The new report highlights the risks of foreign interference in the US and other democracies

“In this election year in liberal democracies, concerns about foreign influence have only grown, amplified by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China’s assertive foreign policy and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” says a new report special of the Council. Foreign influence and democratic governance.

The author, a senior member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) for global governance, Miles Kahlersays that “malign foreign influence should be defined and assessed, countermeasures developed, and the risks associated with such responses carefully assessed.”

While the report states that “foreign influence conducted in an open, legal, and transparent manner contributes to the success of U.S. foreign policy,” it clarifies that “malign foreign influence” aims to affect the internal politics through “coercive, corrupting, deceptive or clandestine”. means.”

Kahler identifies three key avenues of influence: money, information and people.

money

As for money, he notes that “the oldest form of foreign influence remains one of the most widespread.” Money and other material benefits are used to “win the favor of the elite; support favored political parties and candidates; finance expensive lobbying campaigns; and induce self-censorship by private corporations, think tanks, and universities.”

information

Regarding the manipulation of information, “foreign use of information for tactical reasons, such as election meddling” attracts a lot of public attention. He attributes the resurgence of foreign use of disinformation to “growing distrust and deregulation of the mainstream media; the disappearance of credible local news sources; and the rise of new Internet-based social networks, which have become the main sources of news for the public.”

But Kahler emphasizes that authoritarian regimes also aim to “alter perceptions of their regimes and change the foreign policies of democracies” over time through their influence on cultural industries, universities and think tanks.

people

Kahler points out that authoritarian governments have long sought political allies across borders. Globalization has added new dimensions to the landscape of foreign influence, as authoritarian regimes allow travel and migration, and diasporas—communities with ties to their former homelands—become their targets for manipulation and intimidation.

Response to malignant foreign influence

Kahler highlights four tasks for responding to malignant foreign influence:

• “accurate assessment of the scale of foreign influence and its effects”
• “Careful assessment of responses, given threat assessment”
• “assessment of the risks, international and national, associated with these responses”
• “identification of the deficiencies of national institutions and policies necessary to adequately protect democratic governance”

Kahler concludes that the resilience of our political institutions and practices, fixing the “deficiencies of American democracy,” is key to reducing malign foreign influence. It points to loopholes in campaign finance laws, weak protection of personal data and a lack of civic education about disinformation, among other vulnerabilities.

Kahler also stresses that building “internal consensus” on the democratic response is crucial, warning that without it, “the political divide will provide a ready entry point for malign foreign actors.” He argues that exaggerating the risks of foreign influence can also lead to harmful responses by increasing backlash against immigrant communities and undermining beneficial international relations.

Finally, he considers it unlikely that there will be an international consensus, but supporting the international debate on the issue “could provide a platform for democracies to advance the goal of societies that remain open and secure to establish their own future.”

to read Foreign influence and democratic governancevisit www.cfr.org/foreign-influence.

To interview Professor Kahler, please get in touch (email protected).