North Korea might be reined in, the thinking goes, if China could be persuaded to lean harder on its largest trading partner, and so the Trump administration is contemplating a variety of inducements that run from secondary sanctions on some Chinese banks and companies to a better trade deal for Beijing. Read Here – Defense […]
China’s General Office Director Li Zhanshu has a low-key yet powerful presence among Chinese President Xi Jinping’s inner circle. He has gradually moved from behind the curtains to the front stage as Xi’s alter ego at critical junctures. With the approaching 19th Party Congress, China analysts have reached a consensus that Li will move up. The […]
Over the past decade or more, autocratic regimes—and illiberal elected governments with authoritarian ambitions—have deterred independent reporting and online criticism through familiar tools like physical intimidation, censorship on moral or religious grounds, and prosecution under draconian laws on defamation or national security. Read Here – World Affairs Journal
As the media and President Trump continue to trade accusations that one another’s claims are “fake news,” access to authoritative information about the Federal government remains crucial to the public interest. A powerful sovereign state like the United States has legitimate reasons to keep secrets. Read Here – JSTOR Daily
Now that he’s president, Trump has taken the gendered politics of foreign policy to a whole different level. As the Alpha Males slogan suggests, it’s both a worldview for Trump and his team—and a philosophy of who and how to get the job done. Read Here – Politico Magazine
The point here is that for a White House that has such a casual and opportunistic relationship with the truth, it’s strange that Flynn’s “lie” to Pence would get him fired. It doesn’t add up. Read Here – BloombergView
Algorithms are aimed at optimizing everything. They can save lives, make things easier and conquer chaos. Still, experts worry they can also put too much control in the hands of corporations and governments, perpetuate bias, create filter bubbles, cut choices, creativity and serendipity, and could result in greater unemployment. Read Here – Pew Research
The clamour for security, accountability and transparency is leading to unfettered increase in the power of states. We are enacting law after law, introducing technology after technology, to render citizens transparent to the state. But at the same time, we are weakening protections and consenting to technologies in a way that makes the state less […]
There are major foreign-policy issues about which Trump has generated huge uncertainty by flatly contradicting his own policy promises. He has mused that it might be good for U.S. allies to acquire nuclear weapons, and then sworn he never said that; he has promised to ban Muslim immigrants from the U.S., and then walked it back. But that’s […]
The world needs India’s sustained rise, as much as India needs the world. Our desire to change our country has an indivisible link with the external world. It is, therefore, only natural that India’s choices at home and our international priorities form part of a seamless continuum. Firmly anchored in India’s transformational goals, Modi says […]
looking beyond borders 