September 11th, 2017
CHINA Taiwanese Activist Pleads Guilty to Chinese Subversion Charges Daily Mail A Taiwanese democracy activist pleaded guilty Monday to charges of attempting to subvert Chinese government power during a trial in China that his wife called a “political show” and further soured cross-strait ties. Lee Ming-cheh appeared alongside a Chinese...
September 8th, 2017
CHINA China’s Diplomatic Ties With Ally North Korea Are Fraying NBC News When Kim Jong Un inherited power in North Korea in late 2011, then-Chinese president Hu Jintao was outwardly supportive of the untested young leader, predicting that “traditional friendly cooperation” between the countries would strengthen. Since 2013, ties between the...
Kleptocracy Daily: September 12, 2017
Russia is using anonymous companies and smuggling networks to undercut U.S. sanctions on North Korea. Pyongyang is also trying to acquire cryptocurrencies to dodge sanctions. (WaPo, Bloomberg) Spain is investigating the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in Luxembourg for money laundering. (NYT) Rep. Ed Royce, Chairman of the House Foreign...
Europe seen from Ukraine
A strong Europe needs a strong Ukraine …read more Source: European Council on Foreign...
What about Pensions?
Economy Judging by his statements, President Vladimir Putin does not plan to retire any time soon. Yet many of his potential voters are worried about their own retirement prospects. Will their pensions be sizeable and reliable? At what age can Russians count on receiving them? During a televised call-in show held in mid-June, the president left...
Political Elite Renewal in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine
Invitation Only Research Event 2 Oct 2017 – 14:00 to 15:30Add to CalendariCalendar Outlook Google Yahoo Cristina Gherasimov, Academy Robert Bosch Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Programme, Chatham House …read more Source: Chatham...
A UN Mission for Ukraine’s Donbas?
Russia’s proposal for a UN peacekeeping mission in Donbas must be taken seriously. It could provide momentum for more meaningful Minsk process negotiations. …read more Source: Carnegie...
Reagan Documents Shed Light on US ‘Meddling’
“Secret” documents, recently declassified by the Reagan presidential library, reveal senior White House officials reengaging a former CIA “proprietary,” The Asia Foundation, in “political action,” an intelligence term of art for influencing the actions of foreign governments.The documents from 1982 came at a turning-point moment when the Reagan...
Kleptocracy Daily: September 15, 2017
Fighting back: We live in an era of authoritarian influence, writes Thorsten Benner. How should democracies respond? (Foreign Affairs) Anonymous companies: At a Helsinki Commission hearing on Russian disinformation yesterday, Molly McKew responded to Sen. Whitehouse’s question on U.S. shell firms: “The anonymous movement of money… into...
Six Major US Foreign Policy Failures of the Post-Cold War Era
In the 1990s, US officials, all of whom would go on to serve in the George W. Bush White House, authored two short, but deeply important policy documents that have subsequently been the guiding force behind every major US foreign policy decision taken since the year 2000 and particularly since 9/11.These documents include the Defense Planning...
