Politics & Diplomacy

Open societies must create a grand strategy framework for data, sensemaking, and trust

By James Schmeling (Guest Author) and David Bray, PhD

Open societies are at a series of crossroads requiring intentional choices for the decade ahead. These choices are forced by new technologies, improvements in data capabilities, and changes in geopolitics globally. While human nature has not changed, the number of people on Earth has changed–up from 1.6 billion people on the planet in 1900, to 2.5 billion in the 1950s, to 7.8 billion in 2020.

The EU’s “grave concern” will not help Belarus

By Franak Viačorka

The Belarus crisis has exposed the EU's foreign policy limitations, but a tougher European Union response could still succeed in bringing Belarusian dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka to the negotiating table.

State of the Order: Assessing August 2020

The State of the Order breaks down the month's most important events impacting the democratic world order.

Mike Pompeo: ‘The tide has turned’ on global perceptions of Chinese threat

By David A. Wemer

Years of US campaigning against China’s unfair economic practices and aggressive diplomacy, coupled with the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, has “awakened” the world to the threat Beijing poses to international security and the global economy, according to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Five big questions as America votes: South Asia

By South Asia Center

The next US administration will need to confront a slew of regional challenges, including China’s growing political and economic clout; a resurgence of majoritarian politics; strained India-US relations; the impending Afghanistan peace process; and post-COVID-19 reconstruction.

Transcript: A conversation with US Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo on China, the Middle East, and the Trump administration’s foreign policy

By Atlantic Council

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo joins Frederick Kempe to discuss the United States' strategies abroad on key issues like Middle East stability, US-Iran tensions, China's rising influence, NATO's role in the world, and more.

Ukraine’s reforms remain hostage to corrupt courts

By Diane Francis

In 2019, political newcomer Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his party won historic election victories based largely on the appeal of promises to eradicate corruption. Just over one year later, these efforts are backsliding and in danger of ending entirely.

Sistani’s roadmap to the renewal of political legitimacy in Iraq

By Abbas Kadhim

While his statement can be interpreted as a form of support for the current Iraqi government, this support is not unconditional.

Why data governance matters: Use, trade, intellectual property, and diplomacy

By Pari Esfandiari, PhD, Gregory F. Treverton, PhD

Global data and internet governance represents a scattered, multi-stakeholder, bottom-up, and driven by loose coordination among various players. Data governance can be thought of as incorporating a triangle of individuals and their privacy, nation-states and their interests, and the private sector and its profits. Its current status and prospects might be thought of along several lines of activity, which are interrelated but, for the sake of clarity and with some danger of oversimplification, are discussed in the following different sections: privacy and data use; regulating to police content; using antitrust to dilute data monopolies; self-regulation and digital trade; intellectual property rights; and digital diplomacy.