ASD contributes long and short form research products and analysis to inform and engage our audience on a range of issues related to malign foreign interference. In addition, we develop policy recommendations and strategies to close vulnerabilities and safeguard institutions from authoritarian threats.
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All Posts
April 2019
After the Mueller Report: 10 Steps the United States Can Take to Secure its Democracy
Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report sheds new light on Russia’s sweeping campaign to interfere in the 2016 Presidential election. With only 18 months to go before Americans head back to the polls, here are 10 steps – developed and endorsed by a [...]
What We Know, What We’ve Learned – The Mueller Report and Russian Interference
Special Counsel Mueller’s redacted report highlights the Russian government’s “sweeping and systematic interference” in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, through disinformation and hacking operations. Details of that effort were already known – t [...]
March 2019
Fact Sheet: What we know about Russia’s interference operations
Russian interference operations against the United States during the 2016 presidential election were vast and complex. That’s the conclusion drawn by Special Counsel Mueller, as well as by the Department of Justice, the Intelligence Community, and [...]
Financial Transparency and National Security: The Perils of Opaque Foreign Investment
Awareness of who owns what is critical to national security, and the U.S. government knows far less than you think. Even after Congress outlaws completely anonymous companies, it will still be difficult for the government to understand patterns of [...]
Russia’s Promotion of Illiberal Populism: Tools, Tactics, Networks
Understanding the rise of illiberal populism has been a focus of recent debate on both sides of the Atlantic. This “illiberal international” has many faces, often seemingly at odds: Donald Trump and Jill Stein in the United States, Marine Le Pen an [...]
The Next North American Election: How Canada Is Protecting Itself and What Can Still Be Done
Later this year, Canada faces its first federal elections since potential foreign interference became one of the main concerns for democratic elections in the 21st century. After extensive discussions and consultations, the government has taken sign [...]
February 2019
Authoritarians’ Latest Foothold in Brussels
Brussels is an attractive target for authoritarian actors seeking to subvert European and transatlantic politics. Host to the headquarters of the EU, NATO, and Eurocontrol, the agency responsible for air-traffic control system for all 41 of its Euro [...]
Russia’s Network of Millennial Media
“PICK A DAMN COUNTRY, AMERICA!” The video is short, digestible, and catchy. A young Twitter personality dives into the latest news from Venezuela while trendy music plays in the background. According to the video, President Donald Trump and his “rig [...]
Huawei Espionage Arrests in Poland: A Wake-up Call to Europe
Huawei, one of the world’s largest and most powerful telecommunications conglomerates, has had a difficult two months, facing a new wave of arrests and enforcement actions in countries in Europe and North America. In January, the Polish authorities [...]
Advanced Persistent Manipulators, Part One: The Threat to the Social Media Industry
Clint Watts is Non-Resident Fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy and Distinguished Research Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He is the author of Messing With The Enemy: Surviving in a Social Media World of Hackers, Terrorist [...]
Joshua Kirschenbaum’s Testimony before the European Parliament Special Committee on Financial Crimes, Tax Evasion and Tax Avoidance
Statement of JOSHUA KIRSCHENBAUM Alliance for Securing Democracy, the German Marshall Fund of the United States BEFORE THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL CRIMES, TAX EVASION AND TAX AVOIDANCE Concerning “Money laundering cases involving Russian ind [...]
January 2019
Elections in 2019: Risks of More Interference
The past year was a turbulent one for democracy in the transatlantic space. A rising tide of populism, nationalism, extremism, and illiberalism continued to upend politics. This affected elections in countries like Italy, where the ruling coalition [...]