'Alliance for Securing Democracy' Launches at GMF
Chertoff, Ilves, Kramer, Kristol, Morell, McFaul, Rogers, Sullivan, Schake, Smith, Stavridis, and Wong to Advise New Initiative
WASHINGTON – The Alliance for Securing Democracy, a bipartisan, transatlantic initiative housed within The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF), formally launched today with a mission to develop comprehensive strategies to defend against, deter, and raise the costs on Russian and other actors’ efforts to undermine democracy and democratic institutions.
Laura Rosenberger, GMF senior fellow and former foreign policy advisor for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 Presidential Campaign, will direct the Alliance for Securing Democracy as part of a bipartisan team with GMF Senior Fellow Jamie Fly, former counselor for Foreign and National Security Affairs to Senator Marco Rubio. The initiative will bring together experts across the Atlantic to examine the tools—disinformation, financial influence, and cyberattacks—used by actors who are attempting to weaponize our freedoms against us.
“We cannot simply look at Russia’s actions to undermine our democracy in the rearview mirror,” said Rosenberger. “Starting today, the Alliance for Securing Democracy will work to build a united front with European and other democratic partners, publicly document and expose Vladimir Putin’s ongoing efforts to subvert democracy in the United States and Europe, produce analysis of Russian and other state-sponsored efforts to subvert democracy, and develop a shared playbook that can be used by democracies to counter these efforts.”
“Finding out what happened in the 2016 election is important. But even more important is ensuring that we as Americans and Europeans are putting in place measures to secure our democracies today and in the future,” said Fly. “The Alliance for Securing Democracy will also engage the private sector, civil society, and members of both U.S. political parties to enlist their support in development and implementation of these defensive and deterrent strategies.”
The Alliance for Securing Democracy will be informed by a bipartisan, transatlantic Advisory Council composed of former senior officials with experience in politics, foreign policy, intelligence, Russia, and Europe - bringing deep expertise across a range of issues and political perspectives.
Advisory Council:
Mike Chertoff | Toomas Hendrik Ilves | David Kramer | William Kristol | Michael Morell | Michael McFaul | Mike Rogers | Kori Schake | Julie Smith | Admiral James Stavridis | Jake Sullivan | Nicole Wong
With upcoming elections in Germany and Italy, and the U.S. 2018 mid-term elections fast approaching, there is an urgent need for a deeper understanding of Russia's tactics, how they are evolving, and how to defend against and deter them. The work of the Alliance for Securing Democracy will expand on GMF’s already robust portfolio of research and analysis on Russia and strengthening transatlantic cooperation.
“GMF works to strengthen transatlantic cooperation in the spirit of the Marshall Plan, which laid the foundation of the democratic order we have enjoyed over the past 70 years,” said GMF President Karen Donfried. “GMF is proud to support this new initiative to develop a united transatlantic front against democratic subversion.”
Democracy in the United States and in Europe is under assault. Meeting this challenge to our democracy demands that Republicans and Democrats in the United States unite with our democratic allies and partners in Europe and around the world to better understand Russia’s meddling in order to defend ourselves and deter such activity in the future.
Now, it’s time to #SecureDemocracy.
CONNECT ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
Facebook | @SecureDemocracy
About the Advisory Council and Staff:
MIKE CHERTOFF
Mike Chertoff was U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security from 2005 to 2009. There, he worked to strengthen U.S. borders, provide intelligence analysis, and protect infrastructure. He increased the Department’s focus on preparedness ahead of disasters, and implemented enhanced security at airports and borders. Following Hurricane Katrina, Chertoff helped to transform the Federal Emergency Management Agency into an effective organization. He also served as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals Judge from 2003 to 2005. He co-founded the Chertoff Group, a risk-management and security consulting company, and works as senior of counsel at the Washington, DC law firm Covington & Burling.
TOOMAS ILVES
Toomas Hendrik Ilves was elected president of the Republic of Estonia in 2006 and in 2011. During his presidency, Ilves was appointed to serve in several high positions in the field of information and communication technology in the European Union. He previously served as minister of foreign affairs and as the ambassador of the Republic of Estonia to the United States and Canada in Washington. Ilves was also a member of the Estonian Parliament, as well as a member of the European Parliament, where he was vice president of the Foreign Affairs Committee. He now co-chairs the World Economic Forum working group The Global Futures Council on Blockchain Technology. He is currently a distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
DAVID KRAMER
David J. Kramer joined Florida International University’s Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs as a senior fellow in the Vaclav Havel Program for Human Rights and Diplomacy in May 2017. Before moving to Miami, Kramer had worked in Washington, DC for 24 years, most recently as senior director for Human Rights and Democracy with The McCain Institute for International Leadership. Before that, he served for four years as president of Freedom House. Prior to that, he was a senior transatlantic fellow at The German Marshall Fund of the United States. Kramer served eight years in the U.S. Department of State during the George W. Bush administration, including as assistant secretary of state for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor; deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs; professional staff member in the Secretary’s Office of Policy Planning; and senior advisor to the undersecretary for Global Affairs. Kramer is a member of the board of directors of the Halifax International Security Forum and a member of the advisory council for the George W. Bush Presidential Center’s Human Freedom Project.
BILL KRISTOL
William "Bill" Kristol is the editor at large of the influential political journal, The Weekly Standard. Before starting that magazine in 1995, Kristol served in government, first as chief of staff to Secretary of Education William Bennett during the Reagan administration, and then as chief of staff to Vice President Dan Quayle in the George H. W. Bush administration. Kristol has also served on the board of the Project for the New American Century (1997–2005) and the Foreign Policy Initiative (2009–17). Before coming to Washington in 1985, Kristol taught government at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University.
MICHAEL MORELL
Michael Morell was acting director of the Central Intelligence Agency in 2011 and again from 2012 to 2013, and had previously served as deputy director and director for Intelligence at the Agency. In his over thirty years at the CIA, Morell played a central role in the United States’ fight against terrorism, its initiatives to halt the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and its efforts to respond to trends that are altering the international landscape — including the Arab Spring, the rise of China, and the cyber threat. He was one of the leaders in the search for Osama bin Laden and participated in the deliberations that led to the raid that killed bin Laden in May 2011. He has been with Beacon Global Strategies as a senior counselor since November 2013.
MIKE MCFAUL
Michael McFaul served for five years in the Obama administration, first as special assistant to the president and senior director for Russian and Eurasian Affairs at the National Security Council at the White House from 2009 to 2012, and then as U.S. ambassador to the Russian Federation from 2012 to 2014. He is currently professor of political science, director, and senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, and the Peter and Helen Bing senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. He joined the Stanford faculty in 1995. He is also an analyst for NBC News and a contributing columnist to The Washington Post.
MIKE ROGERS
Mike Rogers is a former member of Congress, officer in the Army, and FBI special agent. In the U.S. House he chaired the Intelligence Committee, becoming a leader on cybersecurity and national security policy, and overseeing the 17 intelligence agencies’ $70 billion budget. Today, Mike is a CNN national security commentator, and hosts and produces CNN’s “Declassified.” He serves as chief security adviser to AT&T, sits on the board of IronNet Cybersecurity and MITRE Corporation, and advises Next Century Corporation and Trident Capital. He is distinguished fellow and trustee at Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, and a senior fellow at the Belfer Center at Harvard University.
KORI SCHAKE
Kori Schake has served in various policy roles including at the White House for the National Security Council, at the Department of Defense for the Office of the Secretary and Joint Chiefs of Staff, and at the State Department for the Policy Planning Staff. During the 2008 presidential election, she was senior policy advisor on the McCain–Palin campaign. She is now a research fellow at the Hoover Institution. She is the editor, with Jim Mattis, of the book Warriors and Citizens: American Views of Our Military. She teaches at Stanford, is a contributing editor covering national security and international affairs at The Atlantic, columnist for Foreign Policy magazine, and a contributor to War on the Rocks.
JULIE SMITH
Julianne “Julie” Smith served as the deputy national security advisor to the U.S. vice president from 2012 to 2013, acting national security advisor to the vice president in 2013, and principal director for European and NATO policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense in the Pentagon. Smith is currently senior fellow and director of the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security.
ADM JIM STAVRIDIS (RET.)
Admiral James Stavridis, U.S. Navy (Ret.) served as commander of European Command and as Supreme Allied Commander, Europe from 2009 to 2013. He commanded U.S. Southern Command in Miami from 2006 to 2009 and commanded Enterprise Carrier Strike Group, conducting combat operations in the Arabian Gulf in support of both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom from 2002 to 04. He was a strategic and long-range planner on the staffs of the Chief of Naval Operations and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He has also served as the executive assistant to the secretary of the navy and as senior military assistant to the secretary of defense. He is now dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, and chairman of the U.S. Naval Institute Board of Directors.
JAKE SULLIVAN
Jake Sullivan served in the Obama administration as national security advisor to Vice President Joe Biden and director of Policy Planning at the U.S. Department of State, as well as deputy chief of staff to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He was the senior policy advisor on Secretary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. He is now a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Martin R. Flug visiting lecturer in law at Yale Law School.
NICOLE WONG
Nicole Wong served as deputy U.S. chief technology officer in the Obama administration, where she focused on internet, privacy, and innovation policy. Prior to her time in government, Nicole was Google’s vice president and deputy general counsel, and Twitter’s legal director for products. She frequently speaks on issues related to law and technology. Nicole chairs the board of Friends of Global Voices, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting citizen and online media projects globally. She also sits on the boards of WITNESS, an organization supporting the use of video to advance human rights, and the Mozilla Foundation, which promotes open internet. Nicole currently serves as an advisor to the School of Information at the University of California, Berkeley, Harvard Business School Digital Initiative, the Democratic National Committee Cybersecurity advisory board, Refactor Capital, and the Albright Stonebridge Group.
LAURA ROSENBERGER
Laura Rosenberger is the director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy and a senior fellow at The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF). Before she joined GMF, she was foreign policy advisor for Hillary for America, where she coordinated development of the campaign’s national security policies, messaging, and strategy.Prior to that, she served in a range of positions at the State Department and the White House’s National Security Council (NSC). As chief of staff to Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken and as later, then-Deputy National Security Advisor Blinken’s senior advisor, she counseled on the full range of national security policy. In her role at the NSC, she also managed the interagency Deputies Committee, the U.S. government’s senior-level interagency decision-making forum on our country’s most pressing national security issues. Laura also has extensive background in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly Northeast Asia. She served as NSC director for China and Korea, managing and coordinating U.S. policy on China and the Korean Peninsula, and in a variety of positions focused on the Asia-Pacific region at the Department of State, including managing U.S.–China relations and addressing North Korea’s nuclear programs. She also served as special assistant to Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Bill Burns, advising him on Asia-Pacific affairs and on nonproliferation and arms control issues. Laura’s first joined the State Department as a presidential management fellow.
JAMIE FLY
Jamie Fly is a senior fellow at The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF). Prior to joining GMF, he served as counselor for Foreign and National Security Affairs to Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) from 2013–17, serving as his foreign policy advisor during his presidential campaign. Before to joining Senator Rubio’s staff in February 2013, he served as the executive director of the Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI) from its founding in early 2009. Fly served in the Bush administration at the National Security Council (2008–09) and in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (2005–08). He was director for Counterproliferation Strategy at the National Security Council, where his portfolio included the Iranian nuclear program, Syria, missile defense, chemical weapons, proliferation finance, and other counterproliferation issues. In the Office of the Secretary of Defense, he was an assistant for Transnational Threats Policy, where he helped to develop U.S. strategy related to the proliferation of missiles as well as nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. For his work in the Department of Defense, he was awarded the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service. Fly received a B.A. in international studies and political science from American University and an M.A. in German and European studies from Georgetown University.