Division Director, Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference Hub
Looking for Truth in Foreign Intelligence
At the U.S. Department of State, Flavia Bleahu (HNZ 2017) supports the international intelligence community in the fight against bad information — especially smear campaigns against the United States.
“In layman’s terms the objective is to clarify what’s real and what’s fake out there, in particular if there are foreign governments that are putting out misinformation,” Flavia says.
Russia, China and Iran are all on the radar for producing propaganda that can, for example, interfere with elections or breed extremism and fan the flames of hate in terrorist organizations. Diplomats with the State Department work on understanding, exposing and countering these efforts to protect the peace domestically and worldwide.
Flavia’s focus is on public policy and management infrastructure that supports State Department operations. She wrote the department’s first enterprise data strategy, and adapted the plan at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to make sure people working remotely still had secure access to the most accurate information.
She’s also considering how to support foreign service officers stationed at embassies all over the world. Embassies have operated the same way for a long time, and their model is due for an update to improve flexibility and responsiveness to nonstop change. To address that, Flavia is charged with the extensive coordination required to set strategy, communicate and engage the right people.
“We’re always thinking about how we can do it cheaper and faster, while understanding what people expect from contemporary American diplomats in a modern American embassy,” Flavia says. “That evokes images of grandeur, big staffs and high-profile meetings that make great television shows. But it’s not an accurate depiction of what public diplomacy is right now. When it comes to countering misinformation, we’re talking smaller, more discreet teams with a focused mission. Changing that model means advocacy and conversations with influential people to underscore that in doing this, we are protecting American people more effectively.”
Story by Elizabeth Speed