Authoritarian regimes are competing to create and control emerging technology to gain the upper hand in the global power competition, while democracies have the potential to harness emerging technology to strengthen democratic institutions and freedoms. From 5G to social media, find ASD’s work on emerging technology on this page.
Interference Matters
Could Satellite Broadband Combat the Digital Silk Road?
Nad’a Kovalčíková Discusses Disinformation, AI, and the Coronavirus Pandemic on ‘Human Rights Talks’
Program Manager and Fellow Nad’a Kovalčíková joined the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights for an interview as part of their “AI and Covid-19 Digital Disinformation Initiative” series in partnership with the Organization for Security a [...]
Nad’a Kovalčíková Discusses Disinformation, AI, and the Coronavirus Pandemic with MIGS
Program Manager and Fellow Nad’a Kovalčíková joined the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights for an interview as part of their "AI and Covid-19 Digital Disinformation Initiative" series in partnership with the Organization for Security a [...]
Nad’a Kovalčíková Discusses Disinformation, Tech in Europe on RTVS
Program Manager and Fellow Nad’a Kovalčíková spoke to RTVS on the occasion of the Vice President European Commissioner Věra Jourová’s virtual visit to Slovakia. She commented on the Commission’s European Democracy Action Plan, other recent efforts t [...]
Lindsay Gorman Discusses the Future of Transatlantic Technology Policy on ‘Brussels Sprouts’
ASD Emerging Technologies Fellow Lindsay Gorman and CNAS' Martijn Rasser join Carisa Nietsche to discuss future priorities and approaches on technology policy within the transatlantic alliance on CNAS' "Brussels Sprouts" podcast. Brussels Sprouts · [...]
On 5G, Is Germany Selling Out Europe to China?
Senior Fellow Kristine Berzina moderated this GMF Face Off debate on the question "On 5G, is Germany selling out Europe to China?". She was joined by Reinhard Bütikofer (agree), a member of the European Parliament, Alliance 90/The Greens, and Julia [...]
Censorship and the Capitol Riot: How Big Tech Became the Target of Russian, Chinese, and Iranian Messaging
Overview Since the riot at the U.S. capitol on January 6, there has been a clear element of schadenfreude in Iranian, Russian, and Chinese state media coverage of political and social disunion in the United States. That adversarial state media outle [...]
Defending Democracy in the Digital World: A Conversation with Lindsay Gorman and Marietje Schaake
In 2020, the role of technology as a playing field in the geopolitical struggle between democracy and authoritarianism was magnified. While some governments like China seized control of their information environments; democracies were disadvantaged [...]
Zack Cooper and Laura Rosenberger in Foreign Affairs: Democratic Values Are a Competitive Advantage
The contest with authoritarianism requires the United States to understand its strengths. Upon winning the presidency, Joe Biden promised to lead “not by the example of our power, but by the power of our example.” That pledge is important, because [...]
Our Experts’ 2021 Foreign Interference Policy Wishlist
Every December, the Alliance for Securing Democracy team tries to take a step back and look at the foreign interference landscape, and to take stock of where new laws and policies would have the greatest impact at strengthening our institutions from [...]
The Weaponized Web: Levers in the Digital Advertising Ecosystem
This paper is the first in a series on technology policy through the lens of national security, published in partnership with the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School. Introduction Open societies have [...]
2021 NDAA: Malign Finance, Cyber Operations, and Artificial Intelligence Take Center Stage in Congress’ Fight against Authoritarian Interference
The United States Congress passed the William M. Thornberry Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, an annual bill (generally known as the NDAA) that designates funding for the Department of Defense, on a bipartisan basis. Priorities outline [...]
ASD Event Summary: Linking Values and Strategy: How Democracies Can Outcompete Autocracies
On December 10, the Alliance for Securing Democracy hosted a virtual event with Ambassador Eric Edelman, Ambassador Samantha Power, and Dr. Kori Schake on steps the United States can take to regain the initiative in the emerging competition with aut [...]