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Schar School in the News
Zoom Recap: ‘Face to Face’ With Rep. Adam Schiff
March 01, 2021
What Were We Thinking? Selected Schar School Op-Eds (February 2021)
March 01, 2021
Strategic Trade Certificate Proves to be Strategic Career Move
February 26, 2021
Three Biodefense Grads Set to Lead Global Health Organization
February 23, 2021

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Tomorrow is @ScharSchool's 'First Friday' event for the month of March! Learn how to make Irish Spirit Cupcakes with Librarian @BookishKim. Register! https://t.co/itmbCBk6rV #StPatricksDay2021 @GeorgeMasonNews pic.twitter.com/QtbA3tNNJp

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Congratulations to @ScharSchool's @GCorreaCabrera, who has been named an El Centro fellow at the @smallwars journal! She's 'made significant and distinguished contributions to the field.' Keep tip the good work, professor. https://t.co/Ah1Qx78NjW pic.twitter.com/uUB8jR5zQY

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Universities have invested in screening for #COVID19, but if it works is hard to say. @ScharSchool’s @SaskiaPopescu tells the @nytimes that “the moral of the story is you can’t just invest in this tech without having a validation process behind it.” https://t.co/FDAg6aSjXb pic.twitter.com/CRgnYMOU7R

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New study: #Syria’s chemical weapons program has been thoroughly investigated. @ScharSchool’s @gregkoblentz tells @nytimes that it is the “most comprehensive and detailed account of the Syrian weapons program available…” https://t.co/MVG7C1VwkA pic.twitter.com/pzF6ucI5na

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A drone swarms’ flexibility is what makes them so shockingly lethal. As @ScharSchool’s Zak Kallenborn explained to @forbes “Ideally, drone swarms would be a bit like Legos: mix and match blocks to build the drone swarm the battle commander wants.” https://t.co/TTigi7bjrn pic.twitter.com/ABo8S5O8Wh

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What is keeping #Taiwan from preparing for war? The number of answers might surprise you. As @ScharSchool’s @MichaelHunzeker testified before #Congress, Taiwan is not “optimally manned, trained, equipped, and motivated to defend against an attack.” https://t.co/8WLydcRWOx pic.twitter.com/5NLLIBjcyX

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#Biden launched airstrikes on #Syrian militias, and the actions have faced backlash and praise. @ScharSchool’s Ellen Laipson op-eds @asiatimesonline about the specifics of the situation. “Iraqi Shiite militias may retain considerable value to Iran.” https://t.co/qGI74S60cU pic.twitter.com/vA96dS3vUL

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The World Trade Organization has a new leader – a woman from Africa, firsts. @ScharSchool’s @Prof_JPSingh previews her challenges: “Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s remarkable achievement in being selected as the director-general of the @wto cannot be understated.” https://t.co/sca8PmZUHu pic.twitter.com/6J4xxZY57h

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The #Amazon is an important issue for #climate. Can #Biden work with #Brazil? @ScharSchool’s @brazil_works Mark Langevin co-op-eds @thehill: We “should sidestep, circumvent and hurdle the obstacles to addressing global warming and deforestation.” https://t.co/lavaC3KJcO pic.twitter.com/NLyHepXPK0

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What good are #Intelligence Committees? @ScharSchool's @ronamarks, former #CIA officer, op-eds on @thehill about Congressional oversight. "Speaker Pelosi knows that bipartisanship is a bygone dream and the current intelligence oversight system is broken." https://t.co/R1Opd6MPTb pic.twitter.com/03Bw5sHHoR

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Home » News & Events » Latest News » Schar School Researchers Find Foreign Interference, More Than $200,000 of GoFundMe Money in Missouri Senate Race

Schar School Researchers Find Foreign Interference, More Than $200,000 of GoFundMe Money in Missouri Senate Race

November 05, 2018

Schar School student volunteers debrief John Fuisz, left at the table, and A. Trevor Thrall, right at the table. Photo: Buzz McClain/Schar School of Policy and Government

Researchers at George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government, in conjunction with SSR Industries of Cambridge, Mass. and Washington, D.C., have discovered evidence of foreign manipulation in the 2018 Missouri Senate race.

Focusing on 27 key Twitter accounts identified by SSR Industries’ proprietary technology, the research team of 26 volunteer students noticed a number of odd behaviors in the account data. This included references to issues identified as topics of interest for Russian trolling operations in the recent Department of Justice criminal complaint against Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova.

In addition, the research team discovered references from these accounts to GoFundMe accounts that were pushed through the Twitter network. The funding campaigns, which have raised anywhere from several thousand to over $200,000, are largely related to military veterans and animals. What the funds were ultimately used for is unknown.

“The activities we have been tracking strongly suggest that the Russians are not only continuing to interfere in our elections, but continue to find new ways to do so," said A. Trevor Thrall, the Schar School associate professor of international security who is helping lead the project. 

“These latest findings indicate that interference is not limited to presidential elections or one candidate, but is a pervasive issue that the United States will need to come to terms with and begin addressing in a cohesive manner,” said John Fuisz of SSR Industries.

The data and a summary of the analysis to date are available at: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/v1vqpht1ux6pnzt/AAATJXMbnhZl9ijZkwsY6C7ua?dl=0

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