Russia has long been waging operations against democracies using all of the asymmetric tools ASD tracks—information manipulation, cyberattacks, malign finance, civil society subversion, and state economic coercion. The Kremlin’s geographic scope in conducting operations to undermine democracy continues to expand and its tactics continue to evolve. Find ASD’s work on Russia’s attempts to interfere in democracies on this page.
Hamilton Weekly Report: June 27-July 3, 2020
Overview Besides the ubiquitous coverage of the coronavirus, Russia, China, and Iran’s state media and government messengers last week hit on familiar themes for each of their respective countries. For Russia, that meant elevating claims of “Russoph [...]
Kristine Berzina on the Open Skies Treaty on Al Jazeera
Senior Fellow Kristine Berzina explained that the Open Skies Treaty matters for U.S.-Russia bilateral relations, but the security concerns that the treaty was set up to address are also European concerns. [...]
A Note on Coming Updates to the Authoritarian Interference Tracker
The Alliance for Securing Democracy’s Authoritarian Interference Tracker maps and catalogs over 400 instances of Russian state-sponsored efforts to undermine democracy in over 40 countries. The Tracker documents five tools authoritarian regimes use [...]
Nad’a Kovalčíková Joins a Panel Discussion on Disinformation in Europe after Coronavirus on the Europe After Coronavirus Podcast
Program Manager and Fellow Nad’a Kovalčíková joined Jorge Tuñón of University Carlos III of Madrid and Emma Briant of Bard College to discuss disinformation in Europe after the Coronavirus "infodemic" on El País’ Agenda Pública and OpenEUDebate's Eu [...]
Laura Rosenberger on Countering Chinese and Russian Digital Influence Operations with CNAS
Director Laura Rosenberger joined a panel of experts convened by the Center for a New American Security for a webinar discussion entitled "Countering China and Russian Influence Operations." [...]
Russian Coronavirus Aid to Italy: The Mask Falls Off
Since February of this year, as the coronavirus pandemic has swept the globe, China has been engaging in what media commentators are calling “mask diplomacy”—the sale or donation of medical supplies to countries battling the terrible disease. Russia [...]
Laura Rosenberger on China’s Adoption of Russian Disinformation Tactics in Axios
Director Laura Rosenberger explained that the Chinese party-state's information manipulation tactics in the past few weeks have diverged from what we've seen in the past in Axios. She pointed out three main tactics that Beijing has applied in its co [...]
Chinese and Russian State-Owned Media on the Coronavirus: United Against the West?
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 [...]
Jessica Brandt on Russian Election Interference in Wired
Russia has amplified conspiracy theories suggesting that delays in reporting Iowa caucus results were part of an effort to deny Senator Bernie Sanders a win, as well as theories purporting murky ties between other candidates and the company that cre [...]
Hamilton 2.0 – Analysis 3 – Why the Jeffrey Epstein saga was the Russian government-funded media’s top story of 2019
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 [...]
Bret Schafer Discusses Russian Interference in African American Activist Movements on WPFW – Pacifica
Media and Disinformation Fellow Bret Schafer joined David Rabin on WPFW - Pacifica to discuss how Russia has interfered in African American activist movements and how Russia will continue to try to increase polarization throughout the U.S. ahead of [...]
Russian Malign Finance and U.S. Economic Statecraft: The Indirect Approach
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 [...]