Sportswashing: A masterstroke of foreign influence operations (Video) | Responsible Statecraft

Follow us on social

google cta

Analysis | Washington Politics

google cta

google cta

Sportswashing is the next frontier of foreign influence in the United States. Authoritarian regimes are investing billions of dollars in the sports that Americans love — from the NBA to WWE, UFC, and, the PGA Tour.

In many cases these investments come with strings attached. Foreign powers aren’t just trying to make money, they’re hoping to launder their reputations and censor their would-be critics in the U.S. This can have potentially dire consequences for Washington foreign policy, given that many of these regimes seek to pull the agenda in a decidedly unrestrained direction via U.S. military entanglements.

(Video production by Khody Akhavi)

Analysis | Washington Politics

Nick Fuentes, Tucker Carlson, and the GOP’s reckoning on Israel

Top image credit, from left to right: Nick Fuentes appears on the Tucker Carlson show (screengrab via x.com); Kevin Roberts (Gage Skidmore/Flickr/Creative Commons); Tucker Carlson (Gage Skidmore/Flickr/Creative Commons)

Nick Fuentes, Tucker Carlson, and the GOP’s reckoning on Israel

Washington Politics

For years, a debate over Israel has been raging behind the scenes of Republican politics.

Then, last week, Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts thrust that battle into the open.

keep readingShow less

pete hegset quantico

Top photo caption: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth delivers remarks during an address at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., Sept. 30, 2025. (photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Aiko Bongolan)

Hegseth dropped big Venezuela easter egg into Quantico speech

On September 30, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth summoned nearly 800 of America’s military generals, admirals, and senior enlisted officers to Quantico, Virginia on short notice. Though the unprecedented event was written off by many as a political stunt, a month later, it is clear the gathering was more important than many realized.

Of particular note were the speeches delivered by Hegseth and President Donald Trump which offer the clearest articulation yet of how the Trump administration thinks about and hopes to use military power. What’s more, taken together, the two sets of remarks appear to foreshadow both the current U.S. military build-up underway in the Caribbean and what might be on the horizon as U.S. operations there and elsewhere continue.

keep readingShow less

google cta

Want more of our stories on Google?
Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

LATEST

QIOSK