The Evolution of Authoritarian Digital Influence: Grappling with the New Normal
Posted on Tuesday August 29 2023
By Shanthi Kalathil, PRISM, October 21, 2020
As the world contends with the wide-ranging ramifications of the global COVID-19 pandemic, it has been simultaneously beset by the global information crisis, which mimics the shape of the pandemic itself in its viral effects across huge segments of the global population. Misinformation—unwittingly spread false information—is rampant. Overarching narratives, targeted propaganda, and particularly disinformation—the deliberate generation of false or misleading information designed to engender public cynicism or uncertainty—are being piped into the global information bloodstream in large quantities. While some of this comes from domestic political actors, determined authoritarian regimes and their proxies have been quick to seize this window of opportunity for asymmetric transnational impact. Many of those targeted, including governments, institutions, and segments of societies, have been too overwhelmed to respond effectively.
Ambassador Charles Ray: Three articles on Why Africa Matters
Posted on Monday July 10 2023
Our August 2023 speaker, Ambassador Charles Ray, thought the following articles would provide a helpful background for his presentation on Why Africa Matters.
“Does Africa Matter to the United States?” by Charles A. Ray, Foreign Policy Research Institute, January 11, 2021.
Most Americans generally have one of two images of Africa: a primitive home of famine, disease, and civil war, or an idyllic motherland. Neither image is entirely correct. While Africa does have more than its fair share of problems and is the homeland of many Americans, it is a diverse continent of more than 50 nations and hundreds of ethnicities and languages; Africa is also the youngest continent in the world with a host of possibilities for the future. Other than those Americans of African ancestry, does this matter to the people of the United States? Should it matter? Why do we even need to ask this question? We rarely ever see articles about whether or not Europe or Asia matters to the United States. For a whole host of reasons, the answer to these questions is yes… To continue reading, click here.
“Cameroon: Africa’s Unseen Crisis” by Hermann A. Ndofor and Charles A. Ray, Foreign Policy Research Institute, May 9, 2022.
In terms of international attention, not all conflicts are equal. Some, like Russia’s war against Ukraine, receive the lion’s share of global media coverage and diplomatic engagement. Others, sadly, are ignored by the vast majority of foreign policy experts. The crisis in Cameroon, the site of one of the world’s unseen wars for nearly six years, falls into that latter category. This Central African country of 26 million people has been locked in a series of conflicts, ranging from fighting between the Francophone central government and Anglophone separatists in southern Cameroon to interethnic clashes in the country’s north. Killings, kidnappings, and internal displacement of people fleeing the violence, if left unchecked, could lead to another Rwanda-type catastrophe. Over 6,000 people have been killed and nearly one million people have already been displaced by the ongoing violence in the country. The presence of Boko Haram in the north, growing ties between Cameroon and Russia, and the recent introduction of the Kremlin-linked private military company, the Wagner Group, only adds fuel to an already volatile situation. To continue reading, click here.
“US-Africa Leaders Summit: New Beginning or Old Wine in a New Bottle? by Charles A. Ray, Foreign Policy Research Institute, December 22, 2022.
Delegates from forty-nine African countries and the African Union traveled to the United States to attend the US-Africa Leaders Summit earlier this month. Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea, and Sudan were not invited because the African Union has suspended them over unconstitutional changes in government, and Eritrea was excluded because the United States does not currently have diplomatic relations with that nation. According to a senior Biden administration official, the summit was to focus on “deepening and expanding the long-term US-Africa partnership and advancing shared priorities, amplifying African voices to collaboratively meet this era’s defining challenges.” The United States announced major initiatives in the lead-up to the summit, which included US support for making the African Union a member of the G-20, and the promise of $55 billion to Africa over the next three years. This was the first US-Africa Leaders Summit since August 2014. While there was hope that the 2022 summit would reverse the decades of benign neglect of Africa in US policymaking, it was not without its skeptics. To continue reading, click here.
‘It’s good to think strategically’: Thomas E Ricks on civil rights and January 6
Posted on Saturday July 1 2023
By Martin Pengelly, The Guardian, October 8, 2022.
“There is a direct connection from Freedom Summer to the January 6 committee,” says Thomas E Ricks as he discusses his new book, Waging a Good War: A Military History of the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1968. Freedom Summer was a 1964 campaign to draw attention to violence faced by Black people in Mississippi when they tried to vote. The House January 6 committee will soon conclude its hearings on the Capitol riot of 2021, when supporters of Donald Trump attacked American democracy itself.
But the committee is chaired by Bennie Thompson. In his opening statement, in June, the Democrat said: “I was born, raised, and still live in Bolton, Mississippi … I’m from a part of the country where people justify the actions of slavery, Ku Klux Klan and lynching. I’m reminded of that dark history as I hear voices today try and justify the actions of the insurrectionists of 6 January 2021.” Ricks is reminded of the insurrectionists as he retells that grim history. Watching the January 6 hearings, he says, he “was looking at Bennie Thompson. And I realised, his career follows right on. To continue reading, click here.
Amna Nawaz Interviews & Reports
Posted on Thursday June 1 2023
Our June 2023 speaker, Amna Nawaz, thought the following videos would provide a helpful background for her presentation On the Frontlines: Reporting Overseas and Here at Home.
“Secretary of State Blinken discusses U.S. immigration policy as Title 42 ends,” PBS NewsHour, May 11, 2023
With COVID restrictions at the border expiring, the U.S. is preparing for a surge of migrants. The White House said it plans to crackdown on illegal crossings and foster legal pathways for migrants. Amna Nawaz discussed that policy with Secretary of State Antony Blinken. To watch the video click here.
“Mark Frerichs on what his freedom means after being held hostage in Afghanistan for years,” PBS NewsHour, Jan 10, 2023
This is the story of Mark Frerichs, a 60-year-old American contractor from Lombard, Illinois, who was kidnapped and held in Afghanistan for 32 months. U.S. officials believe he was held by the Taliban-allied Haqqani group. Frerichs was freed in September 2022. In the second part of his first TV interview, he joins Amna Nawaz to discuss his captivity and release. To watch the video click here.
“Afghan women, girls push for education in the face of Taliban resistance,” PBS NewsHour, Jul 14, 2022
Since reclaiming power of Afghanistan nearly one year ago, the Taliban have significantly rolled back rights for women and girls. The extremist government has also barred hundreds of thousands of girls from attending school. Pashtana Durrani, the executive director of LEARN Afghanistan and a visiting fellow at Wellesley College’s Centers for Women, joins Amna Nawaz to discuss. To watch the video click here.
Christopher Costa: Two articles on future terrorism threats
Posted on Tuesday April 25 2023
Our May 2023 speaker, Christopher Costa, thought the following articles would provide a helpful background for his presentation on Counterterrorism and the Future Terrorism Threat.
The world has entered the fifth wave of anti-government terrorism,” by Christopher Costa, The Hill, January 12, 2023.
In light of a failed far-right coup in December in Germany, fueled by ideologically and historically incoherent fantasies, a global trend is coming into sharper focus. This new trajectory reveals a dangerous hybridization of extremist ideologies and is distinguished by anti-government terrorism… To continue reading, click here.
“Lone wolf terrorism is far from yesterday’s threat,” by Christopher Costa, The Hill, February 3, 2023.
A radicalized ISIS-inspired terrorist was convicted on a raft of charges by a federal jury and could now face the death penalty. The ISIS wannabe, Sayfullo Saipov, killed eight people in the deadliest terrorist attack in New York City since 9/11. He was a self-radicalized, lone wolf terrorist waging “leaderless jihad.” The facts that emerged in the aftermath of the attack are hauntingly familiar to me… To continue reading, click here.
Cyberwar in Ukraine: What You See Is Not What’s Really There
Posted on Sunday April 2 2023
By Susan Landau Friday, September 30, 2022, 8:01 AM
It has been seven months since Russia invaded Ukraine. Despite much speculation, many aspects of the war have ultimately not turned out as expected. The war wasn’t, as Russia had anticipated, a six-day rout—or even a six-month one. And notably, cyber didn’t, as some had predicted, play a major role in Russian efforts to take over Ukraine. Russia was expected to wage cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure; its attacks, while sophisticated, have had less impact than envisioned. Meanwhile, even in the middle of what is turning out to be a more demanding war than Russian leadership had anticipated, Russia is focusing on a strategy of undermining the West through information warfare. This war has demonstrated strategic cyber issues below the surface, including the failure of effective cyberattacks occurring alongside kinetic offensives, Russia’s long-term use of information warfare, and effective collaboration between U.S. industry and the U.S. government in preventing the worst of the cyberattacks. These have important long-term implications for the international defense strategies of the United States and other Western democracies. [To continue click here.
Ukraine gave up nuclear weapons at our behest. Here’s what we owe them.
Posted on Saturday March 4 2023
By Jon B. Wolfsthal, The Washington Post, February 10, 2023
The world is on the cusp of a dangerous new nuclear era, and the war in Ukraine might be a glimpse of what is to come. Reflecting this, the hands of the iconic Doomsday Clock, an indicator reflecting the opinion of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists as to how close humanity finds itself to self-destruction, were recently moved up 10 seconds — to 90 seconds to midnight. This is the closest they have ever been to Armageddon.
Derek Mitchell: Three articles on democracy and international security
Posted on Friday February 3 2023
Ambassador Derek Mitchell thought the following three articles would provide a helpful background for his February 2023 presentation on Democracy and International Security.
“The Ground Game: Supporting Democracy Must Be Part of America’s Global Strategy,” by Derek Mitchell, The Hill,
Today’s International Day of Democracy offers an opportunity to review the state of global democracy and also democracy’s essential, if often overlooked role, in U.S. global strategy. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, along with China’s and Russia’s freshly minted “no limits” partnership, emerging alliance with brutal authoritarians around the world, and unapologetic affirmation of illiberal values at home and abroad, validate the Biden administration’s view that the contest between democracy and autocracy is a defining challenge of our times… To continue reading, click here.
“All Democracy Is Global: Why America Can’t Shrink from the Fight for Freedom,” by Larry Diamond, Foreign Affairs, September/October 2022
The world is mired in a deep, diffuse, and protracted democratic recession. According to Freedom House, 2021 was the 16th consecutive year in which more countries declined in freedom than gained. Tunisia, the sole democracy to emerge from the Arab Spring protests that began in 2010, is morphing into a dictatorship. In countries as diverse as Bangladesh, Hungary, and Turkey, elections have long ceased to be democratic… To continue reading, click here.
“The Bad Guys Are Winning,” by Anne Applebaum, TheAtlantic, November 15, 2021
The Future of Democracy may well be decided in a drab office building on the outskirts of Vilnius, alongside a highway crammed with impatient drivers heading out of town. I met Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya there this spring, in a room that held a conference table, a whiteboard, and not much else. Her team—more than a dozen young journalists, bloggers, vloggers, and activists—was in the process of changing offices. But that wasn’t the only reason the space felt stale and perfunctory… To continue reading, click here.
The revenge of history in Ukraine: year of war has shaken up world order
Posted on Friday December 30 2022
By Patrick Wintour, The Guardian, December 26, 2022
The Ukrainian writer Oksana Zabuzhko recalls a quote attributed to Otto von Bismarck: “Wars are not won by generals, but by schoolteachers and parish priests.” It’s a country’s taught collective memory, its shared sense of its own history, that are the decisive instruments for mobilisation, and are as important on the battlefield as weaponry.
Few conflicts have been so shaped by the chief actors’ sense of their own national story as the Ukrainian war that began in February. It is the competing grand narratives of the past, not just in Russia and Ukraine, but in Germany, France, Poland, the Baltics, the UK, the US, and even the global south, that make this war so hard to resolve.
Indeed, sometimes this war feels less like the end of history and more like the revenge of history.
Made with Bravery: the Story of Ukrainian Startup Resilience
Posted on Friday December 30 2022
Produced and Directed by Dan Herman, Go To Jupiter Productions Inc., November 2, 2022
From coffee shops to bomb shelters, work-life balance to work-war balance, “Made with Bravery: the Story of Ukrainian Startup Resilience” profiles how Ukraine’s startup ecosystem has reacted and adapted to life amidst over 200 days of full-scale Russian invasion, and how the lessons learned from war will help Ukraine scale to new heights in the world of innovation and technology. Filmed in September 2022 in Kyiv and Lviv, Ukraine.
Dan Golden: Op-ed, NYT book review, and book excerpt
Posted on Monday December 5 2022
Below you will find an op-ed written by Dan Golden as well as a New York Times book review of and except from his recent book on cybercrime. Dan thought these readings would provide a helpful background for his December 2022 presentation.
“Why the F.B.I. Is So Far Behind on Cybercrime,” by Dan Golden, The New York Times, November 6, 2022
There are many factors behind the stunning rise of ransomware. Our reporting found that one of the most important is the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s outmoded approach to computer crime targeting people and institutions in the United States… To continue reading, click here.
“Who You Gonna Call? The Ransomware Hunting Team,” by Josephine Wolff, TheNew York Times, October 24, 2022
In their new book, The Ransomware Hunting Team: A Band of Misfits’ Improbable Crusade to Save the World From Cybercrime, Renee Dudley and Daniel Golden explain how a ragtag band of international tech nerds have defended the defenseless against cybercrime… To read the review, click here.
“How Teams of Volunteer Technologists Hunt Down Ransomware Gangs,” by Renee Dudley and Daniel Golden, Gizmodo,
In an excerpt from their new book, writers Renee Dudley and Daniel Golden take readers inside the complex and mysterious world of the hacker underground… To read the excerpt, click here.
Would Putin Roll the Nuclear Dice?
Posted on Tuesday November 1 2022
By Steven Pifer, Time, October 18, 2022
Since Russia launched its most recent invasion of Ukraine in February, Moscow has threatened—sometimes subtly, other times explicitly—nuclear escalation should the war not go its way. Ukraine and the West have to take such threats seriously. But the Kremlin also needs to take their probable responses seriously and would have to weigh the substantial risks and costs of using a nuclear weapon.
Shortly after Russian forces assaulted Ukraine on Feb. 24, Vladimir Putin ordered a “special combat readiness” status for Russian nuclear forces. But it’s unclear what that means since the Pentagon has consistently said it sees no change in Russia’s nuclear posture. The alert may have amounted to little more than additional command post staffing.
We can’t afford US Congress wavering in its support for Ukraine
Posted on Tuesday November 1 2022
By Steven Pifer, The Guardian, October 27, 2022
On 24 October, 30 members of the House Democratic Progressive Caucus released a letter to Joe Biden calling for a “proactive diplomatic push” on Kyiv to work toward a ceasefire and “direct [US] engagement” with Moscow to end the Russia-Ukraine war. One week earlier, Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy’s no “blank check” for Ukraine comment raised questions about future congressional support for US assistance to that embattled country.
The letter, even though it has now been withdrawn, and McCarthy’s comment are unfortunate. Vladimir Putin will take encouragement from both as Russia wages its war. The suggestion of cracks in US backing for Ukraine will increase his incentives to continue fighting.
Taliban facing backlash after U.S. drone strike against al-Qaeda leader
Posted on Monday October 3 2022
By Pamela Constable, The Washington Post, August 2, 2022
KABUL — The U.S. drone strike that killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri here early Sunday also struck a humiliating blow against the Taliban regime, which had secretly hosted the aging extremist in the heart of the Afghan capital for months but failed to keep him safe. Just as the Taliban was preparing to celebrate its first year in power later this month, the attack has sparked a nationalistic backlash against the beleaguered regime at home and taunting comments on social media calling for revenge against the United States.
Beneath Kabul’s surprising veneer of normalcy, a precarious balancing act
Posted on Monday October 3 2022
By Pamela Constable, The Washington Post, August 11, 2022
KABUL — An uneasy calm has settled over the Afghan capital this summer, a wary detente between the country’s stern religious rulers and a deflated, worried populace that is struggling to survive but also relieved that the punishing 20-year war involving foreign troops is over. Both sides have been trying to maintain a precarious balancing act. The Taliban regime, hoping not to further alienate foreign donors, has been sending out muddled signals rather than ironclad orders on controversial topics, especially women’s rights. The citizenry, hoping to get through another hard day without crossing an unpredictable red line, is mostly lying low. But as the first anniversary of the Taliban’s return to power approaches next week, the balancing act has become harder to sustain.
The Evolution of Authoritarian Digital Influence: Grappling with the New Normal
Posted on Tuesday August 29
By Shanthi Kalathil, PRISM, October 21, 2020 As the world contends with the wide-ranging ramifications of the global COVID-19 pandemic, it has been simultaneously beset by the global information crisis, which mimics the shape of the pandemic itself in its viral effects across huge segments of the global population. Misinformation—unwittingly spread false information—is rampant. Overarching […]
Ambassador Charles Ray: Three articles on Why Africa Matters
Posted on Monday July 10
Our August 2023 speaker, Ambassador Charles Ray, thought the following articles would provide a helpful background for his presentation on Why Africa Matters. “Does Africa Matter to the United States?” by Charles A. Ray, Foreign Policy Research Institute, January 11, 2021. Most Americans generally have one of two images of Africa: a primitive home of famine, […]
‘It’s good to think strategically’: Thomas E Ricks on civil rights and January 6
Posted on Saturday July 1
By Martin Pengelly, The Guardian, October 8, 2022. “There is a direct connection from Freedom Summer to the January 6 committee,” says Thomas E Ricks as he discusses his new book, Waging a Good War: A Military History of the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1968. Freedom Summer was a 1964 campaign to draw attention to violence […]
Our June 2023 speaker, Amna Nawaz, thought the following videos would provide a helpful background for her presentation On the Frontlines: Reporting Overseas and Here at Home. “Secretary of State Blinken discusses U.S. immigration policy as Title 42 ends,” PBS NewsHour, May 11, 2023 With COVID restrictions at the border expiring, the U.S. is preparing […]
Christopher Costa: Two articles on future terrorism threats
Posted on Tuesday April 25
Our May 2023 speaker, Christopher Costa, thought the following articles would provide a helpful background for his presentation on Counterterrorism and the Future Terrorism Threat. The world has entered the fifth wave of anti-government terrorism,” by Christopher Costa, The Hill, January 12, 2023. In light of a failed far-right coup in December in Germany, fueled by ideologically and historically incoherent […]
Cyberwar in Ukraine: What You See Is Not What’s Really There
Posted on Sunday April 2
By Susan Landau Friday, September 30, 2022, 8:01 AM It has been seven months since Russia invaded Ukraine. Despite much speculation, many aspects of the war have ultimately not turned out as expected. The war wasn’t, as Russia had anticipated, a six-day rout—or even a six-month one. And notably, cyber didn’t, as some had predicted, […]
Ukraine gave up nuclear weapons at our behest. Here’s what we owe them.
Posted on Saturday March 4
By Jon B. Wolfsthal, The Washington Post, February 10, 2023 The world is on the cusp of a dangerous new nuclear era, and the war in Ukraine might be a glimpse of what is to come. Reflecting this, the hands of the iconic Doomsday Clock, an indicator reflecting the opinion of the Bulletin of the Atomic […]
Derek Mitchell: Three articles on democracy and international security
Posted on Friday February 3
Ambassador Derek Mitchell thought the following three articles would provide a helpful background for his February 2023 presentation on Democracy and International Security. “The Ground Game: Supporting Democracy Must Be Part of America’s Global Strategy,” by Derek Mitchell, The Hill, September 15, 2022 Today’s International Day of Democracy offers an opportunity to review the state of global […]
The revenge of history in Ukraine: year of war has shaken up world order
Posted on Friday December 30
By Patrick Wintour, The Guardian, December 26, 2022 The Ukrainian writer Oksana Zabuzhko recalls a quote attributed to Otto von Bismarck: “Wars are not won by generals, but by schoolteachers and parish priests.” It’s a country’s taught collective memory, its shared sense of its own history, that are the decisive instruments for mobilisation, and are […]
Made with Bravery: the Story of Ukrainian Startup Resilience
Posted on Friday December 30
Produced and Directed by Dan Herman, Go To Jupiter Productions Inc., November 2, 2022 From coffee shops to bomb shelters, work-life balance to work-war balance, “Made with Bravery: the Story of Ukrainian Startup Resilience” profiles how Ukraine’s startup ecosystem has reacted and adapted to life amidst over 200 days of full-scale Russian invasion, and how […]
Dan Golden: Op-ed, NYT book review, and book excerpt
Posted on Monday December 5
Below you will find an op-ed written by Dan Golden as well as a New York Times book review of and except from his recent book on cybercrime. Dan thought these readings would provide a helpful background for his December 2022 presentation. “Why the F.B.I. Is So Far Behind on Cybercrime,” by Dan Golden, The New […]
By Steven Pifer, Time, October 18, 2022 Since Russia launched its most recent invasion of Ukraine in February, Moscow has threatened—sometimes subtly, other times explicitly—nuclear escalation should the war not go its way. Ukraine and the West have to take such threats seriously. But the Kremlin also needs to take their probable responses seriously and […]
We can’t afford US Congress wavering in its support for Ukraine
Posted on Tuesday November 1
By Steven Pifer, The Guardian, October 27, 2022 On 24 October, 30 members of the House Democratic Progressive Caucus released a letter to Joe Biden calling for a “proactive diplomatic push” on Kyiv to work toward a ceasefire and “direct [US] engagement” with Moscow to end the Russia-Ukraine war. One week earlier, Republican House leader Kevin […]
Taliban facing backlash after U.S. drone strike against al-Qaeda leader
Posted on Monday October 3
By Pamela Constable, The Washington Post, August 2, 2022 KABUL — The U.S. drone strike that killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri here early Sunday also struck a humiliating blow against the Taliban regime, which had secretly hosted the aging extremist in the heart of the Afghan capital for months but failed to keep him safe. […]
Beneath Kabul’s surprising veneer of normalcy, a precarious balancing act
Posted on Monday October 3
By Pamela Constable, The Washington Post, August 11, 2022 KABUL — An uneasy calm has settled over the Afghan capital this summer, a wary detente between the country’s stern religious rulers and a deflated, worried populace that is struggling to survive but also relieved that the punishing 20-year war involving foreign troops is over. Both […]