Securing Democracy Dispatch

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Our Takes

“We have moved to a new era that… is about these societal level coalitions that pull in players that don’t necessarily interact with each other,” Christopher Walker of the National Endowment for Democracy said at last week’s ASD event in Brussels about how democratic governments and societies can bolster democratic resilience. Check out some of the other highlights here!

“There is no denying that information manipulation is a risk…The question is: have we grown smarter in our fight against it?” Senior Manager for Europe Vassilis Ntousas asked at a panel at Bucharest Forum 2023, hosted by Aspen Institute Romania and GMF. Watch the entire discussion here!

Hamilton 2.0 Analysis

Russian diplomats and state media focused on two main narratives this week:

• Israel-Hamas: Russia-backed accounts amplified UNICEF reports of Palestinian casualties and Gaza’s estimates of humanitarian losses, sharing videos of the aftermath of Israeli strikes on Gaza, and highlighting international support for Palestine. Notably, state-backed media also underscored French President Emmanuel Macron’s comments that Israeli authorities need to formulate concrete goals to avoid a protracted conflict.
• OSCE Ministerial Council: Russian state media closely covered the 30th Ministerial Council of the OSCE gathering in Skopje, North Macedonia and boosted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s speech that vilified the West, accusing US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken of “running away” and lamenting the ostracization of the Russian delegation. Russia-linked accounts also celebrated limited diplomatic successes such as sideline meetings with Armenia and the Russian-Hungarian negotiations.

Chinese diplomats and state media focused on two main narratives this week:

• Middle East: While the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ official messaging on the Israel-Hamas conflict remained non-committal, state media’s coverage was decidedly more one-sided. Chinese state media accused the Israeli army of bombarding areas it had told people were safe havens, featured heart-wrenching human interest stories about Palestinians, and highlighted partisan divisions about the war in the United States. On Instagram, CGTN also implied that “they” (in this case, Wall Street bankers) knew about the October 7 attacks ahead of time.
• Carrot-and-stick diplomacy: With the