When America’s foreign enemies attempt to spread election disinformation online, their aim is usually not to support one candidate or the other, but simply to “sow discord” between Americans, warned election expert Dr. Paul Lettow.
Dr. Lettow, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute researching foreign policy, visited Baylor on Thursday, Sept. 26, for a speaking event hosted by Baylor’s chapter of the Alexander Hamilton Society (AHS). More than 150 students gathered in McClinton Auditorium to hear Dr. Lettow speak on his experience facilitating presidential transitions, and what our upcoming transition could mean for US foreign policy. Dr. Lettow has served both on the White House National Security Council and in the State Department, and helped facilitate two presidential transitions.
Overcoming division for the sake of national security became a theme throughout Dr. Lettow’s talk. When asked about foreign interference in US elections, Dr. Lettow responded that “You can be darn sure that China and Russia and Iran and North Korea and any number of other actors are indeed very active, particularly online.” He noted that this social media interference was rarely targeted at specific candidates or policy positions, but “simply sowing discord.”
In the 2020 election, for example, Russia and China “were promoting on the one hand, Black Lives Matter and causes like that, and simultaneously promoting some of the kind of far-right causes. And the sole intention is to sow discord and mistrust among us so that we’re at each other’s throats.”
Social media interference was rarely targeted at specific candidates or policy positions, but “simply sowing discord.
It is notable that when our enemies are doing their best to weaken America, they choose to target our civil discourse itself rather than any particular policy position. Dr. Lettow emphasized what our enemies’ choices can teach us about ourselves. “Undoubtedly the greatest strength that we have as a country in our competitions with China and Russia is the fact that we self-correct through elections every two years, every four years… and that, I think in the end, will be our greatest strength, just like we proved through the Cold War. But it’s messy.”
In the midst of a polarizing election year, it can appear that everyone working in politics is fighting for a side. Dr. Lettow described his job differently. Through his position on President George W. Bush’s National Security Council, Dr. Lettow played a key role in the transition from President Bush to President Barack Obama.
In 2008, as the campaign between then-candidates Barack Obama and John McCain was heating up, Dr. Lettow said that President Bush and his National Security Advisor (Steve Hadley), “were emphatic… that whoever won, we were going to do everything we could from the White House side and throughout the government, to turn over the government to the president-elect with as much information-sharing and as much cooperation as we could possibly muster.” The nonpartisan “Center for Presidential Transition” called the Bush to Obama transition the “gold standard” of presidential transitions.
We self-correct through elections every two years, every four years… and that, I think in the end, will be our greatest strength, just like we proved through the Cold War. But it’s messy.
Dr. Paul Lettow
In the latter half of his talk, Dr. Lettow outlined the actual foreign policy records of each presidential candidate, their major successes and failures, and their stated plans for their administrations. Jazmine Fajardo, a junior political science major at Baylor, said she found this particularly helpful as an undecided voter.
“He gave me a lens of looking into the future depending on who I vote for,.” Fajardo said. “What I told him after the event was that this conversation was more informative than the actual presidential debate… We just hear Trump’s iconic quote ‘I have concepts of a plan’ but he [Lettow] was actually able to say, based on what Trump has done before and what he’s been proclaiming… what is actually going to be happening if he were to go into office.”
Luke D’Ambrosio, the president of the AHS chapter at Baylor, shared his perspective on handling sensitive topics emerging at events like this one.
D’Ambrosio said that he is not concerned about student questions getting too controversial. “I think in the past I used to be worried about that, but honestly, controversial questions are what’s needed because those kinds of questions are what’s on people’s minds… It’s good to give a speaker a tough question. They’re qualified, they’re experienced… that’s what they’re there for.”
D’Ambrosio reported that this will not be their last event on the election. AHS plans to host a student forum in late October to discuss the election, and possibly a separate professor panel. On Thursday, Oct. 17, they will host a speaking event on Christian nationalism.
In 2019, Baylor’s AHS was founded as one chapter of a national organization based in Washington, DC. Baylor’s AHS “brings Washington to Waco” through foreign policy speaking events, movie nights, and book clubs. AHS also “brings Waco to Washington” by providing students with funding and job opportunities in DC. In 2023, Baylor AHS received the award for “Baylor Organization of the Year,” as well as the national award for “AHS Chapter of the Year.”
Reflecting on the success of AHS at Baylor, D’Ambrosio said “we’ve shown throughout our years on campus that we’re able to talk about controversial topics in a cordial manner.” He said that it would be good for Baylor to host more events that field controversial topics and encourage people to talk across the aisle this election season. “I’m very confident in the abilities of Baylor students to have a constructive dialogue.”
