Cold War to Code War | Bros Before Horrible Crimes | Some Men Just Want to Watch the World Burn

“We’ve gone from the Cold War to the Code War.” – Thomas Waite

“The [U.S.] government’s underinvestment in cybersecurity has been partly driven by a naive belief that the U.S. model of a free and open Internet would naturally beat out Russian and Chinese models, which view the Internet as a place for commerce but also for censorship and disinformation operations.” – Joseph Marks writing in Sen. Warner calls for national cyber-policy overhaul

China’s Cold Cyberwar: China is furious over the arrest of Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver on December 1. The Justice Department had asked Canada to arrest the top executive of Huawei and daughter of the company founder, alleging she covered up her company’s links to a firm that tried to sell equipment to Iran in violation of US sanctions. Chinese vice-foreign minister Le Yucheng told the Canadian ambassador on Saturday there would be severe consequences if it did not immediately release Meng. Le then spoke to US ambassador Terry Branstad on Sunday, saying: “The actions of the US seriously violated the lawful and legitimate rights of the Chinese citizen, and by their nature were extremely nasty.” Without elaborating, Le added: “China will respond further depending on US actions.”

Senator Marco Rubio told CBS Face the Nation on Sunday he intended to introduce a measure in the new Congress that would ban Chinese telecom firms from doing business in the US. “We have to understand Chinese companies are not like American companies,” Rubio said. “We can’t even get Apple to crack an iPhone for us in a terrorist investigation. When the Chinese ask a telecom company, ‘We want you to turn over all the data you’ve gathered in the country you’re operating in,’ they will do it….They have to. We need to understand that.” Also on Sunday President Trump’s trade representative Robert Lighthizer suggested March 1 might not be enough time to negotiate a new trade deal with China. If one is not reached, the administration will impose new tariffs on Chinese goods.

Additional read: “Huawei arrest stokes fears of China reprisals among America Inc executives.”

Worldwide Web War 1: The vice-president of the European Commission announced in Brussels that the EU intends to wage war against Russian disinformation campaigns ahead of next year’s European parliamentelections. Andrus Ansip said new funding and other measures would be available to member states to help them recognize and fight against disinformation spread by the Kremlin. Ansip said: “Disinformation is part of Russian military doctrine and its strategy to divide and weaken the west. Russia spends €1.1bn a year on pro-Kremlin media.” Britain’s security commissioner said social media platforms must “get serious” on living up to their commitments to diligently guard against fake accounts, content and advertising. He said the EU would not stand for “an internet that is the wild west, where anything goes,” adding, “No excuses, no more foot-dragging, because the risks are real.” (Guardian)

Additional reads: The Digital Maginot Line: “There is a war happening. We are immersed in an evolving, ongoing conflict: an Information World War in which state actors, terrorists, and ideological extremists leverage the social infrastructure underpinning everyday life to sow discord and erode shared reality.” And Information Attacks against Democracies: “we look at democracy through the lens of information security, trying to understand the current waves of Internet disinformation attacks. Specifically, we wanted to explain why the same disinformation campaigns that act as a stabilizing influence in Russia are destabilizing in the United States.”

Yellow Vests Shine Through The Smoke: Violent demonstrations continue in France. In Paris, streets were filled Saturday by thousands of “yellow vest” rioters who had not been dissuaded by President Macron’s abandonment of his fuel tax increases. Now protesters were demanding an increase in the minimum wage and a decrease in the retirement age. Some 8,000 police officers were deployed under orders to engage with and remove violent demonstrators instead of avoiding direct confrontation as they did last week. The rallies have grown much more intense as anarchists, nationalists and extremists on the far right and left have joined in, resulting in deaths, injuries, vandalism and looting. (NPR)

Bros Before Horrible Crimes: President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman are as close as a couple of 30-something fraternity brothers. The men are on a first name basis, calling and texting each other frequently. After the CIA concluded that MbS, as the crown prince is known, directly ordered the assassination of Saudi journalist and US resident Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey last October, Kushner became the prince’s most important defender inside the White House. But as the New York Times has learned from reviewing documents, emails and text messages, the friendship didn’t happen organically. MbS and his advisers, anxious to find American support for the prince’s hawkish policies in the region, and his own consolidation of power, spent more than two years cultivating a relationship with a young, inexperienced (i.e. naive) Kushner. (NYT) Additional read: “Qatar rift overshadows Gulf Arab summit as emir stays away.” (Reuters)

– “Twitter CEO accused of ignoring plight of Rohingya in tweets promoting Myanmar: Jack Dorsey rhapsodised about 10-day meditation retreat and encouraged his 4 million followers to visit” (Guardian)

– “Will Ethiopia’s Democratic Awakening Catch On Next Door In Eritrea?” (NPR)

Some Men Just Want to Watch the World Burn: On Saturday the landmark report by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was presented to the Framework Convention on Climate Change at the UN’s climate summit in Poland. The meticulous scientific study should have been dispositive of questions about what the future holds if global warming continues to increase at its current rate, and why it’s imperative to keep the increase below 1.5C. A motion was made that member nations “welcome” the study. However, the four biggest oil producing nations—Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Russia and the United States, rejected the motion. Instead, they said it should merely be “noted”, which would make it much easier for governments to ignore. Scientists were stunned. The motion has not yet been able to pass as a result of the lack of consensus, and the rift that was opened will be hard to close in the coming five days.

The director of strategy and policy in the Union of Concerned Scientists, Alden Meyer, said “Saudi Arabia has always had bad behavior in climate talks, but it could be overruled when it was alone or just with Kuwait. That it has now been joined by the US and Russia is much more dangerous.” A delegate for St Kitts and Nevis told the assembly it was “ludicrous” not to welcome a report that UN member nations had commissioned two years earlier and to hold up crucial talks over two words. Climate campaigners said the four blocking governments had been overrun by fossil-fuel interests and were trying to sideline the study.

Additional read: “What do most U.N. ambassadors have in common? Decades of experience.” President Trump’s nomination “Nauert does not have a significant background in the Foreign Service or other government service: Instead, she had worked as a reporter and anchor since 1996, mostly for Fox News. She is best known as a former co-host on “Fox & Friends,” one of President Trump’s favored television shows.” (WaPo)

All the President’s Generals: It’s not a surprise that John Kelly is leaving his post as White House Chief of Staff very soon. What’s surprising is that his departure wasn’t a lot sooner. Kelly came in six months into President Trump’s chaotic presidency with plans to shape up the mess, and he did for a while. He got rid of several polarizing staff, like chief strategist Steve Bannon and aide Omarosa Manigault Newman. But Kelly’s boss didn’t like to be “managed”, and gradually Kelly began losing his grip on the West Wing. Then when the retired general suggested Trump’s thinking on the border wall had “evolved”, and vigorously defended a former White House staffer accused of domestic violence by two ex-wives, and put himself in the spotlight having knock-down-drag-out battles with others in Trump’s orbit, the honeymoon was definitely over. (NPR)

Tweet Of Un-Recommendation: Former secretary of state Rex Tillerson retired to his Texas ranch after being summarily Twitter-fired nine months ago. Thursday night Tillerson made his first public remarks about Trumpduring a charity fundraiser for MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. “So often, the president would say, ‘Here’s what I want you to do, and here’s how I want you to do it,’” Tillerson said. “And I would have to say to him, ‘Mr. President, I understand what you want to do. But you can’t do it that way. It violates the law.’” Trump, not one to pass up an opportunity to malign someone else, quickly tweeted: “Mike Pompeo is doing a great job, I am very proud of him. His predecessor, Rex Tillerson, didn’t have the mental capacity needed. He was dumb as a rock and I couldn’t get rid of him fast enough. He was lazy as hell. Now it is a whole new ballgame, great spirit at State!” (WaPo)

– ”America’s New Religions: Political cults are filling the space left by the decline of organized faiths.” (NY Mag)

How Economics Divide Us And Fuel Social Change: “A fear of cultural loss is fuelling anger with elites across Europe: The gilets jaunes protests are not only about economics but political disaffection” (Guardian) “It’s the Economies, Stupid: The key to understanding the 2018 midterm results — and the future of American politics — isn’t ideology or culture. It’s the different economies of red and blue America.” (WaPo)

Together Like Two Nuts In A Shell: “A divorce lawyer’s guide to staying together: Seriously, this is useful.” (Vox) “In it for the long haul: why divorce rates are falling fast: Divorce is at its lowest in 45 years. Tanya Gold talks to lawyers, therapists, friends and couples to find out why more people are choosing to stick together” (Guardian)

White Supremacy In The News: “Charlottesville Jury Convicts ‘Unite The Right’ Protester Who Killed Woman” (NPR) “What The Ebbs And Flows Of The KKK Can Tell Us About White Supremacy Today” (NPR)

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