Strategic disinformation and the 2020 election

By J Michael Waller / American Greatness / November 23, 2020 – Foreign manipulation of America’s 2020 vote count to help Joe Biden is crazy talk. At least that’s what a lot of people believe, with even supporters of President Trump attacking the initial evidence and the messengers. After the debunked Russian collusion narrative, the … Read more

The Center gave 13 reasons in 2017 for an expanded, bipartisan Russia probe. How did we do?

J Michael Waller / Center for Security Policy / October 18, 2020 More than three years ago, the Center for Security Policy called for expanding bipartisan federal investigations into Russian interference in American politics. That didn’t happen. President Trump’s opposition didn’t want it to. It’s easier than ever to see in hindsight. Studying history, though, … Read more

Wuhan Virus propaganda timeline update, April 23-25

by J Michael Waller / Center for Security Policy / April 27, 2020 – China’s pandemic propaganda and disinformation are so extensive that we’re making our daily Wuhan Virus chronology project more usable by issuing updates at least twice a week as separate stories. This is the first of the series, covering April 23-25. Of course we’ll … Read more

China militarizes pandemic disinformation & propaganda

J Michael Waller / Center for Security Policy / March 31, 2020 – Beijing has now militarized its pandemic propaganda. The Chinese military has laid out a strong, harshly anti-US line, blaming the United States for the worldwide coronavirus pandemic and saying that the world should be grateful to the Chinese regime for its generosity … Read more

Pompeo rallies G7 to counter Chinese Communist Party disinformation

J Michael Waller / Center for Security Policy / March 28, 2020 – For the first time in a generation, an American secretary of state has worked with foreign leaders to aggressively coordinate a strategy against foreign state-sponsored disinformation. Secretary Mike Pompeo worked with six of America’s closest allies and economic partners to counter Communist China’s … Read more

‘Deepfakes’ – Artificial intelligence-powered videos – can be weaponized for political & military

Senator Marco Rubio and I discussed the dangers of “deepfakes” – artificial intelligence-powered fake videos that can impersonate real people. Bill Gertz broke the story in the Free Beacon. “Michael Waller, an information warfare expert, said deepfakes also could be used by U.S. intelligence agencies for offensive information warfare operations against hostile states or terrorist … Read more

At the Atlantic Council, discussing how to combat Russian disinformation

The Atlantic Council sponsored an innovative and badly needed #DisinfoWeek to pay serious attention to Russian disinformation and how to combat it. The event, featuring speakers and experts from North America and Europe, wound up on Friday, June 30, with an off-the-record discussion about what to do next. Dr. Waller was among the invited participants. … Read more

Die-hard KGB men still plant forged documents to pollute our thinking

by J Michael Waller / Forbes / September 3, 2014. “A once-feared KGB general now sits on suicide watch in a Vienna jail, a tawdry end to terrible tale. His strange story is a case study of how the former KGB uses forged documents to influence Western reporters, diplomats and politicians.” That’s the lead of my piece in Forbes, … Read more