Linking Values and Strategy: How Democracies Can Offset Autocratic Advances

This task force report — drawing on 30 US national security experts — develops a comprehensive strategy for democracies to offset autocratic advances across information, economic, military, and political domains. The 'linking values and strategy' framing argues that democratic strategy is most effective when it connects liberal values to strategic interests rather than treating them as competing considerations.

Most counter-disinformation and counter-interference work operates in a single domain without connecting to an overarching democratic strategy. Brandt et al. argue that this silo-based approach is structurally insufficient against adversaries who operate across all domains simultaneously. For policymakers working on whole-of-government democratic resilience strategy, this provides one of the most comprehensive available frameworks.