Recent analysis

Programs

The Atlantic Council Technology Programs comprises five existing efforts—the Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab), the GeoTech Center, the Cyber Statecraft Initiative, the Democracy + Tech Initiative, and the Capacity Building Initiative. These operations work together to address the geopolitical implications of technology and provide policymakers and global stakeholders necessary research, insights, and convenings to address challenges around global technology and ensure its responsible advancement.

Content

Article

May 7, 2019

Anti-LGBT Facebook Posts Proliferate in Georgia Before Tbilisi Pride

By Eto Buziashvili

Anti-Western and far-right Facebook pages began to disseminate anti-LGBT content following the announcement of Georgia’s first-ever large-scale pride event.

Disinformation English

Article

May 2, 2019

Armenia Assailed by Deceptive “Fact-Checking” Groups, Part 2: The Coordination

By Zarine Kharazian, Eto Buziashvili, and Yulia Reshitko

Two Armenian Facebook pages masqueraded as impartial fact-checking organizations to discredit the government of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Civil Society Disinformation

Article

May 2, 2019

Armenia Assailed by Deceptive “Fact-Checking” Groups, Part 1: The Players

By Zarine Kharazian, Eto Buziashvili, and Yulia Reshitko

The DFRLab has uncovered a sophisticated influence operation with the aim of discrediting Nikol Pashinyan and his supporters under the hashtag #SutNikol.

Civil Society Disinformation

New Atlanticist

May 1, 2019

How the West can confront a resurgent Russia

By David A. Wemer

The United States, working with its allies and democratic partners, can push back against Russian aggression, which has been marked by interference in elections in the United States and Europe; the harassment, invasion, and annexation of neighbors; and the propping up of despots in places such as Syria and Venezuela.

Defense Policy Disinformation

Testimony

May 1, 2019

Fried Testifies Before House Foreign Affairs on Countering a Resurgent Russia

By Atlantic Council

Ambassador Daniel Fried appears before House Committee on Foreign Affairs during a hearing on “Countering a Resurgent Russia” on May 1, 2019.

Disinformation Elections

UkraineAlert

Apr 25, 2019

10 ways the west should engage with Ukraine after 2019 elections

By Chatham House

Five years after the annexation of Crimea and the instigation of conflict in the Donbas, the reasons for continued sanctions on Russia have not gone away. Crimea is still occupied. War grinds on in the Donbas. Ukraine held presidential elections this spring and will hold parliamentary elections in the fall. Whatever the results, events in […]

Defense Policy Disinformation

Report

Apr 22, 2019

US international broadcasting: recommendations from the Eurasian experience

By Thomas Kent

Perhaps the most important US tool for contesting these narratives, directly to the populations Moscow targets, is US international broadcasting.

Corruption Democratic Transitions
Pakistan Army's Covert Social Network

Article

Apr 1, 2019

Pakistan Army’s Covert Social Network

By Ben Nimmo and Kanishk Karan

Individuals linked to the Pakistan Army’s public-relations division ran a network of covert Facebook and Instagram pages until Facebook removed the pages.

Disinformation English

Program Impact Story

Apr 1, 2019

#Ukraine’s presidential election

By Atlantic Council

On April 1, the Eurasia Center hosted a public event discussing the first round of the Ukrainian presidential elections. The 2019 presidential election has been a pivotal event in Ukraine’s history. Anticipating attempts at outside interference in the election, the Atlantic Council, the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, and the Transatlantic Commission on Election Integrity established a […]

Disinformation Elections

UkraineAlert

Mar 29, 2019

Whoever wins Ukraine’s presidential race, Russia has already lost

By Peter Dickinson

It’s election season on Kremlin TV, but the presidential campaign receiving wall-to-wall coverage from Russia’s federal channels is taking place across the border in Ukraine. This is hardly surprising. Moscow’s obsession with all things Ukrainian is well-documented and reflects the centrality of information operations to Vladimir Putin’s five-year hybrid war against Ukraine. What’s interesting about […]

Conflict Defense Policy

Experts