The Looking Glass

Digital authoritarianism is a wide-ranging and, at times, difficult-to-define area of international security analysis. To help us tease out some key terms and analytical frameworks in this ever-evolving domain, we brought on international security expert and analyst Mr. Erol Yayboke, Director of the Project on Fragility and Mobility and Senior Fellow for the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

In 2020, Mr. Yayboke and Deputy Assistant Samuel Brannen of the U.S. Department of Defense jointly published a CSIS brief, “Promote and Build: A Strategic Approach to Digital Authoritarianism.” The publication puts forth a useful analytical set of concepts to develop a deeper understanding of the modern landscape of digital authoritarianism as a threat to global democracies and the subversion of human rights while also highlighting some specific key actors, models, and methods of the practice, and other overlapping challenges in our rapidly digitizing world.

You can read Mr. Yayboke and Deputy Assistant Brannen’s full CSIS brief here -

“Promote and Build: A Strategic Approach to Digital Authoritarianism.”
Other work by Mr. Yayboke and his colleagues:
"The Real National Security Concerns over Data Localization."
"Technology as a Driver of Gender Equality and Peace."
This episode was hosted and produced by Noelle Boyd.

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Join hosts Jen Roberts and Derek Chuah as The Looking Glass enters its fourth season! This episode features a roundtable of cybersecurity professionals who discuss a variety of topics, ranging from how malware is implemented in cyberattacks to a review of the Biden Administration's cybersecurity policies.
Join us as we discuss choosing our weapon with Will Loomis, an Assistant Director at the Atlantic Council's Cyber Statecraft Initiative, Ross Luo, a Software Engineer at Nvidia and a Cyber Officer in the Air Force Reserves, Justin Marinelli, an Analyst at the Department of Defense, and Alexandra Seymour, the Chief of Staff at CalypsoAI.
This episode was produced by Jen Roberts and Derek Chuah.

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This episode of The Looking Glass follows the rise of authoritarianism in Poland over the past forty years and considers the varied consequences; from rising tensions with the European Union, to the weaponization of conspiracy and revisionist history, to violations of human rights and threats to democracy. It considers the state of things, as well as the stakes–what it all means for Poles today and in the future.
Joining us in this episode are Professor Charles Gati of Johns Hopkins SAIS and American University Master’s candidate Abigail Steinsieck, whose testimonies shed light on how, when, and why Poland transitioned from a paragon of a post-Soviet democracy to a semi-authoritarian state–and what may be coming next.
This episode was produced by Mary Hopkins and Jen Roberts.

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Dr. Marsha A. Echols is the Director of The World Food Law Institute and a Professor at Howard University School of Law, where she teaches commercial, international business and trade, and world food law. She is a recognized expert in the fields of international food regulation, international trade and dispute settlement.

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For our 4th episode, we are joined by Vilas Dhar, President of the Patrick J. Mcgovern Foundation, AI ethicist, and appointee ​​to the UN High-Level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence.

This week, it’s all about the need to support technology creation that is fair and equitable through public and third-sector efforts.

This week we are learning :

• Importance of curiosity and life-long learning
• Need for more involvement of the public sector in constructing technology
• Ability to go beyond actor-limited thinking when it comes to regulation
• Ways to hone foundations and nonprofit participation in AI creation and regulation

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