Soha Sarfraz, a recent alumna of York University, holds an Honour Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, specializing in International Relations, accompanied by a complementary accreditation in Public Administration. Soha maintains a diverse spectrum of interests, with a central dedication to geopolitics, security and foreign policy. Actively participating in various international relations conferences, Soha has earned recognition and accolades for her notable contributions within the academic community. Prior to this, Soha assumed executive positions at non-governmental organizations IRSAY and RefugeAid, cultivating a platform for Canadian youth to actively participate in international matters and build diplomatic networks. Currently, Soha is undertaking an internship through the Junior Research Fellowship Program with the NATO Association of Canada, where her insights contribute to the publication of seminal works focusing on Cybersecurity and Emerging Threats. Soha can be reached at sarfraz.soha0@gmail.com
In this special report, Soha Sarfraz examines how Iran and Russia use influence operations and information warfare to weaken democratic cohesion across NATO societies. Particularly by targeting key institutions through digital disruption, narrative manipulation, and the covert exploitation of grassroots mobilization. She argues that these campaigns threaten not only institutions themselves, but also the social trust, political consensus, and informational resilience that sustain collective defence, underscoring the need for stronger democratic resilience and alliance-wide responses to hybrid threats.
In this article, Soha Sarfraz explores how the rise of deepfakes is placing new strains on democratic resilience, using Denmark’s developing legal and policy response as a case study of how states may preserve trust and political legitimacy in the age of fake media, Soha examines what lessons Canada might draw from that model. She argues that deepfakes increasingly threaten not only individual reputations, but also electoral integrity and the broader information environment, contending that the challenge is no longer merely a technological, but fundamentally political and strategic.
The Arctic is warming up, both in temperature and tension. In the east, Russian nuclear icebreakers – specially purposed ships designed for the ice – are carving strategic routes through once-impassable waters. China declares itself a “near-Arctic state,” with ambitions of shaping the cold pursuit of Arctic dominance. Meanwhile, Canada, steward of the world’s longest Arctic coastline – stemming more than Read More…
In the current digital era, cyberattacks on Canadian energy networks raise serious geopolitical security concerns. These attacks have a significant impact on the geopolitical environment in addition to endangering the energy infrastructure. Cyberattacks on Canadian energy networks have far-reaching geopolitical repercussions that touch on many important industries. affecting national security, public safety, and the economy. Read More…
