Rejoinder on Civic Engagement: What Happens When Foreign Powers Intervene?

On January 2, I published an essay on a less well known aspect of political discourse and civic engagement. What happens when foreign powers intervene in U.S. politics?

Excerpt from War on the Rocks is below. 

Laying Bare the Enemy's Aims: Defending Public Opinion in the 21st Century

America’s strategic center of gravity is public opinion, so why is it left undefended against foreign influence? As pressure builds in Congress to investigate Russia’s meddling in presidential politics, lawmakers must look to arm a new generation of information warriors with Silicon Valley tech and Cold War political acumen. Edward Bernays, the father of American advertising, believed that the essence of democratic society is the engineering of consent.  If America wants the engineering of consent to be an exclusively homegrown activity, then Congress needs to establish a new agency with the mission to confront, expose, and challenge unlawful foreign influence both at home and abroad.