In The News

Market Pulse: Theresa May Seeks Snap UK Election To Get Brexit Backing

Dean Popplewell April 19, 2017
British voters narrowly approved leaving the European Union a year ago, but political leaders are divided over how to proceed. So Prime Minister Theresa May is taking a gamble by calling for a snap election on June 8 in hopes of consolidating power behind a conservative approach and slowing opposition to details as she prepares to negotiate with the EU. The early election requires approval from...

Deutsche Welle: Turkey's Referendum Result Could Scare Off Investors

Rolf Wenkel April 18, 2017
Turkish voters narrowly approved a referendum, by 51 percent, to replace its parliamentary system with a strong presidency. That could cement power for the current president over the next decade, though opposition leaders object to last-minute changes in voting procedures. Investors will watch closely how political leaders handle the transition as well as minorities, including Kurds who make up...

The Guardian: Report Says Foreign States May Have Interfered in Brexit Vote

Rajeev Syal April 12, 2017
A British parliamentary committee report suggests that “Foreign governments such as Russia and China may have been involved in the collapse of a voter registration website in the run-up to the EU referendum,” Rajeev Syal reports for the Guardian and describes a denial-of-services attack. “The committee does not identify who may have been responsible, but has noted that both Russia and China use...

Scout: The Rise of the Weaponized AI Propaganda Machine

Berit Anderson and Brett Horvath April 5, 2017
Stories are always at risk for manipulation, but technology can now analyze and recruit individuals to unwittingly promote specific, even false, ideas. Berit Anderson and Brett Horvath, writing for Scout, argue the challenge is larger than fake news. Big data analysis, surveillance, AI, programmed bots, Facebook posts, sophisticated behavior assessments, computational psychology and fake news...

Spiegel Online: Alexei Navalny Shakes Up a Slumbering Russia

Christian Esch April 5, 2017
Russia’s young are no longer staying quiet about the country’s corruption. “A singular wave of protests hit 82 cities across the land on Sunday, March 26, from Vladivostok to St. Petersburg, as people took to the streets to protest corruption,” reports Christian Esch for Spiegel Online. He goes on to describe angry confrontations between police and crowds. The Russian legal system is harsh on...

Financial Times: Brexiters Must Lose if Brexit Is to Succeed

Martin Wolf March 30, 2017
The British government officially notified the EU of its intention to leave – an admission that a prominent and pragmatic member could not influence the larger governing structure or find agreement with other European members. The decision is a tragedy for both sides “Even if the exit negotiations go well,” explains Martin Wolf for the Financial Times. “Economically, [the UK] will lose favourable...

Foreign Policy: Erdoğan’s International Network of Muslim Cleric Spies

Paul Hockenos March 29, 2017
A diplomatic incident involving Germany and the Netherlands on one side and Turkey on the other revealed deep fault lines between Turkish immigrants and the nations where they reside. Members of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party, or AKP, wanted to campaign in the two countries for a constitutional referendum transforming Turkey’s parliamentary system into a...