In The News

Putin vs. US Intelligence: Daily Beast

February 19, 2019
The US budget devotes more than $80 billion on intelligence-gathering, representing more than 10 percent of the US defense budget, with many expenditures and details classified. Yet the US president has suggested that he does not hold much stock in US intelligence assessments. Former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe offered a new example as shared by a colleague, during an interview on the...

Age of Uneasy Peace: Foreign Affairs

Yan Xuetong February 16, 2019
US Vice President Mike Pence’s 2018 speech at the Hudson Institute, stopping short at inaugurating a new Cold War, bluntly enumerated China’s encroachment on US interests. His words illustrated the Trump administration’s perception of the rising power in the East, one determined to replace the United States in the global order. Yan Xuetong writes in Foreign Affairs that China does not seek an...

Fentanyl Fuels Cartel: Associated Press

February 14, 2019
Despite the conviction of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the US demand for illegal drugs has not subsided. The Sinaloa drug cartel is under new leadership, less flamboyant and violent, and still maintains an international network bringing in product from places near and far, whether Colombia or Malaysia. “Those heaping bags of fentanyl – sourced in China – and plastic tubs of crystal meth, heroin...

US Debt and Foreign Creditors: Wall Street Journal

Daniel Kruger and Kate Davidson February 12, 2019
Foreign investors are less keen to own US government bonds, but domestic investors pick up the slack for now. “Foreign ownership of U.S. government debt has been decreasing since it reached a peak of about 55% during the financial crisis in 2008, falling below 40% in November for the first time since 2003, according to the most recent Treasury data,” report Daniel Kruger and Kate Davidson for the...

Medium: No Thank You, Mr. Pecker

Jeff Bezos February 7, 2019
Jeff Bezos, the wealthiest person in the world, went public with communications from the National Enquirer urging him to stop investigations in exchange for not printing personal photos and texts. “AMI, the owner of the National Enquirer, led by David Pecker, recently entered into an immunity deal with the Department of Justice related to their role in the so-called ‘Catch and Kill’ process on...

Warning on Mining Dam Disasters: BBC

David Shukman February 7, 2019
Companies mining for coal, copper and iron ore remove tons of material during the excavation process – only a small amount is valuable ore and the rest is rock and material contaminated with chemicals and other mining waste. “And the cheapest way to dispose of these remains is to create what's called a ‘tailings pond’ – a rather genteel term for a dumping-ground sealed with a dam,” explains...

Washington Post: Fight in Venezuela

Mariana Zuñiga, Anthony Faiola and Rachelle Krygier January 31, 2019
In an attempt at a temporary cooling-off, Caracas and Washington agreed to hit pause for 30 days before repatriating each other’s diplomats as leaders of the two countries butt heads on the state of democracy and electoral integrity in Venezuela. After President Donald Trump recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó, European allies like Germany, France and the UK issued an eight-day ultimatum,...