5 recent instances of foreign malign influence threatening U.S. national security

America is letting its adversaries win the information war. The latest blow to U.S. efforts to fight this war came in August, when the U.S. intelligence community learned of the reduction in size and reorganization of the Foreign Malign Influence Center (FMIC), a subcomponent of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). This ill-advised action comes on the heels of similar reductions within the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and the FBI.

Russia, China, and Iran are actively conducting foreign malign influence campaigns to influence policy and public opinion in America and abroad in ways that advance their interests, resulting in disrupted counterterrorism operations, aggravated civil unrest, and threatened critical industries. Five recent adversary operations demonstrate the risks of reducing U.S. capabilities to counter foreign malign influence.

In 2024, Niger compelled the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the central African country who had been conducting counterterrorism operations against the Islamic State and al-Qaeda. Russian disinformation played a major role in influencing Niger’s government, according to Gen. Michael Langley, then the head of U.S. Africa Command, in testimony before Congress. As early as 2021, a network of pro-Russian Facebook pages had promoted a demonstration in Niger to demand the withdrawal of foreign forces.

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