This project assesses the roles played by China, Israel, Russia, US, EU countries and Cuba in ensuring repressive regime stability in the global south. The focus is on exports, weapons and systems transfers, training and regime support from the Global North that fundamentally stifles and invalidates attempts to democratize and reform in the Global South. . Countries with large security sectors (including the US) are exporting technology and knowhow globally. In looking at these practices Intelwatch will unpack the role played by foreign intelligence agencies, their training programs, the operations they set in motion and the national legislation that enables regimes to install widespread surveillance capabilities. 

Geopolitically, Africa has become a battleground for multipolar actors bent on underming multilateral institutions that regulate state behaviour and allow for coopertive global governance. The continent in particular has suffered tremendous democratric backsliding with a worrying uptake in military and constitutional coups, fragmented ruling parties that purge within and without; Western-backed autocrats that deliver on narrow foreign economic and political interests. As a result, the need to protect stakeholders and civilians that work to promote democratic values has become ever more urgent.  Intelligence services play a vital role in ensuring political hegemony of repressive ruling parties. They have long been a favored tool to suppress dissent and violently silence reform-minded groups, which has resulted in greater repression, exclusion and disenfranchisement of citizens. Autocratic regimes in Africa and elsewhere use a broad range of intelligence services to politically survive, multiplying units to guard each other and produce counter-intelligence on the elites, the army and civil society. While doing this they also infiltrate the opposition, capture state resources, ensure patriotic obedience to the ruling party and neuter any attempts at pluralism and democratic reform. Together with the police, paramilitary groups and praetorian specialized units these forces have intimidated, spied and arrested suspected enemies of the state. Building a complex praetorian guard structure has provided many Presidencies with assurances of political longevity. The multiple intelligence services have expanded the reach of the Presidency in managing society, in extending influence over the private sector, the opposition, and the ruling elites.Emerging technologies are rapidly undermining democratic values and practices, with Artificial Intelligence generative tools spearheading mass data collection and accelerating the operations of authoritarian governments. AI is increasingly used to eliminmate dissent, expand intrusive monitoring of social media, and has exacerbated racial and gender discrimination given the profiling bias. Several authoritarian actors, unethical vendors and democratic actors alike are exporting software and surveillance technologies that impact the credibility of elections, and put at risk the safety of democratic activists and civil society.

There are two upcoming reports for this project:

1. a mapping exercise of Russia’s playbook in supporting and strengthening the security sector of authoritarian allies in Africa.
2. a report on shifting security alliances with Israel, Cuba and Russia from a global south perspective.