Between now and the next U.S. presidential election in 2020, Western voters will go to the polls in more than 20 elections. Looking at recent cases of election meddling in both the U.S. and Europe, and the patchy responses from our democratic institutions, there is every reason to believe that these elections provide 20 ripe new targets for Russia and others to interfere.

Foreign interference is a relatively low-cost affair in terms of human or financial resources needed. Yet it brings the almost guaranteed advantage of undermining confidence in our legitimate institutions, something non-democratic regimes like Russia relish in. Worryingly, Western governments are still fighting the last war: They’re stuck in the blunt 2016 lexis of “fake news,” while current trends indicate that Russia and similar adversaries are sharpening their toolkit.

First, we see a shift from fake news to hyper-partisan narratives. These are stories often with a grain of truth but with distorted facts to produce a polarizing public story. We saw that during the Italian election, where social media accounts and bots tied to Russia amplified stories about the threat of illegal immigration. Alongside a fatigue of Italian voters with the political establishment, this became the wedge issue, giving two populist and anti-migrant parties the largest share of votes. The problem with hyper-partisan content is that this is less detectable than news that is outright fake. Combating it requires a more comprehensive effort from all democratic actors, governments, media, NGOs and voters, which is lacking today.

Meanwhile, we are seeing an internationalization of the interference playbook. Although the 2016 presidential election might have attracted the greatest media scrutiny, the U.S. is far from the only target; Russia is actively exporting its interference platform to other countries. The Catalonian referendum saw an unprecedented level of social media trolling and distorted facts originating from Venezuela. Eyes now turn to how Venezuela might be used in the upcoming Mexican election. Other non-democratic states like Iran and China, and also Turkey are watching closely. Just weeks ago, the Twitter accounts of several European politicians, including one co-author, were hacked, supposedly by Turkish operatives, spreading fake news about the 2016 botched coup.

Identifying the full scale of Russia and other foreign powers’ intelligence tactics is the only way to develop a full-spectrum strategy to counter it.

The type of interference varies from one election to another. In the U.S., Russia had to use transgressive means — hacked email servers and operatives based in the country — to influence the political scene. In Italy or Germany, Russia can rely on parties close to Moscow and on its economic footprint to spread its polarizing message. Ukraine is ground zero of Moscow’s interference campaign, where all tools from political assassination to corruption, trolling to cyberattacks are deployed to full effect.

Across the Atlantic alliance, our collective response has been underwhelming and disorganized. A number of NGOs, think tanks, national parliaments and governments are working to identify and tackle subversive actions by Russia. These projects look at how to address different tools in Russia’s interference toolkit: protecting our online spaces, our ballot boxes, our media and our cyberdefenses. However, too often they look back at interference in the previous election, rather than proactively preparing for interference in the next. They rarely coordinate with each other or have a holistic approach to defending against the full spectrum of these malign actions. In the U.S., the debate is so polarized that only one bipartisan bill has passed Congress.

It is for this purpose that we are launching a Transatlantic Commission on Election Integrity. Bringing together politicians, industry professionals, media, tech and civil society experts on both sides of the Atlantic, our goal is to amplify the work already being carried out and to fill the gaps that exist in our collective response. To truly tackle Russia and other players’ nefarious actions, it is imperative that we bridge two divides: the one across the Atlantic, and the one across party lines.

Members of the commission range from politicians like former Vice President Joe Biden and former British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, to the former editor of Europe’s most-read newspaper, Bild, and British Prime Minister Theresa May’s recent internet safety czar. We aim to engage parliaments on both sides of the Atlantic to look into their legislation, audit what is already being done, and seek to support and amplify initiatives and organisations already working on this issue. Technology is currently seen as part of the problem, but we also intend to look at how it can become part of the solution, using machine learning and artificial intelligence to identify and counter nefarious narratives.

Identifying the full scale of Russia and other foreign powers’ intelligence tactics is the only way to develop a full-spectrum strategy to counter it. If we fail to do so, other nation states that wish to undermine our security will adopt similar disruptive tactics.

Across the Atlantic Ocean, we have shown that by working together, we can overcome our common challenges. Today, we face a major challenge to the fabric of our democracy. If we work in isolation to tackle this joint threat, we will surrender to it. That is why transatlantic cooperation is needed and needed urgently, to ensure we protect the integrity of not just the 20 elections in the next two years, but the integrity of our institutions as such.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen is a former prime minister of Denmark and secretary-general of NATO. Michael Chertoff is the former U.S. secretary of homeland security. They will co-chair the Transatlantic Commission on Election Integrity.