Digital Threats and Propaganda: How North Carolina and Other States are Targeted by Foreign Actors

Join the World Affairs Council of Charlotte for an exclusive lunch event on Thursday, May 29, featuring experts from the Alliance for Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, as they unpack how countries like Russia, China, and Iran are actively shaping public discourse and influencing communities in North Carolina and across the country through digital propaganda campaigns and misinformation.

Grounded in the Alliance’s groundbreaking new report, “The State(s) of Foreign Information Operations: A State-by-State Look at Foreign Information Manipulation in the United States,” these conversations will reveal how U.S. adversaries are targeting government institutions, exploiting trusted community voices, and using sophisticated tactics including AI-generated content to destabilize American democracy.

Featured Panelists: 

  • David Salvo, Managing Director, Alliance for Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund and former U.S. Foreign Service Officer with expertise in authoritarian influence operations and foreign policy strategy.

  • Bret Schafer, Senior Fellow, Alliance for Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund leads the Alliance’s work on tracking and countering digital propaganda focusing on foreign influence in the U.S. information space.

  • Krystyna Sikora, Research Analyst, Alliance for Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund and co-author of the State(s) of Foreign Information Operations report, specializing in mapping real-world examples of foreign interference in local communities.

 

 

 

  • Private Reception Sponsorship and Underwriting Information — Download Link
  • WACC Speaker Series Luncheon Sponsorship and Underwriting Information – Download Link

Program Information: 

Date:
Thursday, May 29, 2025
Check-In and Pre-Lunch Networking: 
11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Lunch & Presentation: 
12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Location:
Charlotte City Club — Directions to the parking garage (set your GPS to 116 W. 4th Street, Charlotte, NC 28202)
Parking is validated
Cost:
$55 (WACC Member Rate) | $70 (Non-Member Rate) | $40 (Young Professionals of the World Affairs Council of Charlotte — YPWACC) | $40 (WACC Student Member / WACC Educator Member)

  • Please call 704-687-7762 for credit card payments over the phone.
  • Checks can be mailed to “World Affairs Council of Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd., CHHS 227, Charlotte, NC 28223.

 

 

 

Biography: 

David Salvo — Managing Director, The Alliance for Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund of the United States 

David Salvo is the managing director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy (ASD) at the German Marshall Fund. He is an expert in Russian affairs and foreign interference with experience analyzing Russia and other authoritarian countries’ toolkits to undermine democracy at home and abroad for more than 20 years. He joined ASD as a resident fellow in 2017 and his commentary on US-Russian relations, Russian foreign policy, and foreign interference has been featured on DW News, NPR, CNN, and more.

Before joining ASD, David served as a foreign service officer in the US Department of State, most recently as the deputy secretary of state’s policy advisor for Europe, Eurasia, and international security issues. He also advised senior-level negotiators on protracted conflicts in the South Caucasus, worked on US policy toward NATO and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and served abroad in Russia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. He speaks Russian and Serbo-Croatian and has a basic knowledge of French.

David holds an M.A. from Georgetown University’s Center for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies and a B.A. in government and Russian from Georgetown University. He is an avid music lover and plays in several Washington, DC-area bands, including a tribute band to the rock band Phish.

Bret Schafer — Senior Fellow, The Alliance for Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund of the United States 

Bret Schafer is a senior fellow for information manipulation issues at the Alliance for Securing Democracy (ASD) at the German Marshall Fund. He is an expert in digital and computational propaganda, state-backed information operations, and technology regulation. Bret is the creator and manager of ASD’s Hamilton 2.0 Dashboard, an online open-source tool that tracks the outputs of Russian, Chinese, and Iranian state media outlets, diplomats, and government officials. Bret has participated in conferences around the globe and advised numerous governments and international organizations. His research has been cited in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post and he has appeared on CNN, NBC News, MSNBC, and more.

Before joining ASD, Bret spent more than ten years in the television and film industry, including in roles at Cartoon Network and Warner Brothers. He also worked in Budapest, Hungary as a radio host and in Berlin, Germany as a semi-professional baseball player in Germany’s Bundesliga.

Bret holds a M.A. in public diplomacy from the University of Southern California and a B.A. in communications with a major in radio, television, and film from Northwestern University.

Krystyna Sikora—Research Analyst, The Alliance for Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund of the United States 

Krystyna (Krysia) Sikora is a researcher at the Alliance for Securing Democracy (ASD) at the German Marshall Fund. Her research has focused on information manipulation, Polish affairs, and election security in the United States. Her writing has been published

in the EU Observer, Euractiv, the Fulcrum, and more. Before joining ASD, Krysia played professional soccer in Poland for two years.

Krysia holds an M.A. from Georgetown University’s Center for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies, where she focused on right-wing populism, information manipulation, and democratic decline in Central and Eastern Europe, and a B.A. in political science and a certificate in policy journalism and media studies from Duke University.