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Securing Democracy Dispatch
Announcements ASD at GMF has joined Bluesky! Follow us @securedemocracy.bsky.social. Our Takes The Trump administration’s attempts to shut down Voice of America and other US-funded outlets offer “greater opportunity for Washington’s adversaries to shape public perceptions worldwide”, GMF Digital Communications Specialist Nana Gongadze and Senior Fellow Bret Schafer write. Hamilton 2.0 Analysis Russian diplomats and state media focused on two main narratives this week: European Troublemakers: TASS cited Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service statement that accused European special services of undermining Ukraine peace negotiations and claimed that British and Fre
Washington Silences Its Own Voice
The US Agency for Global Media’s closing aids authoritarian interference. Two days after the 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, Soviet television broadcast a 20-second report acknowledging that a minor “accident” had occurred. Omitted was any mention of the high levels of radiation that had been detected as far away as Sweden and of the tens of thousands of people who had been evacuated. Ukrainians needed to tune to a different source, one that the Soviets actively sought to censor, for that information: the Voice of America (VOA). Nearly four decades later, history repeated itself when Ukrainians in Russian-occupied territory found themselves subject t
Securing Democracy Dispatch
Announcements ASD at GMF has joined Bluesky! Follow us @securedemocracy.bsky.social. Our Takes “TeleSUR provides a proxy for Chinese and Russian propaganda to enter Latin America with a veneer of credibility.” Watch Senior Investigative Research Officer Peter Benzoni explain how the Venezuelan state media outlet has made itself a “media vassal” for likeminded, authoritarian allies in this GMF explainer. As Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni “continues to tow a pro-Ukraine line and find her footing abroad … it is no coincidence that Meloni’s country remains on the receiving end of Russia’s foreign interference and information manipulation”, Program Coordinator
Italy Remains on Russia’s Radar
In March, Russian political philosopher Aleksandr Dugin, sometimes credited as a source of inspiration behind the Kremlin, spoke to the Italian newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano. He predicted an interesting development in Italian politics: Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, having betrayed her nationalist, populist roots by aligning with the EU, would shift gears and join what he called an emerging axis led by US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Meloni’s cordial visit last week to the White House, where she represented both her country and an EU inflamed by Washington’s adversarial turn, underscored that she may be the Trump administration’s preferred interlo
Securing Democracy Dispatch
Announcements ASD at GMF has joined Bluesky! Follow us @securedemocracy.bsky.social. Hamilton 2.0 Analysis Russian diplomats and state media focused on two main narratives this week: Trump’s Tariffs: Russian state media speculated about the US-People’s Republic of China (PRC) trade war’s adverse consequences for the US economy and expressed support for its BRICS partner. RT Español warned that the PRC holds a “secret weapon”—US Treasury bonds—that could cause US mortgage rates to “skyrocket” if they sell them. Sputnik Mundo also cautioned that PRC export restrictions on rare earth minerals could jeopardize the US armed forces’ development of a sixth-genera
Securing Democracy Dispatch
Announcements ASD at GMF has joined Bluesky! Follow us @securedemocracy.bsky.social. Our Takes The Venezuelan state-owned outlet TeleSUR “serves as a vehicle” to advance Caracas’ influence and that of its authoritarian allies—including Russia, China, Cuba, and Nicaragua—against the West under the guise of anti-colonialism without questioning its own allies’ human-rights records, GMF Resident Fellow Marcos Sebares Jiménez-Blanco explains. Hamilton 2.0 Analysis Russian diplomats and state media focused on two main narratives this week: Trump’s Tariffs: Russian state media predicted that US tariffs would have dire consequences and celebrated Russia’s exclus
Venezuela Through the Sino-Russian Media Playbook
Russia and China’s information operations in Venezuela have been extensively discussed and documented. Their media strategy has involved forming partnerships with ideologically aligned national and regional outlets such as TeleSUR, promoting revisionism and multipolarity through anti-Western narratives (often tapping into anti-colonial sentiments), and helping to suppress dissenting voices. From its inception during the marea rosa (“pink tide” or “turn to the left”) in 2005, TeleSUR, a state-backed television network currently supported by the governments of Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba, was envisioned as a pan-Latin American and ideological alternative to major networks like
Securing Democracy Dispatch
Announcements ASD at GMF is hiring! Applications are open for our Washington, DC-based research traineeship for Summer 2025. Apply here. Our Takes “Ukraine has demonstrated in the starkest terms that modern warfare is fought on the battlefield and in the information space.” Thus, as Europe races to strengthen its conventional defenses, Europe should integrate foreign information threats into its core defense strategy as well, Senior Manager for Europe and Fellow Vassilis Ntousas writes for GMF. Hamilton 2.0 Analysis Russian diplomats and state media focused on two main narratives this week: Marine Le Pen’s Conviction: Russian politicians and state media negatively
Digital Threats and Propaganda: How North Carolina and Other States are Targeted by Foreign Actors
Join the World Affairs Council of Charlotte for an exclusive lunch event on Thursday, May 29, featuring experts from the Alliance for Securing Democracy, as they unpack how countries like Russia, China, and Iran are actively shaping public discourse and influencing communities in North Carolina and across the country through digital propaganda campaigns and misinformation. Grounded in the Alliance’s groundbreaking new report, “The State(s) of Foreign Information Operations: A State-by-State Look at Foreign Information Manipulation in the United States,” these conversations will reveal how US adversaries are targeting government institutions, exploiting trusted community voices, an
The Invisible Battlefield
The EU must make information warfare a core defense priority. With high-level summits, new initiatives, and massive spending commitments dominating headlines, the EU appears poised for a collective Zeitenwende in defense. Its exact contours remain undefined, but the shockwaves of Ukraine’s brutal war and the bold posture of the Trump administration have spurred an unprecedented mobilization to finally fund the bloc’s security needs and strengthen its capabilities. Yet, as Europe debates its future defense posture, adversaries also wage a quieter but highly disruptive war, relentlessly assaulting the integrity of the information space that underpins democracy. This domain may be less v