Subject: Albright Op-ed on Russian Propaganda
From: "Ken Wollack" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 3 Nov 2016 12:29:43 -0400

Below and attached is an op-ed article by NDI Chairman Madeleine Albright,
which appeared in today's* USA Today*.  This issue was the topic at our
October 5  Board dinner.

With best regards,

Ken

Kenneth Wollack
President
National Democratic Institute
455 Massachusetts Ave., NW, 8th Floor
Washington, DC 20001
202-728-5500 (Tel)
888-875-2887 (Fax)
email: [email-masked]
website: www.ndi.org

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/11/03/russian-
hacking-trump-election-rigging-democracy-madeleine-albright/93125198/

*Russian hacking is the real scandal: Madeleine Albright*

Democrats have been renewing their calls this week for the FBI to release
more information on the connections among Donald Trump, his top advisers
and the Russian government. But it is already clear that Russia’s
intervention in our election on Trump's side is the real scandal of 2016 —
and we must take more seriously the threat this interference poses to
democratic countries around the world.

For years, Russia and other authoritarian governments have been waging a
shadow campaign to discredit democratic institutions worldwide, focusing
much of their energy on Europe and former Soviet states in Asia. The goal
is not necessarily to prove the superiority of their system, but to
diminish the appeal of representative government and to undermine Western
leaders by making them seem corrupt or malicious. This war has been waged
by propaganda outlets such as Russia Today and Sputnik News, but also
through the spread of misinformation and lies across the Internet.

I have some experience with their methods because for years, Russian
propaganda outlets have been spreading the bizarre rumor that I once said
Siberia does not belong to Russia. After I denied saying this, Russian
officials even claimed that they had read my mind — a capability I did not
know they or their friends at Wikileaks had yet developed.

Russia's disinformation campaign against me was not very effective, but I
fear its actions against our democracy may inflict real damage.

The Russian government has already hacked into the emails of the Democratic
National Committee and Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta in an
effort to create confusion and turn voters off from politics. Over the
summer, Russian hackers infiltrated voter registration systems in a handful
of states and made attempts in many more.Intelligence officials have also
reportedly warned that they may post phony documents showing widespread
voter fraud — all in order to create doubt about the validity of the U.S.
election results, and to make us seem hypocritical when we question the
conduct of elections in other countries.

Experts agree that it would be impossible for any hacker to actually alter
election results. But if Russia — with assistance from Trump’s false claims
about a rigged election — succeeds in undermining voter confidence in the
integrity of the process, it will be a gift to autocrats, despots and
illiberal politicians around the world. I have already heard anecdotes
about people working to promote free and fair elections in other countries
who have had Trump’s words about fraud thrown back at them. It has hurt
their credibility and the credibility of American organizations as they
promote the benefits of representative government.

It is time for us to regain the upper hand against all those who are
attacking our system. But how can we fight back?

First, leaders at the local, state and national levels need to defend the
legitimacy of the presidential election. The conduct of our elections is
not a partisan issue and the credibility of the process should not be up
for debate. The peaceful transfer of power is central to our national
identity and to our international credibility. Even in close elections
where some irregularities did occur, such as the 2000 presidential election
in Florida, both sides followed an established legal process and ultimately
respected the outcome. Regardless of what Trump says, Democratic and
Republican leaders must leave no doubt that they will uphold democratic
principles and the Constitution following the vote.

Second, we need to expose this disinformation campaign and limit its
effects. We already have systems in place to monitor Islamic State
propaganda on the Internet, and we should do the same for authoritarian
propaganda. The U.S. government should work with technology companies to
develop better policies to deal with anti-democratic trolling, as they have
done with cyberbullying, hate speech and violent extremism. We should
launch an educational campaign so that those who are targets of propaganda
understand the source and motivations behind it. We also need to offer more
assistance to frontline states in Central and Eastern Europe as they stand
up against the threat of illiberalism from within and without. This
includes speaking to their publics, strengthening political parties and
keeping open space for civil society.

Finally, we cannot only be reactive. Ultimately, the best way to counter
anti-democratic propaganda is to tell the story of our democracy and do
more to support democratic allies and activists around the world.

In recent years, democracy’s friends have been too timid, perhaps worried
that the promotion of freedom was given a bad name by those who used it to
justify the war in Iraq. While it is true that overselling democracy can be
a mistake, selling it short would be an unforgivable error.

The right of people to participate in choosing their own leaders and
shaping their own laws has been and remains the most powerful contributor
to human progress and global stability. To protect our values and our
interests, the United States must once again make strengthening democracy a
central tenet of its foreign policy.

This election has reminded us that, in any society, building democracy is
never easy and never fully accomplished; it is something to be worked
toward, step by step, country by country, day by day.  But since the
inception of the United States, we have understood how vital it is that we
stand together to help freedom succeed. Imposing democracy is an oxymoron,
but defending democracy — in our country and abroad — is perhaps our most
vital mission.

*Madeleine Albright is a former secretary of state of the United States.