The State Department has informed Congress of his intention to reestablish his now-defunct Global Engagement Center as a “headquarters” within the agency focused on countering foreign influence. The move rebrands the 50-plus employees and tens of millions of dollars in funding allocated to the Global Engagement Center even though its operating license ended at midnight on December 23; see: State Department domestic censorship group suspends operations at midnight, but danger remains.
In the notice to Congress, the State Department identified the newly planned facility as a “Countering Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference Headquarters,” which will report to the agency’s undersecretary for public diplomacy. ADVERTISEMENT
“Should the authority of the GEC not be renewed, the Department plans to redeploy 51 staff and associated funding from the GEC to a proposed Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (R/FIMI) Hub, reporting to the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy (R). is. “The congressional notice stated that remaining GEC staff and funding would go to the offices of African Affairs, East Asian and Pacific Affairs, European and Eurasian Affairs and other offices.
The documents said the GEC would transfer 51 employees to the R/FIMI office and provide a total of $29.4 million in funding.
The Global Engagement Center was the starting point for Biden’s efforts to censor debates and discussions on critical topics such as COVID measures and election integrity.
Founded by Obama Executive Order 13584 In 2011, its original purpose was to “detect, understand, detect, and combat foreign state and non-state propaganda and disinformation efforts designed to undermine or undermine the policies, security, or stability of the United States, its allies, and partner nations to influence”. .” This seemed reasonable in the context of aggressive Russian, Chinese and Iranian propaganda efforts against the US and its allies.
In 2016, this ephemeral effort became a indefinite project with the creation of the GEC, tasked with “leading the coordination, integration, and synchronization of government-wide communications activities directed at foreign audiences abroad to counter the messages and them “to reduce the influence of international terrorist organizations, including the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), al-Qaeda and other violent extremists abroad.” Executive Order 13721 – Develop an integrated global engagement center to support government-wide counterterrorism communications activities abroad and repeal Executive Order 13584.
What emerged was not a defense of public discourse, but a toxic brew of overreach by a federal agency combined with the fascist tendencies of so many Silicon Valley employees. The natural tendency toward censorship would have been strenuous enough to avoid under the best of circumstances, but combined with a polarizing Trump administration that arrived with Russia Gate persecution, the equally polarizing COVID fraud pandemic, and a hotly contested 2020 presidential campaign, The Global Engagement Center actively participated in suggesting topics for social media platforms for “moderation.”
In addition to re-establishing the organization under a different name, the GEC’s senior members were placed in influential positions within the State Department.
James P. Rubin, former special envoy and coordinator of the GEC, is now a senior adviser to Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Leah Bray, former acting coordinator of the GEC, is chief of staff to Assistant Secretary of State Kurt M. Campbell.
“Leah, a 22-year military veteran, is a well-known China expert who is respected in bipartisan circles for her knowledge of the Indo-Pacific,” a State Department spokesperson said. “She has worked in multiple presidential administrations and served as President Trump’s China director on the National Security Council.”
And Daniel Kimmage, the GEC’s principal deputy coordinator, works for the undersecretary of state’s team for public diplomacy, the State Department spokesman said. Kimmage was particularly harshly criticized by Republicans in a congressional hearing in October 2023 about apparent “censorship” by the GEC, however, together with the press office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has rejected all allegations of wrongdoing.
The biggest challenge for new Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his senior deputies will not be foreign policy. It’s about gaining control of the bureaucracy in Foggy Bottom before it is taken over by the left-wing Democrats who dominate our Foreign Service and have worked diligently to weaken America since at least the Reagan administration.
