Ben Freeman

Ben Freeman

Ben Freeman is the director of the Foreign Influence Transparency Initiative at the Center for International Policy (CIP).

Articles by this author

Foreign contributions generally come with critically important strings attached -- usually a favorable stance toward that country in whatever influential work the think tanks are doing. (Photo: Middle East Institute) Views
Thursday, February 21, 2019
Following the Foreign-Policy Money Trail in Washington
The 2016 elections awakened Americans to a startling reality: the country’s political system is ripe for foreign interference. The Russians took full advantage of social media with bot armies and through unregistered foreign agents. While their influence garnered considerable attention and has led...
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Any foreign power hoping to line the pockets of American politicians just has to hire a local lobbyist to do it for them. (Photo: White House/Flickr/cc) Views
Friday, October 05, 2018
How Saudi Money Keeps Washington at War in Yemen
It was May 2017. The Saudis were growing increasingly nervous. For more than two years they had been relying heavily on U.S. military support and bombs to defeat Houthi rebels in Yemen. Now, the Senate was considering a bipartisan resolution to cut off military aid and halt a big sale of American-...
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"If such deep connections between Saudi Arabia and the Trump administration sometimes seem to surface out of nowhere, they all too often stem from an extraordinarily influential, if largely unpublicized, Saudi lobbying and public relations campaign." (Photo: White House/Flickr/cc) Views
Thursday, May 10, 2018
Arms and Influence: How the Saudis Took Donald Trump for a Ride
It’s another Trump affair -- this time without the allegations of sexual harassment (and worse), the charges and counter-charges, the lawsuits, and all the rest. So it hasn’t gotten the sort of headlines that Stormy Daniels has garnered, but when it comes to influence, American foreign policy, and...
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