The Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab invites you to join us virtually for the launch of our newest report, China’s Discourse Power Operations in the Global South on Wednesday, May 4 from 11:00 AM -12:00 PM ET. 

As China’s military and economic power has grown, so too has its investment in propaganda and influence operations. Beijing refers to this as “discourse power”: a strategy to increase China’s standing on the world stage by promoting pro-China narratives while criticizing geopolitical rivals. The end goal is to shape a world that is more amenable to China’s expressions, and expansion, of power. 

Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East are at the forefront of China’s discourse power push. Yet these areas of the world have received comparatively less attention in policy and research spaces than Chinese propaganda efforts in Western countries. In the meantime, China’s activities in these regions contribute to the erosion of space for organic civil society discourse, and also serve to further entrench existing autocratic regimes.

The report, authored by DFRLab Resident Fellow Kenton Thibaut, illuminates China’s strategy in these regions and provides an initial assessment of the impacts of its efforts. 

Join us on May 4 to hear Thibaut present the findings of this novel research and to hear from an expert panel exploring the impact of Chinese “discourse power” strategies on the democratic resilience of countries around the world.

Moderator

Caitlin Dearing Scott
Deputy Director, Strategy, Development, and Operations
Center for Global Impact, International Republican Institute

Panelists

Kenton Thibaut
Resident China Fellow
DFRLab, Atlantic Council

Pepe Zhang
Associate Director and Fellow
Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center, Atlantic Council

Dawn C. Murphy
Associate Professor of International Security
USAF Air War College

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