The IMITATE3 project—officially titled “Influence, Manipulation and Information Threats as Adversarial Techniques: Events, Evolution and Effects”—is a bold international research effort designed to tackle one of the defining dangers of our digital age: the quiet, constant erosion of shared reality by foreign actors who weaponize information. At a time when a single false rumour can travel around the world before the truth has even laced its boots, this project steps in to ask the hard, essential questions. How are these influence operations actually built? How do they evolve over time? And what kind of real-world damage can they inflict on the social and political fabric of nations? The project is co-led by two distinguished academics—Professor Jacob Shapiro at Princeton University in the United States and Professor Martin Innes at Cardiff University in the United Kingdom—who bring together deep expertise in security, sociology, and political science. Over the course of three years, the American arm of the team will receive up to $3 million from the U.S. Department of Defense through the Minerva Research Initiative, while the British arm will be supported by up to £2.87 million from the Economic and Social Research Council, which is part of UK Research and Innovation. That funding isn’t just about paying bills—it’s a serious investment in understanding a threat that doesn’t always explode, but slowly chips away at trust in institutions, media, and democracy itself.
What makes IMITATE3 particularly exciting is the international machinery behind it. This is not just a project with two countries working in parallel; it is a true partnership built on the BARI framework—the bilateral academic research initiative jointly sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense and the ESRC. BARI is designed to support high-risk, basic research through exactly this kind of cross-border collaboration. The idea is simple but powerful: when leading scientists from the United States and the United Kingdom merge their unique skill sets, methodological traditions, and research cultures, the result is far greater than the sum of its parts. The two nations have a shared language, but they don’t always think alike—and that’s precisely the point. By bringing together different perspectives on propaganda, social media manipulation, and statecraft, the collaboration is expected to produce insights that neither country could have generated on its own. It’s a recognition that information threats don’t respect national borders, so neither should the research designed to understand them. The program represents a serious, long-term commitment to pooling resources, sharing data, and aligning research agendas in ways that strengthen both nations’ scientific capabilities while also advancing global knowledge.
At its heart, IMITATE3 aims to fundamentally change how we understand the entire lifecycle of foreign influence operations—from construction to communication to consequence. Too often, the public conversation about disinformation gets stuck on single viral posts or isolated conspiracy theories. The project wants to step back and see the whole picture. That means examining how state actors craft narratives, choose their platforms, and adapt their messaging over time. It means studying not just the content of the propaganda, but the channels through which it flows, the emotional buttons it pushes, and the political and cultural vulnerabilities it exploits. The research will also focus on consequences—how these operations are capable of inducing political, cultural, and socio-economic instability, sometimes in ways that are visible in street-level protests or election outcomes, and sometimes in ways that work more slowly through the background noise of daily life, shaping what people believe, whom they trust, and how they vote. By providing robust, evidence-based insights, the project hopes to move beyond vague warnings about “fake news” and instead offer a clear-eyed account of how foreign states seek to shape public perceptions and political decision-making across a wide range of international settings.
The urgency of this work is hard to overstate. We live in an era when rumours, propaganda, conspiracy theories, and manipulated information are not just byproducts of a messy information ecosystem—they are frequently deliberate tools of statecraft, deployed by hostile governments to distort, discredit, and deceive. The problem is global and it is growing. It touches elections, public health, climate action, and even basic trust in objective fact. Against this backdrop, IMITATE3 steps into the breach, addressing what the project leaders call an urgent global and social problem. The project is not just an academic exercise; it’s a direct response to a clear and present threat to democratic resilience. By studying real-world events as they unfold, and by combining quantitative data with deep qualitative analysis, the team hopes to produce actionable knowledge that can help governments, civil society, and ordinary citizens recognize manipulative information techniques, resist their influence, and build more resilient information ecosystems. The research will generate not just academic papers, but practical frameworks for understanding how to defend open societies against those who seek to turn our own tools of communication against us.
Leaders on both sides of the Atlantic have welcomed the initiative with striking enthusiasm. Dr. David Montgomery, Director of Social Science in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, captured the spirit of the collaboration when he said that the BARI Social Science Program showcases the remarkable potential of international collaboration. His words point to something important: this isn’t just about one project, but about a model for how allied nations can work together on shared threats. By bringing leading scientists together, the initiative advances areas of mutual interest while demonstrating the strength of combining diverse perspectives and expertise. Similarly, Stian Westlake, Executive Chair of the ESRC, framed the partnership in even broader terms, calling it a joining of forces between two of the world’s “social science superpowers.” He noted that now, as much as any time in history, we need to understand and counter the misinformation and manipulation spread by hostile states to destabilise the world’s democracies. His words carry a particular weight, because they reflect a growing consensus among researchers, policymakers, and citizens alike: the fight against disinformation is not just a technical problem or a legal one—it is a fundamental struggle for the health and resilience of democratic societies. The collaboration between the US and UK is therefore not merely convenient; it is essential. By standing together, these two nations are signalling that the defence of truth is a shared responsibility, and that the best way to protect democracy is to understand exactly how its enemies operate.
The human importance of this project is best captured by the people leading the charge. Dr. David Montgomery, Director of Social Science in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, has described the BARI Social Science Program as a showcase of the remarkable potential of international collaboration. He emphasized that by bringing together leading scientists from both nations, the initiative is set to achieve real advancements in areas of shared interest—highlighting the strength that comes from combining diverse perspectives and expertise. His words echo the sentiment of Stian Westlake, Executive Chair of the ESRC, who made an even bolder point: now more than at any time in history, we need to understand and counter the misinformation and manipulation spread by hostile states seeking to destabilise the world’s democracies. Westlake called the program “the joining of forces between two of the world’s social science superpowers,” a phrase that captures both the scale of the challenge and the strength of the response. It’s not an exaggeration to say that this collaboration is about defending the very idea of democratic discourse—open debate, trusted information, and informed citizens—against those who would undermine it.
Of course, a project of this scale doesn’t just happen on the back of a good idea and a shared sense of urgency. It requires a serious support structure. BARI is jointly sponsored by the Basic Research Office in the U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense and the ESRC. Day-to-day management is handled by subject matter experts from a joint service team that includes the Minerva Research Initiative, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the ESRC. This is not some distant academic exercise; it is a programme embedded in the highest levels of national security research. The U.S. Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, which oversees the Pentagon’s research, development, and prototyping activities, is directly involved in ensuring the work remains relevant to real-world defense challenges. The involvement of such serious institutional partners speaks to how seriously this threat is now taken. Dr. David Montgomery, Director of Social Science in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, has praised the BARI Social Science Program for showcasing the remarkable potential of international collaboration. He emphasizes that by bringing together leading scientists from the US and UK, the initiative is set to achieve advancements in areas of shared interest, highlighting the strength of combining diverse perspectives and expertise.
The human stakes behind these institutional arrangements are best captured in the words of Stian Westlake, Executive Chair of the ESRC. He noted that now, as much as at any time in history, we need to understand and counter the misinformation and manipulation spread by hostile states to destabilise the world’s democracies. That is a striking statement—especially coming from a senior research leader, not a politician or a general. Westlake described the BARI Social Science Program as “the joining of forces between two of the world’s social science superpowers,” a phrase that perfectly captures the spirit of the collaboration. It’s not just about academic prestige; it’s about two nations recognising that their shared democratic values are under threat, and that the best defence is smarter, deeper, more coordinated social science. David Montgomery, Director of Social Science in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, echoed that sentiment, calling the BARI program a showcase of the remarkable potential of international collaboration. He pointed out that by bringing together leading scientists from the US and UK, the initiative is set to achieve advancements in areas of shared interest—and that combining diverse perspectives and expertise is itself a source of strength. Stian Westlake, Executive Chair of the ESRC, put it even more directly: this is a joining of forces between two of the world’s social science superpowers. Now, as much as at any time in history, we need to understand and counter the misinformation and manipulation spread by hostile states to destabilise the world’s democracies. The collaboration isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s essential to protecting the democratic project itself.
But for all its big-picture vision, IMITATE3 is also a carefully managed administrative endeavour. The BARI programme is jointly sponsored by the Basic Research Office in the U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense and the ESRC, which means it sits at the intersection of national security and social science. Day-to-day management will be handled by subject matter experts from a joint service team that includes the Minerva Research Initiative, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the ESRC. This isn’t a simple handshake agreement; it’s a structured partnership with clear oversight, scientific rigor, and accountability. The involvement of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering—which oversees research, development, and prototyping activities across the entire Department of Defense—underscores just how seriously this issue is being taken at the highest levels of government. The fact that both the U.S. and U.K. have chosen to back this project with substantial public funding signals that influence operations are no longer seen as a niche concern for cybersecurity experts or political communication scholars. They are now understood as a central strategic threat that requires the combined brainpower of allied nations, working shoulder to shoulder.
The human stakes behind the project were captured beautifully by Dr. David Montgomery, Director of Social Science in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, who described the BARI Social Science Program as showcasing the remarkable potential of international collaboration. In his words, bringing together leading scientists from the US and UK will achieve advancements in areas of shared interest, highlighting the strength of combining diverse perspectives and expertise. That sentiment was echoed by Stian Westlake, Executive Chair of the ESRC, who framed the collaboration as a joining of forces between the world’s two social science superpowers. His language is telling: at a time when hostile states are actively working to destabilise democracies through misinformation and manipulation, the need to understand and counter these tactics has never been more urgent. This project is not an academic luxury. It is a necessary, pragmatic response to a clear and present threat. By pooling the intellectual firepower of the UK and the US, the BARI Social Science Program is doing something genuinely important—it’s creating a shared defence against a common enemy, not with tanks or missiles, but with evidence, analysis, and critical thinking.
Behind the scenes, the project is supported by a well-organized management structure that ensures the research remains rigorous, relevant, and responsive to real-world needs. BARI is jointly sponsored by the Basic Research Office in the U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense and the ESRC. Day-to-day management will be handled by a joint service team made up of subject matter experts from the Minerva Research Initiative, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the ESRC. This isn’t just bureaucratic housekeeping—it’s a sign of how seriously both governments take this issue, and how committed they are to making sure the research actually reaches the people who need it. The U.S. Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, which oversees the Minerva program, is responsible for the research, development, and prototyping activities across the Department of Defense, and this project sits squarely within that forward-looking mission. As Dr. David Montgomery, Director of Social Science in that office, put it, the BARI Social Science Program “showcases the remarkable potential of international collaboration.” He’s right. When you bring together leading scientists from two countries and ask them to work side by side on a shared problem, you create the kind of scientific friction that sparks real breakthroughs.
Beyond the technical and academic details, there’s a deeply human reason why this work matters. Stian Westlake, Executive Chair of the ESRC, framed it perfectly when he said that now, as much as at any time in history, we need to understand and counter the misinformation and manipulation spread by hostile states to destabilise the world’s democracies. This is not an abstract intellectual exercise. It’s about protecting the ability of ordinary people to make up their minds freely, to debate openly, and to trust what they see and hear. IMITATE3 represents the joining of forces between two of the world’s social science superpowers—not just two countries, but two communities of scholars who are determined to put their knowledge to work for the public good. That human dimension is what makes the project feel less like a detached academic exercise and more like a vital public service. It’s about giving democracies the evidence they need to defend themselves against those who would use information as a weapon.
Behind the scenes, the project is supported by a robust governance structure. BARI is jointly sponsored by the Basic Research Office in the U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense and the ESRC in the UK. The day-to-day management is handled by subject matter experts from a joint service team representing the Minerva Research Initiative, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the ESRC. The U.S. Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, or OUSD(R&E), oversees the research, development, and prototyping activities across the Department of Defense, ensuring that the work remains grounded in real national security needs while still allowing academics the freedom to pursue fundamental questions. As David Montgomery, Director of Social Science in that office, puts it, the BARI Social Science Program “showcases the remarkable potential of international collaboration.” Stian Westlake, Executive Chair of the ESRC, echoes that sentiment, noting that now more than ever we need to understand and counter the misinformation and manipulation spread by hostile states to destabilize democracies. The project is, in every sense, a joining of forces between two of the world’s social science superpowers—working together not just for their own mutual benefit, but for the benefit of people everywhere who care about truth, stability, and the future of open societies.