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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June 2018
NDAA Improves Military Cybersecurity but Fails on Broader Reform before November Midterms
The Senate passed the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Monday. While the bill made advancements in our military cyber-capabilities and deterrence against foreign cyber operations, it lacks significant improvements to cybersecurity f [...]
Twitter Release Reveals the Kremlin’s News Impersonation Game
On June 18, Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee releasedaround 1,100 names of Twitter accounts linked to the Internet Research Agency (IRA), which is the official name of the Russian troll farm indictedby Special Counsel Robert Mueller for [...]
Securing Bulgaria’s Future: Combating Russian Energy Influence in the Balkans
The Kremlin has launched a resurgent effort to solidify its control over Bulgaria’s energy sector. On May 30, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to establish Bulgaria as a second point of en [...]
Russia as Spoiler: Projecting Division in Transatlantic Societies
The Kremlin’s political and military aggressions over recent years have put Putin’s rejection of the international liberal order and post-Cold War balance of power on full display. Increasingly paranoid about regime survival — which it directly lin [...]
From Nord Stream to Novichok: Kremlin Propaganda on Google’s Front Page
On May 24, an international team of investigators from the Netherlands, Australia, Malaysia, and Ukraine announced that a Russian anti-aircraft missile was directly responsible for the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 (MH17). The following da [...]
Nord Stream 2 Threatens European Cohesion
In response to the recent threat of U.S. sanctions on entities involved in the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Germany and Russia, German Economic Minister Peter Altmaier claimed the United States simply wants a bigger slice of the European energ [...]
May 2018
Latvian Banking: Recent Reforms, Sustainable Solutions
Introduction Latvia’s non-resident banking sector, which caters to clients from Russia and other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), has finally become politically untenable. After years of scandals and massive illicit flows [...]
Russia’s Active Measures Architecture: Task and Purpose
Russia’s latest iteration of the Soviet-era tactic of “active measures” has mesmerized Western audiences and become the topic de jour for national security analysts. In my last post, I focused on the Kremlin’s campaign to influence the U.S. election [...]
The Top Three Trends We Miss When Discussing Russian Ads
Last week, the Democrats of the House Intelligence Committee released the trove of over 3,500 Facebook ads purchased by the St. Petersburg-based Internet Research Agency (IRA) from 2015 to 2017. For the most part, the release confirms what we alread [...]
Playing into Putin’s Hands: The White Helmets, Douma, And How U.S. Failures Become Russian Opportunities
On May 3, the Syrian Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, announced that the U.S. State Department had suspended funding for the group, stating that the support is “under active review.” The White Helmets are Syrian volunteer rescue workers th [...]
The Syria Swarm: How pro-Kremlin Accounts Influence Western Public Opinion
As the United States, Britain, and France launched targeted airstrikes against suspected chemical weapons sites in Syria on April 13, U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis predicted that there would be “a significant disinformation campaign over th [...]
April 2018
The “European Approach” to Fighting Disinformation: Lessons for the United States
The European Commission published a communication on April 26 to the European Council and Parliament outlining the “European Approach” to combatting disinformation. The Commission’s report was the result of a several month process including consulta [...]