United States and Canada

Borghard in WIRED: Russia’s hack wasn’t cyberwar. That complicates US strategy

By Atlantic Council

Erica and co-author Jacquelyn Schneider discuss the SolarWinds hack and its implication in terms of U.S. cyber strategy, analysing the concepts of deterrence and defend forward. More about our expert

How the Federal Reserve just set the terms for the 2021 recovery

This year was perhaps the most ambitious in the history of the US Federal Reserve. To weather the financial effects of the pandemic, the Fed kept interest rates low and injected an unprecedented amount of funds into the economy.

Europe’s new legislative proposals mark a big ‘first move’ on tech-market power

By Eileen Kannengeiser and Jörn Fleck

On December 15, the European Commission unveiled its long-anticipated legislative proposals—the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act—in a move that may further deepen transatlantic divides over digital commerce.

FAST THINKING: The Fed caps its most important year ever

By Atlantic Council

The Fed increased QE to unprecedented levels to keep financial fallout from the pandemic at bay. That, combined with the Fed’s move to lower its benchmark interest rate to zero, made this the most important year in the history of US monetary policy.

The top ten risks and opportunities for 2021

By Mathew Burrows, Robert A. Manning

COVID-19, the kind of “grey swan” event that is predicted but never pinpointed in time, finally came calling in 2020. Drawing on years of foresight experience at the US National Intelligence Council, we are assessing the top 10 risks and opportunities in the new year, for the US in particular, but with global implications.

Lessons from a Privacy Shield post-mortem on Capitol Hill

By Kenneth Propp

A hearing on the consequences of the European Court of Justice's invalidation of the EU-US Privacy Shield illuminated the deepening transatlantic divide over data transfers, and it highlighted the early challenge the subject looks to pose for President-elect Joe Biden’s administration, which is eager to repair US-EU relations.