foreign Policy. Competition between the United States and China has begun, but how [...]
Listen to USC Election Cybersecurity Executive Director, Adam Clayton Powell, III and Cybersecurity Fellow, Alliance for Securing Democracy, German Marshall Fund of the United States, and USC Election Security Analyst, Maurice Turner, introduce USC [...]
China is reshaping the world’s economy. From infrastructure and investment to manufacturing and supply chain dependency, Chinese economic influence is becoming an increasingly important topic for policymakers in North America and Europe. How should [...]
On March 3, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1: For the People Act of 2021, advancing to the Senate what would be the most comprehensive overhaul of U.S. election law in the past half a century. The 791-page bill includes important measures [...]
Every few years gives rise to a novel social media app that takes smartphone users by storm. Clubhouse, the invite-only, audio-based app that feels like TED Talks meets 1980s radio call-in show, has rapidly grown in recent months, offering a platfor [...]
Our Take Russia, China, and Iran have been carrying out information operations to manipulate narratives around coronavirus vaccines, including Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca. In a new report, we analyze more than 35,000 vaccine-related messages c [...]
Last week, a prominent theme in Russian messaging around coronavirus vaccines targeted the prospect of Sputnik V’s approval in the EU, with the vaccine’s Twitter account calling for the EU’s European Medicines Agency to review and approve it (the ap [...]
Russia and China, as well as Iran to a certain extent, have used the coronavirus pandemic as an opportunity to interfere into democratic discourse and to present themselves as internationally responsible actors, while at the same time undermining de [...]
COVID-19 has profoundly impacted Europe in the past months. Battling the multiple waves of this pandemic, all EU member states have faced many challenges. Simultaneously, the EU has had to grapple with long-standing trends in the world—both those th [...]
Introduction When Vladimir Putin announced last August that Russia had granted regulatory approval for Sputnik V, the world’s first coronavirus vaccine, it signaled—albeit perhaps prematurely—not only a potential turning point in the fight to end th [...]
This article was originally published on GW International Law and Policy Brief's website. Election observers help ensure that elections are conducted in a democratic manner, as recognized by international law. Paragraph 8 of the 1990 Organization f [...]
Program Manager and Fellow Nad’a Kovalčíková joined Ilana Bet-El, one of the founders of WIIS Brussels & former UN official, and Lieutenant General Frances Allen, military representative of Canada to the NATO Military Committee, to discuss women [...]
Media and Digital Disinformation Fellow Bret Schafer joined Josh Hamilton on The Jist. Bret and Josh first spoke three to discuss the weaponization of information and the threat to democracy. Now, three years later, things have unfortunately not gott [...]
Chris, Zack, and Melanie sit down to discuss U.S. sanctions programs and how to make them more effective. In a recent War on the Rocks article focused on sanctions, Edward Fishman argues that the United States needs to take a hard look at our econom [...]
Our Take A network of obscure, English-language "news sites" spread disinformation alleging that Ukrainian soldiers died after testing an experimental U.S. coronavirus vaccine. This narrative benefited one entity above all others: the Kremlin, Non- [...]
Last week, Russian state media seized on a story involving “leaked” U.K. Foreign Office documents that allegedly revealed the “UK government's covert operations aimed at tarnishing Russia's image.” The outlets used the story to accuse both the U.K. [...]