China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran all take advantage of America’s open society to launch malign influence campaigns against the United States and our allies. While these campaigns are the result of centralized government strategies, America’s response is often decentralized or poorly-coordinated.
COUNTERING MALIGN FOREIGN INFLUENCE CAMPAIGNS
China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran all take advantage of America's open society to launch malign influence campaigns against the United States and our allies. While these campaigns are the result of centralized government strategies, America's response is often decentralized or poorly-coordinated.
To counter malign foreign influence campaigns, the NDAA:
Takes steps to ensure these campaigns are better understood;
Better coordinates U.S. Government response to influence campaigns; and,
Provides more resources to respond to influence campaigns.
Making Sure Foreign Influence Campaigns are Better Understood
Instructs the President to submit a China strategy that includes the inter-agency's assessment of China's use of political influence, information operations, censorship, and propaganda to undermine democratic institutions and processes. The strategy will also assess China's attempts to compromise freedoms of speech, expression, press, and academic thought, as well as a U.S. response plan to counter such activities.
Requires the Secretary of Defense to provide a plan to address shortfalls in Chinese, Korean, and Russian language and expertise across the Department of Defense.
Directing Better Coordinated Response to Influence Campaigns
Instructs the President to designate an employee of the National Security Council to coordinate the whole-of-government response to malign foreign influence campaigns against the United States.
Directs the Department of Defense to increase coordination across combatant commands in countering malign influence and activities that extend across geographical regions.
Orders an assessment of DOD's influence operations strategy and implementation efforts.
Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to increase engagement and military-to-military cooperation in the Western Balkans region including the Republic of Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Kosovo, and the Republic of Macedonia to combat the growth of Russian influence.
Reauthorizes and strengthens the State Department's Global Engagement Center as an integral tool for combatting foreign state and non-state propaganda.
Increasing Resources
Directs that the Department of Defense should use security cooperation funding to counter malign influence campaigns.
For more information on the NDAA visit the HASC website.
