Short-form insights and rapid-reaction analysis of breaking news and global events.
On April 15, the French ministry of foreign affairs summoned the Chinese ambassador in Paris. After weeks of incendiary rhetoric from the Chinese delegation, French authorities were incensed by an article on the embassy’s website falsely claiming th [...]
The most recent coronavirus stimulus package signed into law includes $400 million in funds to support state and local government efforts to prevent the coronavirus from impacting the elections process. While more funding will be needed to address t [...]
Over the past three weeks, American and Chinese officials have employed escalating rhetoric in efforts to blame one another for the global coronavirus pandemic. High-ranking U.S. administration officials frequently and pointedly referred to the viru [...]
The coronavirus outbreak has opened up a new chapter in the global information contest between autocrats and democrats. In recent weeks, China has employed increasingly assertive tactics in its efforts to shape perceptions of the crisis. Data collec [...]
The global coronavirus pandemic has also spawned an epidemic of online disinformation, ranging from false home remedies to state-sponsored influence campaigns. In the confusing environment, false medical theories have even found accidental legitimiz [...]
As COVID-19 has spread around the world, the Chinese party-state’s international propaganda apparatus has swung into action. The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) propaganda outlets are using declining numbers of COVID-19 sufferers inside China to por [...]
Beginning in late January, when news emerged of a “novel coronavirus” spreading through China, Beijing’s propaganda apparatus shifted into overdrive. The epidemic has also been heavily covered in externally-directed Russian state-backed media outlet [...]
Walking around China, the ubiquity of German cars on Chinese streets is astounding. Audi and Mercedes are everywhere in affluent cities; Volkswagens take their place in smaller municipalities. This anecdotal observation is reflected in the spectacul [...]
As has become the norm in moments of international crisis, the fallout from the killing of Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani last month unleashed a flood of disinformation onto social media. In crisis environments, where unconfirmed facts of even benign or [...]
Deepfake technology that uses artificial intelligence to create and modify videos, images, and audio recordings to place individuals in situations they were never in, or put false words in their mouths, has burst onto the scene as the latest technol [...]
Deepfake technology that uses artificial intelligence to create and modify videos, images, and audio recordings to place individuals in situations they were never in, or put false words in their mouths, has burst onto the scene as the latest technol [...]
Overview In a year featuring a presidential impeachment, Brexit, mass protests in Hong Kong, and widespread geopolitical turmoil, few topics dominated the Russian government-funded media landscape quite like the arrest and subsequent suicide of bil [...]
The United States Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, an annual bill designating funding for the Department of Defense, on a bipartisan basis. Priorities outlined in the NDAA will drive important elements of [...]
The Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Director of National Intelligence, Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), National Security Agency, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Age [...]
There is an emerging recognition in Western capitals that Russian strategic economic coercion and malign financial activity threaten to undermine the rule of law, weaken democracy, and meaningfully affect American and European politics. This underst [...]
Overview On October 6, President Trump announced a U.S. withdrawal from northern Syria, leading to a week-long Turkish offensive against the Syrian Kurds. Since the announcement, Russian media and diplomats have doubled-down on their Syria coverage [...]
Last month, the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released volume two of its investigation into Russian interference, which details an extensive campaign that aims to sow division and undermine American democracy via social media. One of [...]
Austrian voters delivered a heavy electoral blow to the Austrian far right Freedom Party (FPÖ) this weekend. According to the final result, the FPÖ ’s vote share dropped almost ten percentage points since elections last year. The FPÖ’s poor showing [...]
Overview The Russian government under Vladimir Putin has engaged in a prolonged effort to create a version of Russian history free “from internal contradictions and ambiguities.” But attempts to airbrush Russian history have recently become a messa [...]
Last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved $250 million in funds to support state and local government efforts to strengthen election security ahead of the 2020 elections. The Committee’s action is an acknowledgment that securing electi [...]
In March, the European Union passed a regulation, the most binding legal instrument at its disposal, to strengthen foreign-investment screening processes throughout the union. The law came into force in April, and member states have until October 20 [...]
This article was originally published as a German Marshall Fund Transatlantic Take on August 22, 2019. This weekend may be the first time in the history of the G7 that the group meets without agreeing on a joint statement. That’s partly because t [...]
Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller testified before congressional committees last week on the contents of his office’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election, making the case that foreign interference is “among the most serious” thre [...]
With their new leadership selected, EU institutions have begun to outline their policy agendas for the coming years. European Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen highlighted the challenge of “external interference” in European democracie [...]
On July 7, Greeks voted in national elections to replace Alexis Tsipras and his ruling left-wing Syriza party with Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ right-wing New Democracy. Mitsotakis’ party platform promises to re-energize the Greek economy and attract new in [...]
The European Parliament has just confirmed Ursula von der Leyen as the President of the European Commission. Over the coming five years, she will be joined by a new team of EU leaders made up of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affai [...]
Clint Watts is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy and a 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, Terro [...]
In February 2019, two Italian investigative journalists made an explosive revelation: Matteo Salvini, leader of the far-right party La Lega and Italian interior minister, had sought financing from the Kremlin to the tune of millions of euros. That c [...]
On June 14, the European Commission released a report assessing the efficacy of the Action Plan against Disinformation and Elections Package in the context of the 2019 European Parliamentary elections. The report underscores Europe’s shifting postur [...]
On Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing to discuss ways to combat kleptocracy through financial reforms such as beneficial ownership and money laundering. Beneficial ownership is particularly important because kleptocrats an [...]
The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence held its first hearing devoted to the national security implications of artificial intelligence in the information space last week. “For more than five centuries, authors have used variations of t [...]
Today, the Senate Banking Committee will hear outside perspectives on the collection of beneficial ownership information. This hearing is well-timed, as momentum is building in both the House and the Senate to outlaw anonymous shell companies. For e [...]
The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence convened yesterday to discuss the challenges posed by AI-manipulated media, better known as deepfakes. There is finally some momentum to “do something” about deepfakes, but crucial misconceptions [...]
“No.” This was the one-word answer by a senior South Korean official, when asked directly if Beijing’s political interference was a threat to South Korean democracy. In multiple discussions held last week in Seoul, South Korean officials either disc [...]
Every Italian learns about Marco Polo, a young merchant who left his native Venice in 1271, travelled to China, and returned home twenty-four years later with riches and treasure. Today, Italy’s government is betting that moving closer to Beijing wi [...]
On Thursday, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence will host a panel of experts to discuss the national security challenges posed by artificial intelligence (AI), manipulated media, and “deepfake” technology. The committee will examin [...]
As results from last week’s European Parliament elections roll in, one thing is clear: traditional political parties that once commanded majorities across the Union’s member states suffered defeats of varying degrees of severity. Although not as mu [...]
Citizens of the European Union’s 28 member states go to the polls this week to choose their representatives to the European Parliament. Following Russian interference in several high-profile elections over the past three years, European governments [...]
Today, representatives from Facebook, Twitter, and Google, as well as several government officials, will testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. The hearing will serve as an opportunity for congressional leaders to gauge the gove [...]
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, Terroris [...]