A comprehensive, weekly recap of the news and events that define ASD’s work and mission.
Our Take At the start of the new year, we asked our experts to each put forth one recommendation that would strengthen democracy during a period of declining trust, emboldened autocrats, and war. Their answers touch on a variety of issues—from the [...]
Announcement The Securing Democracy Dispatch team is taking a break for the holidays. We’ll be back in your inbox in the new year! Our Take Reforming the Electoral Count Act remains critical to ensuring free and fair presidential elections, Elect [...]
Our Take Days after an errant Ukrainian missile tragically killed two civilians in Poland, Russian state-sponsored media began falsely reporting that Poland wants to annex three counties in western Ukraine, Deputy Director David Salvo finds in his [...]
Our Take Voters’ wide rejection of election denier candidates in the 2022 US midterms shows that voters are looking for candidates that build trust in US election processes, Head of External Affairs Rachael Dean Wilson said on Newsy. Russian info [...]
Announcements We’re hiring! We’re looking for a program assistant to support ASD at GMF's day-to-day administration, including by preparing our weekly newsletter, coordinating events, and supporting our fundraising activities. Apply here! We’re r [...]
Announcements We’re hiring! We’re looking for a program assistant to support ASD at GMF's day-to-day administration, including by preparing our weekly newsletter, coordinating events, and supporting our fundraising activities. Apply here! We’re r [...]
Announcements We’re hiring! We’re looking for a program assistant to support ASD's day-to-day administration, including by preparing our weekly newsletter, coordinating events, and supporting our fundraising activities. Apply here! We’re recruiti [...]
It’s a commonly employed political cliché that every election is “the most important election of your lifetime.” But this time, the cliché may be appropriate. Not because of who wins or loses a particular race or even majorities in the House and Sen [...]
Announcement We’re hiring! We’re searching for an Investigative Data & Research Analyst to manage all aspects of our data-based tools, including overseeing data acquisition, storage, and management. Apply here! Our Take A modern Marshall Plan [...]
Less than two weeks from Election Day, we continue to see false claims of widespread election fraud drive distrust of the electoral process and create real security challenges for election administrators. In Maricopa County, Arizona last Friday, two [...]
Announcements We’re hiring! We’re searching for an Investigative Data & Research Analyst to manage all aspects of our data-based tools, including overseeing data acquisition, storage, and management. Apply here! Our Take Americans can get ahe [...]
Two notable polls came out this week. The first shows that Americans’ faith in democracy is under stress, with just 9 percent of respondents saying democracy is working very or extremely well. The second provides new insights into growing Republican [...]
Announcements Georgia friends: Save the date for October 17 in Atlanta! Senior Fellow Bret Schafer will walk through the anatomy of a disinformation campaign at this event co-hosted by ASD at GMF, the Carter Center, and the World Affairs Council in [...]
Election officials are preparing for a myriad of threats and new scenarios in November. Security concerns are top of mind after the harassment of election workers following the 2020 election, making the partnership between election officials and law [...]
Announcements Georgia friends: Save the date for October 17 in Atlanta! Senior Fellow Bret Schafer will walk through the anatomy of a disinformation campaign at this event co-hosted by ASD at GMF, the Carter Center, and the World Affairs Council in [...]
This week, FBI officials warned of potential interference from Russia and China in the upcoming midterms, providing a timely reminder that what happens in our elections doesn’t just matter here in the United States. According to reporting, the FBI b [...]
Announcements We’ve launched a special US midterm newsletter! Each week leading up to the November elections, we’ll share the latest analysis on disinformation and election security, and take a deep dive into the state of play in a battleground sta [...]
In a recent poll, “threats to democracy” was the top concern among voters, beating out “cost of living” for the number one spot. Early data from our Midterm Monitor indicated some agreement across party lines that democracy is under threat, though t [...]
Announcement Milwaukee friends: Join ASD’s Bret Schafer tonight at 7:00 p.m. CDT for a conversation in partnership with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the University of Milwaukee Institute of World Affairs on how mis- and disinformation are sha [...]
Announcements Just launched! ASD and the Brennan Center for Justice are excited to share the Midterm Monitor, an interactive tool designed to capture voting and election messaging from a select group of candidates, US media, and foreign state-backe [...]
Announcement Milwaukee friends: Join ASD’s Bret Schafer on Thursday, September 22, at 7:00 p.m. CDT for a conversation in partnership with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and University of Milwaukee Institute of World Affairs on how mis- and disinfo [...]
Our Take Mock elections can be a valuable tool in testing new election processes and building public trust, Pima County Elections Director Constance Hargrove told ASD’s David Levine on the latest episode of Ballots & Bagels. The Taiwan Policy [...]
Our Take China’s comprehensive sanctions regime against Lithuania underlines the grave need for Europe to bolster its resilience to economic coercion—but the EU’s new Anti-Coercion Instrument won’t be enough, China Affairs Analyst Bryce Barros and [...]
Our Take After spiking at the beginning of Russia’s war in Ukraine, engagement with Russia’s Spanish-language media accounts is consistently declining, in part due to platform bans, Research Analyst Joseph Bodnar explains in his latest. But Ahí les [...]
Announcements We’re recruiting for our fall 2022 paid internships! The research intern will assist our fellows with research on autocratic actors’ endeavors to undermine democracy, and the communications intern will work with our external affairs t [...]
Announcements We’re recruiting for our fall 2022 paid internships! The research intern will assist our fellows with research on autocratic actors’ endeavors to undermine democracy, and the communications intern will work with our external affairs t [...]
Announcements Pennsylvania friends: Join us in Pittsburgh tonight, July 26 and in Westmoreland County tomorrow, July 27 for in-person events with ASD’s Deputy Director David Salvo and Head of External Affairs Rachael Dean Wilson on disinformation [...]
Announcements Pennsylvania friends: Join us in Pittsburgh on July 26 and in Westmoreland County on July 27 for in-person events with ASD’s Deputy Director David Salvo and Head of External Affairs Rachael Dean Wilson on disinformation and potential [...]
Our Take State and local entities must leverage their community resources, funding, and experienced leaders to retain election officials and protect them from bad faith actors seeking to undermine trust in democracy, Elections Integrity Fellow Davi [...]
Our Take Russian and Chinese propagandists diverged in their messaging around the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, with Russia playing into culture war narratives and China seeking to undermine US leadership on human rights, Program Assistant Krys [...]
Announcements Tomorrow is the last day of the German Marshall Fund’s Brussels Forum. Tune into Brussels Forum here starting at 9:00am CET/3:00am ET and watch past panels here. The Brussels Forum ASD-led panel “Rebuilding Trust in our Elections” fe [...]
Our Take China leverages the digital stack—network infrastructure, devices, applications, content, and governance—to influence five countries in the Global South, ASD’s Bryce Barros, Nathan Kohlenberg, and Etienne Soula explain in a new report with [...]
Announcement We recently launched the Yandex Dashboard, a tool that catalogs the information and sources Russian speakers in Russia, Ukraine, the United States, Poland, and Estonia encounter as part of their news consumption on Yandex. Try it out h [...]
Announcement We’ve just launched the Yandex Dashboard, a tool that catalogs the information and sources Russian speakers in Russia, Ukraine, the United States, Poland, and Estonia encounter as part of their news consumption on Yandex. Try it out he [...]
Our Take China has been exploiting search results on Google, Bing, and YouTube to spread state narratives and disinformation about Xinjiang and COVID-19, ASD’s Bret Schafer and Elen Aghekyan find in a new report with the Brookings Institution. The [...]
Our Take Finland and Sweden joining NATO will make the Baltic Sea region and all of Europe safer with new capabilities, closer coordination, and faster decision-making, Senior Fellow Kristine Berzina writes for GMF. While presidential elections are [...]
Our Take As Finland and Sweden apply for NATO membership, Russia is likely to retaliate with cyber operations and disinformation to try to destabilize government institutions and societal cohesion, Deputy Director David Salvo writes on ASD’s Interf [...]
Our Take Opting out of debates is a trait of autocracies, not healthy, advanced democracies that promote a contest of ideas, Director Laura Thornton argues in The Hill. The rubber stamp election of Hong Kong’s Chief Executive-designate John Lee hig [...]
Our Take Introducing Ballots and Bagels: Conversations with Trusted Election Sources, a new series from ASD where Elections Integrity Fellow David Levine discusses the successes and lessons learned from the 2022 U.S. primaries with the people who p [...]
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 [...]