Foreign Interference as a Tool of Transnational Repression

Overview

Authoritarian regimes are increasingly, and more aggressively, using repressive measures outside of their borders to safeguard their legitimacy and impose a narrative on the rest of the world. Thus, these states employ numerous extraterritorial means to intimidate, silence and repatriate journalists, human rights activists, political opponents, religious or cultural minorities and former officials within their respective diasporas.

In this course participants will explore the manifestations of this phenomenon. It will identify who is at risk of being targeted, which states use such practices, and which tools, both cyber and non-cyber, are employed by these threat actors. Using case studies, participants will be made aware of the complexity and scale of foreign interference in Western democracies.

Learning Outcomes

• Explain foreign interference and transnational repression
• Recognize the categories of individuals at risk of becoming a victim of it
• Recognize the regimes that use transnational repression and the reasons for it
• Identify the means used to suppress diasporas abroad and the structures that are being leveraged
• Identify measures to prevent or mitigate these efforts in Canada

Audience

• This course is intended for intelligence and national security practitioners, police, immigration and customs officers, journalists, human rights activists, and any researcher or student interested in better understanding foreign interference.

Duration

Cost

• $655 (plus tax)

Featured Instructor

Guillaume Corneau-Tremblay is a national security professional. He has worked as an intelligence officer for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and as the chief analyst for the Canadian Forces National Counter-Intelligence Unit (CFNCIU), where he worked on foreign interference cases in Canada. He holds a bachelor's degree in international relations and a master's degree in political science from Université Laval.

Sessions