Combatting Malign Influence

In this era of great power competition the United States and its partner countries in the Indo-Pacific have more to fear than the mere buildup of military and/or nuclear power in adversarial states. Though the subtle dissemination of their propaganda online, through elite capture, via the wooing of local media, and by creating economic dependencies and linkages US adversaries seek to win without fighting. This is known as foreign malign influence, sometimes called political warfare or foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI).

Pacific Forum participates in the identification and combatting of malign influence through its programs with US government and other partners. Our programming includes the identification of adversarial countries’ misleading narratives disseminated through online and traditional channels, how countries’ democracies and open markets may lead to excessive reliance on adversaries, training of youth and other populations to identify and counter falsehoods, and identification of vulnerabilities within partner countries.

Through these programs—and through fact-based narratives about the US, economic and personal freedom, and territorial rights (as well as the consequences of dependencies on countries that respect none of these rights)—Pacific Forum supports an Indo-Pacific that is not only free, but resilient.