ASD contributes long and short form research products and analysis to inform and engage our audience on a range of issues related to malign foreign interference. In addition, we develop policy recommendations and strategies to close vulnerabilities and safeguard institutions from authoritarian threats.
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Securing Democracy Dispatch
Announcements From June 14 to June 18, 2021, the German Marshall Fund will convene the 16th edition of Brussels Forum under the theme “Reimagining Democracy.” We will be joined by leading stakeholders from the United States and Europe for our discu [...]
Biden Puts Oligarchs on Notice
While President Joe Biden’s critics have been arguing that sitting down with Putin on June 16 would look weak and wobbly, White House officials have kept their heads down and laid the groundwork for what could become the most sweeping policy initiat [...]
How To Retain Election Officials To Secure Future Elections
Introduction The 2020 presidential election was called the most secure in U.S. history, largely due to efforts to protect the nation’s different physical and cyber infrastructure. This was a triumph considering the physical, cyber, and even human [...]
Belarus Is Part of Europe’s Russia Problem
For years, Alexander Lukashenko has been a problem frequently discussed but easily forgotten. When Belarus forced Ryanair flight FR4978 to land in Minsk and arrested Raman Pratasevich and Sofia Sapega, it took away the freedom and security not only [...]
Securing Democracy Dispatch
Our Take The United States lacks a comprehensive law to regulate Americans' data, opening up vulnerabilities that foreign governments like China and Russia can use to surveil Americans, track intelligence assets or military personnel, develop targe [...]
Q&A with David Levine: How Does Arizona’s ‘Audit’ Compare To What Audits Are Supposed To Be?
Last month—nearly five months after Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 election— Arizona Republicans began an “audit” of millions of ballots in Arizona’s largest county, which President Biden won by 45,109 votes. The state Senate hired a [...]
2021 German Elections Dashboard Analysis: Russian State-Backed Media Narratives on Covid-19, Vaccines, Ukraine, and Nord Stream 2
March and April Monitoring: Russian State-Backed Media ASD and GMF analyzed data from the German Elections Dashboard to understand the narratives that state-backed actors are pushing ahead of the German federal elections in September. In March and [...]
The Weaponized Web: The National Security Implications of Data
This paper is the second 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. Read the first paper on the digita [...]
Securing Democracy Dispatch
Our Take Democratic backsliding is contagious. Democracies must support one another, share lessons learned, and operate in an alliance to fight against the rise of authoritarianism and build more resilient societies, Director Laura Thornton told Ge [...]
Hamilton Analysis: Chinese Propaganda Uses Latest Israeli-Palestinian Violence to Criticize United States
Overview Over the past ten days, renewed violence in Israel and the Palestinian Territories has become a major story in the global news cycle. Russia, China, and Iran have each devoted significant coverage to the situation, but Chinese diplomats and [...]
The Good Web: Tensions in Democratic Responses to Authoritarian Technology Threats
In April 2021, ASD held a security and geopolitics workshop as part of the Good Web project entitled “Tensions: Authoritarian Internet Threats and Democratic Responses,” in which participants debated the merits of different responses democracies hav [...]
The Good Web: Is There an Authoritarian Model for the Internet?
What Countries Buy Into When They Buy Authoritarian Technologies In February 2021, ASD held a security and geopolitics workshop as part of the Good Web project entitled “Authoritarian Models, Practices, and Threats,” in which participants discussed [...]