USAID created the Countering Malign Kremlin Influence (CMKI) Development Framework to respond to an open assault on democracies and market economies and to safeguard the development gains that our partners have worked so hard to achieve. Launched in July, 2019, the CMKI Development Framework represents an effort by USAID’s Bureau for Europe and Eurasia to tailor assistance to the most urgent threats posed by Kremlin malign influence. Initial phases of this work began in 2017. USAID recognized the need for a strategic, focused approach to this major, pressing challenge. In conceiving and devising the CMKI Development Framework, USAID's Bureau for Europe and Eurasia consulted widely within USAID, across the U.S. Government, with Members of Congress and worked closely with USAID mission staff to ensure the framework reflects realities on the ground.
Over the course of this first year, USAID teams have operationalized the CMKI Development Framework in a way that builds resilience against the Kremlin’s self-serving interventions. In that same period of time, USAID's work has achieved notable impact. From efforts to identify and shut down social media accounts spreading harmful disinformation, to bolstering elections administration against cyberthreats, to creating systems of transparency in public institutions, USAID programs are shoring up vulnerabilities routinely targeted by the Kremlin.
Taken together, USAID programs implemented under the CMKI Development Framework are helping partner countries meet the challenge of countering malign Kremlin influence while maintaining momentum toward their own long-term development goals on the Journey to Self-Reliance. USAID's development work is essential for preserving the self- determination, prosperity, and liberty of our partners.
This report provides an update on those efforts.
