David Shimer

Last updated
David Shimer
NationalityAmerican
Education Yale University (BA, MA)
Magdalen College, Oxford (DPhil)
Notable workRigged: America, Russia, and One Hundred Years of Covert Electoral Interference (2020)

David Shimer is an American historian and foreign policy analyst who served at the White House National Security Council (NSC) during the Biden administration. [1]

Contents

Education

Shimer graduated from Yale University with bachelor's and master's degrees in history and was a Marshall Scholar and a Truman Scholar at the University of Oxford, where he received his doctorate in international relations. [2] [3] [4]

Shimer was a Global Fellow at the Wilson Center and an Associate Fellow at Yale University. [5]

Biden Administration

From 2021 until 2025, Shimer worked at the National Security Council, including as the Director for Eastern Europe and Ukraine and as Director for Russian Affairs. [6]

Shimer was closely involved in the U.S. response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, including efforts to release U.S. intelligence on Russia's plans prior to the invasion and to deliver U.S. military equipment to Ukraine. [7]

In January 2025, Shimer argued in the Wall Street Journal that the United States should continue providing aid to the Ukrainian military. [8]

Works

Prior to joining the Biden administration, Shimer wrote for The New York Times from Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and the United Kingdom. [9] [10] [11] [12]

In June 2020, Shimer published the book Rigged: America, Russia, and One Hundred Years of Covert Electoral Interference (Knopf), a global history of foreign election interference. [13] The New York Times, in its review of Rigged, said the book was "extraordinary and gripping" and had "the insight of a superb work of history." [14] Rigged was also positively reviewed by NPR, The Washington Post , and The Guardian, as well as by Anne Applebaum, William Joseph Burns, Hillary Clinton, Leon Panetta, Timothy Snyder, and Jake Sullivan. [15] [16] [17]

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Foreign electoral interventions (FEI) are attempts by a government to influence the elections of another country. Common methods include backing a preferred party or candidate, harming the electoral chances of another party or candidate, elevating the power or voice of disruptive candidates, or exacerbating overall polarization through amplifying or disseminating misinformation or disinformation.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 United States presidential election in New York</span>

The 2020 United States presidential election in New York was held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, as part of the 2020 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. New York voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote, pitting the Republican Party's nominee, incumbent President Donald Trump, and running mate Vice President Mike Pence against Democratic Party nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his running mate California Senator Kamala Harris. New York had 29 electoral votes in the Electoral College. Trump announced that Florida would be his home state for this election, rather than New York as it had been previously. This was the first presidential election in New York to allow no-excuse absentee voting.

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Since 2016, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and his allies have promoted several conspiracy theories related to the Trump–Ukraine scandal. One such theory seeks to blame Ukraine, instead of Russia, for interference in the 2016 United States presidential election. Also among the conspiracy theories are accusations against Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, and several elements of the right-wing Russia investigation origins counter-narrative. American intelligence believes that Russia engaged in a years long campaign to frame Ukraine for the 2016 election interference, that the Kremlin is the prime mover behind promotion of the fictitious alternative narratives, and that these are harmful to the United States. FBI director Christopher A. Wray stated to ABC News that "We have no information that indicates that Ukraine interfered with the 2016 presidential election" and that "as far as the [2020] election itself goes, we think Russia represents the most significant threat."

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The foreign policy of the Joe Biden administration emphasizes the repair of the United States' alliances, which Biden argues were damaged during the first Trump administration. The administration's goal is to restore the United States to a "position of trusted leadership" among global democracies in order to address challenges posed by Russia and China. Both Biden and his Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin have repeatedly emphasized that no other world power should be able to surpass the United States, either militarily or economically. Biden's foreign policy has been described as having ideological underpinnings in mid-twentieth century liberal internationalism, American exceptionalism, and pragmatism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Russia–United States summit</span> Joe Biden-Vladimir Putin meeting in Geneva

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Several nations interfered in the 2024 United States elections. U.S. intelligence agencies identified China, Iran, and Russia as the most pressing concerns, with Russia being the most active threat.

References

  1. ↑ "Peace in Ukraine Needn't Mean Russian Victory". www.wsj.com.
  2. ↑ "David Shimer - Marshall Scholarships". www.marshallscholarship.org. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  3. ↑ "David Shimer - Global Fellow". www.wilsoncenter.org.
  4. ↑ "David Shimer". www.justsecurity.org.
  5. ↑ "David Shimer - Global Fellow". www.wilsoncenter.org.
  6. ↑ "Peace in Ukraine Needn't Mean Russian Victory". www.wsj.com.
  7. ↑ "Venezuela is now Trump's problem to solve". www.politico.com.
  8. ↑ "Peace in Ukraine Needn't Mean Russian Victory". www.wsj.com.
  9. ↑ Shimer, David (28 June 2017). "Germany Encounters Surge in Crime by the Far Right". The New York Times.
  10. ↑ Shimer, David (31 December 2018). "With Drone Deliveries on the Horizon, Europe Moves to Set Ground Rules". The New York Times.
  11. ↑ Shimer, David (26 December 2018). "Fake Islands Bring a Dutch Lake Back to Life". The New York Times.
  12. ↑ Shimer, David (31 October 2018). "Oxford Roiled by Invitation to Far-Right German Politician". The New York Times.
  13. ↑ "Nonfiction Book Review: Rigged: America, Russia, and One Hundred Years of Covert Electoral Interference". www.publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  14. ↑ Naftali, Timothy (30 June 2020). "How Generations of Russians Have Tried to Influence American Elections". The New York Times.
  15. ↑ "In 'Rigged,' A Comprehensive Account Of Decades Of Election Interference". www.npr.org.
  16. ↑ Harding, Luke (29 June 2020). "Rigged: America, Russia and 100 Years of Covert Electoral Interference by David Shimer - review". The Guardian.
  17. ↑ "Rigged by David Shimer". www.penguinrandomhouse.com.
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