Editor’s Note: On Wednesday, July 22 at 1400 EDT (1100 PDT), the Naval Postgraduate School’s DOD Information Operations Center for Research (IOCR) will host a Political Warfare Project Panel. The DoD’s IOCR at the Naval Postgraduate School brings together top experts on operations in the information environment to discuss strategy and policy issues relating to...Read More

Editor’s Note: The Washington, DC ecosystem is abuzz with think tanks and policy makers looking into the threat of disinformation across the globe and seeking new techniques to counter foreign influence. Below is a round-up of recent developments of interest to IPA members.  House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee Requires DOD Report on how MISO supports Whole...Read More

The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) is seeking to fill gaps in the Intelligence Community’s capability to track foreign influence activities targeting the November 2020 U.S. elections on social media platforms.  DHS I&A plans to award a contract in early August for up to three years to a contractor...Read More

UNDERSTANDING INFORMATION OPERATIONS WITH TWITTER DATA: A WORKSHOP SERIES On July 9, the Carnegie Partnership for Countering Influence Operations (PCIO) and Twitter launched a series of virtual workshops to grant exceptional researchers the opportunity to present their cutting-edge work on Information Operations (IO) datasets to a community of scholars and leading experts in IO. The...Read More

Just in time to celebrate U.S. Independence Day, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) released a new report looking at Russian and Chinese information campaigns and how governments have struggled to respond.  CSIS examined Russian influence activities in Germany and the United Kingdom and Chinese influence operations in Japan and Australia. “The cases...Read More

Rand: Frameworks for Assessing USEUCOM Efforts to Inform, Influence, and Persuade by Miriam Matthews, Christopher Paul, David Schulker, David Stebbins A new study from Rand describes how systematically planned and implemented assessments are important in ensuring that finite resources are allocated appropriately, that plans can be refined, and that key objectives are realized. The report focuses on U.S. European...Read More

What Cyber Command’s ISIS operations means for the future of information warfare In C4ISRNET, the Marine Corps’ new commander of II Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group, or MIG, Col. Brian Russell, discusses how the Navy and Marine Corps can perform successful information operations by understanding how Joint Task Force-Ares, U.S. Cyber Command’s online offensive against...Read More

A new report from Rand by Christopher Paul, Yuna Huh Wong, Elizabeth M. Bartels on “Opportunities for Including the Information Environment in U.S. Marine Corps Wargames” looks at how to incorporate the Information Environment into US Marine Corps wargames. Noting the increasing attention to information operations and information-based capabilities in military planning and the increasing popularity and use...Read More

Editor’s Note: The Senate this week is debating the content of the fiscal year (FY) 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), an annual bill that authorizes programs and sets policy across the national security community. Among the more than 500 amendments proposed for floor consideration, a bipartisan amendment introduced by Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) and...Read More

Addressing Pandemic Propaganda and Disinformation in Africa Notice of Funding Opportunity The Department of State Global Engagement Center (GEC) released a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) June 22 using funding from appropriations in the CARES Act to Address Pandemic Propaganda and Disinformation in Africa.  GEC is seeking proposals for activities that address the following efforts...Read More