How open-source information is increasing the value of declassifying intelligence

How open-source information is increasing the value of declassifying intelligence

The New York Times reports: A year ago, the United States did something extraordinary — it released previously classified intelligence that exposed Russia’s plans to invade Ukraine. Last week, Antony J. Blinken, the secretary of state, made a similar move when he warned China’s top foreign policy official, Wang Yi, against providing weapons to Russia. In a previous era, the warning might have remained private, at least for some time. But a new intelligence playbook honed just before and during…

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White supremacists behind over 80% of extremism-related U.S. murders in 2022

White supremacists behind over 80% of extremism-related U.S. murders in 2022

Reuters reports: Mass shootings in the United States accounted for most extremism-related fatalities last year in the country with over 80% of those murders committed by white supremacists, data released by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) showed on Thursday. The advocacy group labeled 25 murders in 2022 as “extremist-related,” with 18 of those “committed in whole or part for ideological motives.” Two mass shootings – one in May in Buffalo, New York, wherein an avowed white supremacist fatally shot 10 Black…

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The invisible victims of American antisemitism

The invisible victims of American antisemitism

Yair Rosenberg writes: Last week, a gunman shot two Jews at close range as they departed morning prayer services in Los Angeles. The first victim was shot in the back on Wednesday. The second was shot multiple times in the arm on Thursday, less than 24 hours later. The attacks sent fear pulsing through the Jewish community of Los Angeles, as members wondered if their own place of worship would be targeted next. On Thursday evening, the alleged assailant was…

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If we deprive ourselves of history, everything is a surprise

If we deprive ourselves of history, everything is a surprise

Timothy Snyder writes: Teaching a lecture class on Ukrainian history last fall, I felt a touch of the surreal. The war in Ukraine had been going on for half a year when I began. A nuclear power had attacked a state that had given up its nuclear weapons. An empire was trying to halt European integration. A tyranny was attempting to crush a neighboring democracy. On occupied territories, Russia perpetrated genocidal atrocities with clear expressions of genocidal intent. And yet,…

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UN resolution demanding Russia’s immediate, unconditional withdrawal from Ukraine supported by 141 nations

UN resolution demanding Russia’s immediate, unconditional withdrawal from Ukraine supported by 141 nations

The Wall Street Journal reports: United Nations members called on Russia to withdraw from Ukraine, approving the latest U.S.-backed effort to pressure Moscow a year after the invasion—but also showing the limits of global support for Kyiv. Thursday’s resolution drew the support of 141 member countries, with seven countries voting against the measure and 32 abstaining, a similar outcome to previous resolutions related to the war. The resolution included a demand for Russia to “immediately, completely, and unconditionally withdraw all…

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U.S. to expand small troop presence in Taiwan for training against Chinese invasion

U.S. to expand small troop presence in Taiwan for training against Chinese invasion

The Wall Street Journal reports: The U.S. is markedly increasing the number of troops deployed to Taiwan, more than quadrupling the current number to bolster a training program for the island’s military amid a rising threat from China. The U.S. plans to deploy between 100 and 200 troops to the island in the coming months, up from roughly 30 there a year ago, according to U.S. officials. The larger force will expand a training program the Pentagon has taken pains…

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Emily Kohrs’ much criticized media tour may have no legal consequences in Georgia court

Emily Kohrs’ much criticized media tour may have no legal consequences in Georgia court

The New York Times reports: Lawyers for former President Donald J. Trump said late Wednesday that details divulged this week by the forewoman of a special grand jury investigating election interference by Mr. Trump and his allies had “poisoned” the Georgia inquiry. As of Thursday morning, however, the two lawyers had not filed any motions in court challenging the inquiry. Nor would they discuss what form such a challenge might take, saying only that they were weighing their options. “We’re…

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Increasing numbers of Trump supporters look towards post-Trump future

Increasing numbers of Trump supporters look towards post-Trump future

The Washington Post reports: One recent snowy evening at a gun range in the middle of Michigan, the police showed up at a meeting of the Saginaw County Republican Party that unraveled into a shouting match — the latest flare-up in a power struggle between loyalists to Donald Trump and people like Josiah Jaster. The 20-year-old insurance actuary, dressed up in a coat and tie, had been working with allies to elect a less Trump-centric slate of delegates to the…

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Press freedom in the crosshairs as DeSantis widens his assault on an open society

Press freedom in the crosshairs as DeSantis widens his assault on an open society

Politico reports: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ broken relationship with the mainstream media could get even worse. At the governor’s urging, Florida’s Republican-dominated Legislature is pushing to weaken state laws that have long protected journalists against defamation suits and frivolous lawsuits. The proposal is part DeSantis’ ongoing feud with media outlets like The New York Times, Miami Herald, CNN and The Washington Post — media companies he claims are biased against Republicans — as he prepares for a likely 2024 presidential…

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Biophobia hurts nature and humans

Biophobia hurts nature and humans

Emily Harwitz writes: When Masashi Soga was growing up in Japan, he loved spending time outside catching insects and collecting plants. His parents weren’t big fans of the outdoors, but he had an elementary schoolteacher who was. “They taught me how to collect butterflies, how to make a specimen of butterflies,” Soga recalls. “I enjoyed nature quite a lot.” That early exposure helped foster Soga’s appreciation for nature, he says, and today, Soga is an ecologist at the University of…

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United West, divided from the rest: Global public opinion one year into Russia’s war on Ukraine

United West, divided from the rest: Global public opinion one year into Russia’s war on Ukraine

Timothy Garton Ash, Ivan Krastev, and Mark Leonard write: A year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there is little doubt the war is a turning point in world history. The conflict has challenged Europeans’ most basic assumptions about their security, brought the spectre of nuclear confrontation back to their continent, and disrupted the global economy, leaving energy and food crises in its wake. Yet while Russia’s aggression is an event of global significance, people in different parts of the world…

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Why China’s Ukraine balancing act might be tilting in Putin’s favor

Why China’s Ukraine balancing act might be tilting in Putin’s favor

NBC News reports: A flurry of European diplomatic activity over Russia’s war in Ukraine has offered a stark contrast this week: While President Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv, one of China’s most senior diplomats was heading to Moscow. Wang Yi, Chinese President Xi Jinping‘s senior foreign policy adviser, gave one of the strongest indications yet of Russia and China’s strengthening ties on Wednesday. “We are ready to deepen our strategic partnership,” he said according to Reuters. “Other…

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Those who fetishize ‘peace,’ open the door to greater violence

Those who fetishize ‘peace,’ open the door to greater violence

Vasyl Cherepanyn writes: The “never again” slogan, the EU’s common ideological denominator, has become a self-fulfilling prophecy in a perverted sense. Indeed, if one literally accepts the principle that “it should never happen again,” then war is thought of as impossible simply because it’s unimaginable in spite of realities on the ground. The EU has fetishized the idea of peace to the extent that it completely repressed the realities of war—only to be totally unprepared when the repressed came back….

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Fiona Hill: War won’t end until Russia abandons its imperial ambitions

Fiona Hill: War won’t end until Russia abandons its imperial ambitions

Freddie Sayers, at Unherd, interviews Fiona Hill, former advisor to Presidents Bush, Obama and Trump: FS: But how does this end? I understand that we must appear strong and united. But as the years pass, if proposing a settlement is seen as a sign of weakness, how will we ever reach one? FH: That’s not the way to look at this. The way to look at this is to try to create the circumstances for a real negotiation, not a…

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