As any American expat abroad will tell you, living far from the United States gives you a clearer view. My 25 years overseas startled me with realizations about my country, from weird little things (why do we have so many types of breakfast cereal?) [...]
Russia's decision to cut off gas to Poland and Bulgaria won't just impact those countries' citizens or the millions of Ukrainian refugees. Why? Kristine Berzina with the Alliance for Securing Democracy shows how the situation could be one of the Eur [...]
This week, Alliance for Securing Democracy launched “Ballots and Bagels: Conversations with Trusted Election Sources,” an interview series hosted by Elections Integrity Fellow David Levine that aims to highlight the successes of and lessons learned [...]
“Ballots and Bagels: Conversations with Trusted Election Sources” is a series by the Alliance for Securing Democracy (ASD) hosted by Elections Integrity Fellow David Levine. Given that a large portion of Americans still think the 2020 election was s [...]
This briefing unpacks the Russia-China disinformation nexus, with a focus on the Global South, as well as the countries' increasing information warfare campaigns, within the context of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. [...]
As #Russia points the finger at #NATO, the #UN's Antonio Guterres is in Moscow, asking for cooperation over humanitarian access to places like Mariupol. Sergei Lavrov says they are "ready to cooperate", but only a day before he warned that World War [...]
Russia Russian diplomats and state media last week posted more than 800 tweets that referenced “Mariupol” or “Azovstal,” which is the name of a steel plant in the city that has become a holdout for Ukrainian soldiers. Kremlin-linked accounts celebra [...]
Vladimir Putin has brought war back to Europe, presenting transatlantic security with the massive challenge of supporting Ukraine and shoring up their own defenses. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shifted the conversation from whether EU countries [...]
Our Take Despite their free access to information, some Americans have fallen susceptible to the same Kremlin lies about the war in Ukraine that have traction in Russia, Director Laura Thornton writes in The Hill. As the world unites around Ukrain [...]
Opening Remarks Heather A. Conley President, The German Marshall Fund of the United States Speakers: Rafał Trzaskowski Mayor, City of Warsaw, Poland Moderator: Laura Thornton Director, The Alliance for Securing Democracy, The German Marshall Fund of [...]
Highlights The Russian Embassy in Paris was the author of nine of the top ten tweets by French-language Russian accounts last week. As in previous weeks, its messaging focused on the war in Ukraine and ignored domestic French politics. Russian st [...]
This is the national security podcast crossover of the century! Or at least of the year…ok maybe of Spring 2022! For this special episode of the “War on the Rocks” podcast, Doyle Hodges of “Horns of a Dilemma” hosts Zack Cooper, Melanie Marlowe, and [...]
French voters can be confident that no matter who they vote for in the second round of their presidential election, the process will reflect the will of the French people. But if they hope to have similar confidence in the integrity of future electi [...]
The Kremlin’s well-oiled disinformation machinery has been activated to create narratives both externally and internally about Putin’s brutal war in Ukraine: “It isn’t a war at all;” “Russia is liberating Ukraine from drug-addled Nazis;” “NATO is th [...]
Our Take The EU should extend harsh sanctions to most or all of the largest Russian banks, including the one that plays a central role in Russia's financial system, Sberbank, Non-Resident Fellow Josh Kirschenbaum and Nicolas Veron argue for the Pet [...]
Russia Russian diplomats and state media last week mentioned “Mariupol” in nearly 500 tweets as they blamed Ukrainian Nazis and their Western backers for war crimes committed in the battered Ukrainian port city. Diplomatic accounts claimed that Ukra [...]
As the war in Ukraine drags on, concerns are now growing about potential cyberattacks from Russia in the U.S. Lindsay Gorman, an emerging technologies fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy, joins CBS News' Jamie Yuccas to discuss America's c [...]
Overview China’s response to the establishment of a Taiwanese Representative Office in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius serves as the most recent example of the perniciousness of economic coercion. Since China’s “Go Out” economic policy was implemente [...]
The European Union (EU) had a vigorous early response to Vladimir Putin's aggression in Ukraine, aimed at disrupting Russia's financial system and economy. Ending EU imports of Russian hydrocarbons would be a powerful next step and is an absolute pr [...]
Bret Schafer of the Alliance for Securing Democracy joins the diplomatic mission of the European Union to the United States to talk about Russian disinformation campaigns, their role in shaping narratives about the war in Ukraine, and the challenges [...]
Our Take The struggle between democracy and autocracy is based not on geographic delineations but on values and ideas held by people everywhere, Director Laura Thornton writes in The Atlantic. Even after the EU banned Russian state media outlets RT [...]
Highlights The Russian Embassy in France attempted to deny and deflect after evidence of mass killings in Bucha shocked the French public last week. Top tweets by the embassy implied that the killings only surfaced days after Ukrainian troops took o [...]
Russia The push by Russian propagandists last week to distort information on the atrocities in Bucha marked the Kremlin’s most aggressive disinformation campaign of the war. Russian diplomats and state media tweeted the term “Bucha” more than 1,000 [...]
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Chinese state media and government officials have been increasingly echoing Russian disinformation and undermining Beijing's efforts to promote a neutral position. As Russia faces renewed condemnation for the a [...]
In 1997, I was living in Cambodia, working for the U.S. government to help solidify the country’s fragile democracy. The air was hopeful: Civic groups were preparing to monitor upcoming elections, political parties were selecting candidates and draf [...]
A report from the Alliance for Securing Democracy and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue by Iris Boyer, Zoé Fourel, Sasha Morinière, Bret Schafer, and Etienne Soula. Introduction On March 2, 2022, Russian state media outlets RT and Sputnik were [...]
On Sunday, April 10, French voters will choose which two of the 12 presidential candidates will proceed to the second-round runoff. Most polls predict incumbent Emmanuel Macron to come in first, with far-right candidate Marine Le Pen or far-left can [...]
After Russian state outlets were blocked in Europe and restricted around the world on major social media platforms, Chinese state media and government officials have emerged as major amplifiers of pro-Kremlin disinformation on the war in Ukraine. “W [...]
ASD's David Levine and GMF's Gesine Weber lay out four questions French voters should ask ahead of the presidential election. In its 2017 presidential election, France withstood one of the most significant efforts by the Kremlin to interfere in a [...]
Chinese disinformation spiked after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. China uses similar tactics as during the Covid-19 pandemic, but the scale and intensity are greater. Chinese disinformation conceals Russia’s responsibility for the war and promotes R [...]
War crimes in Ukraine and the world response. Parliamentary elections in Hungary. Political scientist Andis Kudors and journalist of the Latvian Radio News Service Uģis Lībietis evaluate the current affairs. We are in contact with Kristine Berzina, [...]
Etienne Soula, research analyst with the Alliance for Securing Democracy, speaks to Newsy on the rise of the far right ahead of France's presidential election. [...]
Russia Russian diplomats and state media last week spread disinformation to discredit reporting on Russia’s alleged war crimes in Bucha, Ukraine. With images of destruction and death in Bucha coming to light as Russian troops leave the area, Kremlin [...]
Alliance for Securing Democracy Senior Fellow Kristine Berzina joins DW News to discuss the situation in Bucha after President Biden accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of committing war crimes. [...]
Announcements We’re recruiting for our summer 2022 internships! Research interns will assist our fellows with research on autocratic actors’ attempts to undermine democracies, and the communications intern will work with the external affairs team t [...]
The Government of the United States hosted the first of two Summits for Democracy on 8–10 December 2021. In the face of increasing challenges to democracy globally, they aimed to bring together leaders from government, civil society and the private [...]
This piece was written by Zsuzsanna Vegh and Bret Schafer with support from Logically AI. Hungary is holding parliamentary elections on April 3 that will decide whether the Fidesz-led Orbán government continues in office for a fourth consecutive te [...]
Zack Cooper of the German Marshall Fund of the United States says China is probably overestimating the degree to which Europe sees a need to engage “in a productive way” with it, especially when it comes to the Russia-Ukraine war. [...]
During an interview on "Mornings with Maria," Zack Cooper of the Alliance for Securing Democracy argued that the relationship between China and Russia is "as strong as ever." [...]