Authoritarian regimes like Russia and China use malign finance—the funding of foreign political parties, candidates, campaigns, well-connected elites, or politically influential groups, often through non-transparent structures designed to obfuscate ties to a nation state or its proxies—to interfere in democracies. Find ASD’s work on malign finance and the threat it poses to democracy on this page.
Interference Matters
Bribes and Backdoors: Huawei’s Lobbying Scandal Shakes the EU
Lindsay Gorman in Foreign Policy: Pineapple War Shows Taiwan Won’t Be Bullied by Beijing
If democracies are to stand up to Chinese coercion, they will have to join forces, Emerging Technologies Fellow Lindsay Gorman writes in Foreign Policy. This month, China banned imports of Taiwanese pineapples, the latest in a string of punitive t [...]
Bryce Barros on China’s Economic Influence with CEPA
China is reshaping the world’s economy. From infrastructure and investment to manufacturing and supply chain dependency, Chinese economic influence is becoming an increasingly important topic for policymakers in North America and Europe. How should [...]
Zack Cooper on ‘Net Assessment’: The Color of Money
Chris, Zack, and Melanie sit down to discuss U.S. sanctions programs and how to make them more effective. In a recent War on the Rocks article focused on sanctions, Edward Fishman argues that the United States needs to take a hard look at our econom [...]
Josh Rudolph Discusses How the U.K. Can Combat Russian Dirty Money with Chatham House
Malign Finance Fellow Josh Rudolph joined Chatham House for an event that explored how the Kremlin uses Russian money in London to exert influence over British politics. The United Kingdom has long attracted money from criminal and Kremlin-linked so [...]
Treasury Should Publish a National Corruption Risk Assessment
Summary Recommendation Within the first 100 days of the Biden administration, the U.S. Treasury Department should publish its first-ever National Corruption Risk Assessment about the financial networks of oligarchs and kleptocrats, reviewing case st [...]
Josh Rudolph Explains How the United States Can Combat Russian Kleptocracy on ‘The Power Vertical’
Malign Finance Fellow Josh Rudolph joined "The Power Vertical" to discuss how the Biden administration can combat corruption and kleptocracy. Russia’s banks can be as dangerous as Russia’s tanks. Corruption is the new Communism. The Kremlin’s black [...]
Here and Now: Chinese Interference in the Transatlantic Space
For several years, the Alliance for Securing Democracy (ASD) has been monitoring and cataloging instances of authoritarian interference in the transatlantic space. In 2018, ASD launched the Authoritarian Interference Tracker, an online database that [...]
The End of Anonymous Companies and the Rise of Corporate Transparency: The Campaign Moves from Congress to Statehouses
A Truly Historic Achievement Transparency advocates begin 2021 in a jubilant mood, as Congress on New Year’s Day overrode President Trump’s veto to pass the annual defense spending authorization. Included as a part of that law was the Corporate Tran [...]
Spies and Money: Legal Defenses Against Foreign Interference in Political Campaigns
Executive Summary In recent years, U.S. government officials have normalized a damaging notion: that soliciting or participating in foreign interference in a U.S. election will not be prosecuted. Foreign governments from Beijing to Moscow and else [...]
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 [...]
Treasury’s War on Corruption
Executive Summary: Mobilize the Regulatory Arsenal The incoming Biden administration has signaled through speeches, articles, and interviews that one of its top policy priorities will be combating corruption and kleptocracy.See Vice President Joe [...]
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 [...]