David Shimer

David Shimer is a historian and author with a unique perspective on the past and present. He is an historian of the early 20th century United States, the modern Middle East, and Jewish identity in America and Europe. His 2019 book, “Rigged: America, Russia, and One Hundred Years of Covert Electoral Interference”, is an insightful and detailed look at the history of electoral interference in the US and abroad.

Shimer was born in Israel and moved to the United States in 1987. He attended Yale University, where he completed his undergraduate degree with honors and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. In 2008, he received his M.A. in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). From 2008 to 2017, he served as the editor-in-chief of the Yale International Relations Journal and worked for the Council on Foreign Relations Iran Program.

Shimer’s work and research have been published by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian and The Wall Street Journal, as well as in academic publications, including Foreign Policy, International Organization, and Carnegie Reporter.

In 2017, Shimer won the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations Dissertation Award for his PhD thesis, which examined the role of nuclear weapons during the Cold War. His book, “Rigged”, is an engaging account of a century of covert electoral interference around the world. In it, Shimer looks at how local political players, international hackers, and foreign governments have used the digital age to subtly shape elections. He reveals the long story of outside meddling in the United States and examines recent efforts to interfere in other countries’ elections, including in Russia, Ukraine, and Brexit Britain.

Shimer deepens our understanding of the struggle for political power and helps us appreciate the pervasiveness of foreign and domestic influence over electoral processes. He also provides useful lessons in how to identify and counter interference and how to protect against future attempts. What emerges is a comprehensive portrait of manipulation on a grand scale, and a call to recognize our own power as citizens to prevent meddling and hold accountable those who attempt it.

Shimer is currently an Assistant Professor of International Relations and History at Yale University. His research focuses on issues of war, empire, and statecraft. He has written two books, “Rigged” and “The Age of Entanglements: Global Convergence in the 20th Century”, and has articles forthcoming in International Security and Foreign Affairs. He also serves as a consulting director for New America, a public policy think tank, and The D.C.-based Institute for National Security.