Authoritarian powers are challenging the democratic world on every front, using military force, economic coercion, disinformation, and subversion to expand their influence and weaken open societies. Russia and China lead this effort, joined by partners such as Iran and North Korea, in an authoritarian alignment that spans hard security, technology, and the global economy. This hub is the gateway to analysis of the authoritarian threat: Russian aggression and hybrid tactics, Chinese influence over trade and technology, energy coercion, and the campaigns aimed at eroding trust in democratic institutions. Fellows and analysts assess how Russian aggression and Chinese influence reinforce this authoritarian alignment, where these regimes are vulnerable, and how the transatlantic community can push back. Explore analysis and commentary across the threats that authoritarian states pose to Europe and North America.
Authoritarian Threats
Russian Cyberattacks Are Hardening Europe’s Resolve
No Result Found
September 4, 2018
A Cure For Chaos
It is not Russia that is strong; it is the West that is weak.
August 31, 2018
Transatlantic Turbulence
Now, with a resurgent and revanchist Russia, European security is front and center again.
August 31, 2018
The Belorussian Front
August 28, 2018
Question More
The “anti-vax” movement, which claims that vaccines are a commercial conspiracy and cause autism, is almost non-existent in Russia: 98% of children there receive the measles jab. But that has not stopped the Kremlin’s disinformation machine from stoking the American medical-culture wars over immunization. The most controversial part of this stunt was promoting spurious arguments […]
August 21, 2018
Sputnik Spreads False Facts About Latvia
Valentin Rozentsov, editor-in-chief of Sputnik Latvia, claims he was detained at Riga airport on 4 July and interrogated at the headquarters of the Security Police for almost 12 hours about his work. His claims are false and are part of Russia’s effort to undermine Latvian authorities.
August 21, 2018
Putin’s Viennese Waltz
Under the right-wing coalition government which took office in December, Austria has been rattling nerves at home and abroad. It has infuriated Italy by offering passports to German-speakers in South Tirol, reopening a long-buried feud over the former Austro-Hungarian territory’s ethnic and linguistic identity. It has infuriated Israel, and observant Jews, by scheduling an EU summit that will start […]
August 14, 2018
In The Kremlin’s Shadow
Ankara may not like what it finds in the Kremlin’s shadow. Turkey will look for new friends and allies if the Trump administration mistreats it. That was Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s message in the New York Times on August 10th. The implied threat by the Turkish president was closer ties with the Kremlin, whose rhetoric depicts a sunny world of […]
August 3, 2018
The Art Of The Fake
So you thought cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, troll farms, and bot armies were a problem—well, you ain't seen nothing yet.
August 1, 2018
A Bridge Too Far