Information Warfare Watch No. 5
Saudi Arabia's coming media offensive;
England's controversial "online safety" bill;
Chinese disinfo now takes aim at Japan;
Moscow focuses on information warfare
Saudi Arabia's coming media offensive;
England's controversial "online safety" bill;
Chinese disinfo now takes aim at Japan;
Moscow focuses on information warfare
China expands its use of secret detention;
U.S. mutual funds invest $150 million in Xinjiang companies;
Under pressure, Ukraine drops criticism of Xinjiang rights abuses;
Chinese scientists removed virus records from U.S. database;
Hong Kong begins to censor films
Another step forward for Saudi reforms;
The Taliban maps out its agenda...;
...Afghan forces brace for the inevitable;
The brotherhood in Cairo's crosshairs;
America urges Europe to act on foreign fighters
U.S. special ops to use Israeli indoor drones...;
...as China develops counter drone tech;
A royal robotic submarine;
Russian war robots join the ranks;
New Army eyes saving lives
The Taliban takes pains to reassure Russia;
Biden demands Russia crack down on cybercrime...again;
Nord Stream II set for completion next month;
Putin's vision for unity with Ukraine;
Russian COVID deaths continue to surge;
Extra coaching for Tokyo
As video of protests in Havana circulates on social media, many are wondering about Cuba's future. Why now? What's changed for everyday Cubans? And, most importantly, what do the protests mean for the island nation's communist government and its grip on power?
In late 2020, a Chinese submersible, the Fendouzhe, descended over 30,000 feet to the bottom of the Marianas Trench, home to the deepest point in the earth’s oceans, known as Challenger Deep.
How climate change fuels African instability;
Climactic shifts fuel southern migration;
Russia looks north for military expansion;
The intersection of climate change and great power competition
Price hikes and possible shortages ahead;
Exploiting Crimea's cultural heritage;
Bard College branded "undesirable";
Russian hackers continue to test the U.S.
Russia supports ASEAN on Myanmar;
Tajikistan looks to Russia to secure border with Afghanistan
President Joe Biden and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met last month on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Berlin. The meeting was short on tangible results but long on symbolism, with Erdogan proclaiming that “there is no problem that cannot be resolved in Turkey-U.S. relations.”
History, they say, doesn’t really repeat itself, but it does sometimes rhyme.
The states, and America’s nonprofit and private sectors, must play a role, too.
A coming infrastructure conference could lay the groundwork for a new strategy in the region.
The problem with Chinese vaccines;
Sino-Indian border standoff continues;
Burma's junta puts Aung San Suu Kyi on trial;
North Korea faces food crisis...again;
Tokyo, Manila hold first joint air force exercises
America must use diplomacy to convince its best friend that an injection of the famous British courage in the economic space is necessary for protecting the UK’s sovereignty, security, and values.
Iranian disinfo offensive takes aim at Israel;
Indonesia's increasingly managed media;
Target: Taiwan;
Anti-vaccination propaganda continues to spread in Asia
Germany acknowledges Namibian genocide;
Congolese flee to Rwanda;
The west returns to Libya;
Flashpoint: GERD;
New life for China-funded port in Tanzania
Russia, China renew friendship treaty;
More journalists harassed by police;
Putin eyes an "unfriendly" Ukraine;
Kremlin hunts for Navalny ally;
Russia refuses to open Syrian aid crossing;
Cruz plays hardball over Nord Stream II
A confrontation off Crimea;
Torture on the peninsula;
Forgery industry booming over vaccination requirements;
Russian military flexes its muscles in the middle east;
Moscow versus the western order
Chinese military scientists face U.S. visa fraud charges;
China stops Taiwan from buying vaccines...;
...as America lends a helping hand;
Pushed out of China, bitcoin miners are coming to America;
China stepping up market interventions
A more integrated and cohesive Central Asia that includes Afghanistan will do more than anything else in sight to render it stable and predictable.
College merger suspended after student protests;
China leads the charge against Israel;
China's apps to face subpoenas and/or bans;
FCC advances proposed ban on Chinese telecom equipment;
NATO declares China a security risk
OSCE concerned about human rights in Crimea;
Russia's GAZPROM behind massive methane leak;
Putin seeks to bolster United Russia;
Germany arrests Russian researcher accused of spying;
Major cities hammered by COVID
Washington needs a long-term strategy to sideline the tech giant.
Russia's web of disinformation;
Tehran's anti-semitic tropes;
Chinese disinformation targets Taiwan's tech sector;
Beijing's fake cheering section;
Washington takes aim at Iranian propaganda
Last week, Iranians went to the polls to select a replacement for outgoing president Hassan Rouhani, who has served out his two terms in office.
A helping hand from Grozny;
A media noose gets tighter;
A mediocre summit in Switzerland;
China, Russian space officials lay plans for lunar station;
Moscow's vaccine push;
Russia encroaches on Baltic airspace
* * * SPECIAL EDITION: Iran's 2021 election * * *
A coronation in Tehran...;
...amid clerical manipulation...;
...and widespread disaffection;
The presidency as a stepping stone?
The Sisi government has been forced to deal not only with the perceived internal threat posed by the Brotherhood, but with an external one as well.
The People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) dominance over global critical mineral supply chains presents one of the largest strategic vulnerabilities to the United States and her allies since the Arab oil embargo-triggered energy security crisis of the 1970s.
At his summit with Vladimir Putin in Geneva, Switzerland last week, President Biden pressed his Russian counterpart on a number of critical issues.
With Tehran making significant progress on the nuclear front, Washington and its European allies seem engaged in an increasingly desperate effort to revive the 2015 global nuclear agreement with Iran, mirroring the earlier eagerness that helped produce the problematic agreement in the first place.
The Brotherhood breaks ranks;
Hezbollah's growing European presence;
The coming fight over Afghanistan;
The problem with Palestinian aid
White House: Engagement with China "has come to an end";
China allows three children amid fall in birth;
Fake COVID-19 vaccines pose new threat in Africa;
Arab countries are deporting Uyghurs to China;
Bush China Foundation takes $5 million from the CPC
Since 2005, Congress has recognized that an asteroid impact represents a serious threat to national security. Though Congress tasked NASA to survey hazardous asteroids larger than 140m by 2020, sixteen years later it remains incomplete.
Navalny not the first FSB target;
No refuge for victimized women in Russia's regions;
Moscow's soft lockdown;
Russia sells Iran advanced spy satellite;
Russia carries out massive naval drills in the Pacific;
Another former European official tacks toward Russia
Despite Chavez’s death in 2013, Venezuela remains a key Iranian ally—and a top partner in Tehran’s efforts to project power in the Western Hemisphere.
This work explores the current state of the “wars of ideas” against radical Islam and identifies America’s potential partners in this fight.
Putin signs extremism law, court bans Navalny group;
Space chief threatens early ISIS withdrawal;
New Ukrainian soccer jerseys showcase occupied Crimea;
Another opposition politician flees the country;
Russia withdraws from Open Skies;
Coronavirus surges in Moscow and nationwide
Next week, President Joe Biden will meet with Vladimir Putin in Geneva for his first head-of-state summit with the Russian leader.
Brain-computer interfaces make monkey pong possible;
Thought-controlled exoskeletons;
Wanted: A space junk removal service;
Directed energy weapons of terror;
Countering the Chinese naval fleet
China could have ordered Huawei to shut down Australia's 5G;
China woos Wall Street bankers...;
...while U.S. scrutiny over Chinese influence over finance grows;
Biden announces new probe into source of COVID-19;
Philippines protests China's "illegal" presence in its EEZ
Hunting down the opposition;
A step backward for Russia in Africa;
A helping hand from Moscow;
The true impact of the "foreign agent" designation;
Russia looks beyond the dollar
More quiet normalization with Israel;
Islamist strife in Indonesia;
The Taliban gains ground...;
...as Amerca mulls making Pakistan a power broker
Fifty-five House Democrats recently signed a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken arguing that the U.S. response to the protests, riots and national strikes that have taken place in Colombia in recent weeks must focus on the “unleashed” and “brutal response” of the Colombian National Police against protesters.
The United States, and its allies and partners, have an opportunity in Ukraine to demonstrate their commitment to the existing international order, and thereby to deter potential aggressors long before military force is required.
ASEAN struggles with response to Burma coup;
Indonesia's new "tank boat";
Tokyo plans to shatter defense spending ceiling;
China's infrastructure outreach to the Pacific Islands;
Manila rejects Beijing's unilateral fishing moratorium
Khodorkovsky group leaves Russia;
Putin meets with an embattled Lukashenko;
Russia spies on U.S. missile defense test;
Russian espionage a casualty of Czech spat;
Bolstering strength on western borders
Whatever the future holds for one of America’s most complicated bilateral relationships, better that Biden try and shape Erdogan’s foreign policy forays to America’s advantage, rather than refight old battles.
Chinese fake news targets Taiwan;
Moscow takes aim at U.S. broadcasting...;
...and foreign vaccines;
Rethinking "wolf warrior diplomacy"?