DEMOCRACY DISCONNECTED: SOCIAL MEDIA’S CAUSTIC INFLUENCE ON SOUTHEAST ASIA’S FRAGILE REPUBLICS Above all else, perhaps one of the most effective measures Washington could take to undercut social media’s divisive tendencies in the region would be to help foster stronger civil societies and physical communities capable of opposing these factious forces online. The United States could use its experience administrating programs such as AmeriCorps to assist countries throughout the region in establishing similar public-private partnerships as a means to rebuild interpersonal relations within physical communities and promote intercommunal engagement in expectation that it will help to identify common values and shared beliefs. AmeriCorps, which functions as a sort of domestic Peace Corps, places volunteers in a variety of positions in fields such as health, education, and public safety, with the intention of improving the welfare of the country and promoting civic engagement. Similar programs in Southeast Asia’s developing democracies would likely not only serve to help erode intercommunal barriers by bringing individuals of different backgrounds together for a common cause, but would likely also have the added benefit of enhancing the self-reliance of those countries to make them less dependent on foreign aid during times of crisis. While this study has sought to provide a holistic, albeit brief, analysis of the various contributing factors that have made social media a threat to the consolidation of democratic governments in Southeast Asia, additional research is warranted to further understand the specific nature of its influence on a case-by-case basis. Nevertheless, the psychological underpinnings of social media’s persuasive power and the suggested remediation strategies to mitigate its caustic effects that are identified here have broad applicability. The dynamics playing out online in the region are replicated in other areas throughout the world. In fact, the effective weaponization of social media that has already taken place points to a future of international conflict in which countries and non-state actors alike will be disposed to rely more heavily on the information domain to attack their adversaries. Consequently, it is becoming imperative that the U.S. intelligence community and defense establishment devote the time and resources necessary to thoroughly evaluate social media’s role as a tool of influence so as to better defend the country and its democratic allies from its most maleficent effects. Despite the many ills wrought by social media, it still maintains the potential to fulfill its promise of bringing people together for the common good. Although it will require time and significant effort, people can adapt to the challenge of living in an information-rich environment by learning to become comfortable with ambiguity and more deliberative in their thinking. Disinformation and hate speech are likely to maintain an enduring presence online, but societies can be strengthened to withstand their divisive tendencies. The responsible use of social media can still serve to connect individuals separated by distance and illuminate the truth in those corners of the world where autocrats rely on the curtailment of knowledge to sustain their power. Foreign Policy at Brookings | 23