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  "authors": [
    "Rachel Kleinfeld"
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  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
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Source: Getty

In The Media

National Security and the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election

While presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump is channeling many of the frustrations Americans have with national security and foreign policy, his prescriptions for fixing them do not measure up.

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By Rachel Kleinfeld
Published on Jun 13, 2016
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Democracy, Conflict, and Governance

The Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program is a leading source of independent policy research, writing, and outreach on global democracy, conflict, and governance. It analyzes and seeks to improve international efforts to reduce democratic backsliding, mitigate conflict and violence, overcome political polarization, promote gender equality, and advance pro-democratic uses of new technologies.

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Source: KPFK’S Background Briefing

As investigations into the deadliest shooting in recent American history continue, fears of terrorism and lone wolf attacks have risen amongst Americans. The mass shooting of a gay nightclub in Orlando is the latest in a series of similar attacks including San Bernardino and the Boston marathon bombing, forcing the two presumptive presidential candidates to elaborate how they would each respond to such crises.

Rachel Kleinfeld spoke to Background Briefing's Ian Masters about how Trump’s appeal to nativism after the Orlando massacre is likely to resonate with Americans frustrated by a broken immigration system and how Hillary Clinton’s plan to focus on lone wolf terrorists presents challenges with which intelligence services are ill-equipped to deal.

This interview was original broadcast on KPFK’s Background Briefing.

About the Author

Rachel Kleinfeld

Senior Fellow, Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program

Rachel Kleinfeld is a senior fellow in Carnegie’s Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program, where she focuses on issues of rule of law, security, and governance in democracies experiencing polarization, violence, and other governance problems.

    Recent Work

  • Other
    Political Violence in the U.S.

      Political Violence Researchers, Rachel Kleinfeld, ed., Dalya Berkowitz, ed.

  • Testimony
    Civil Society Repression Internationally and Historically Within the United States

      Rachel Kleinfeld

Rachel Kleinfeld
Senior Fellow, Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program
Rachel Kleinfeld
Political ReformSecurityForeign PolicyNorth AmericaUnited States

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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