How the United States Lost to Hackers

Three decades ago, the United States spawned, then cornered, the market for hackers, their tradecraft, and their tools. But over the past decade, its lead has been slipping, and those same hacks have come boomeranging back on us…

Over the next three years, Iran emerged from a digital backwater into one of the most prolific cyber armies in the world. China, after a brief pause, is back to pillaging America’s intellectual property. And, we are now unwinding a Russian attack on our software supply chain that compromised the State Department, the Justice Department, the Treasury, the Centers for Disease Control, the Department of Energy and its nuclear labs and the Department of Homeland Security, the very agency charged with keeping Americans safe…

At this very moment, we are getting hacked from so many sides that it has become virtually impossible to keep track, let alone inform the average American reader who is trying to grasp a largely invisible threat that lives in code, written in language that most of us will never fully understand.

Afghan conflict: Top court backs war crimes probe

But US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the ruling was “reckless” and vowed to protect Americans from it.

“This is a truly breathtaking action by an unaccountable, political institution masquerading as a legal body”, he said.

“All the more reckless for this ruling to come just days after the United States signed a historic peace deal on Afghanistan, which is the best chance for peace in a generation.”

The deal was signed with the Taliban last Saturday after more than 18 years of conflict.

The US is not a signatory of the ICC and does not recognise its authority over American citizens.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-51751717

U.S. Warns Iraq It Risks Losing Access to Key Bank Account if Troops Told to Leave

The financial threat isn’t theoretical: The country’s financial system was squeezed in 2015 when the U.S. suspended access for several weeks to the central bank’s account at the New York Fed over concerns the cash was filtering through a loosely regulated market into Iranian banks and to the Islamic State extremist group.

“The U.S. Fed basically has a stranglehold on the entire [Iraqi] economy,” said Shwan Taha, chairman of Iraqi investment bank Rabee Securities.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-warns-iraq-it-risks-losing-access-to-key-bank-account-if-troops-told-to-leave-11578759629

To End Forever War, End the Dollar’s Global Dominance

https://newrepublic.com/article/156325/end-forever-war-end-dollars-global-dominance

To End Forever War, End the Dollar’s Global Dominance

In the short term, the U.S. can still deploy its dollar power to bully adversaries and allies alike. Few foreign leaders, for instance, agreed with Trump’s decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal with Tehran and impose fresh sanctions on Iran’s economy. Yet even sympathetic countries with strong currencies, like those in the European Union, have been forced to play along with Trump’s counterproductive policies for fear of losing access to U.S. dollars.

https://newrepublic.com/article/156325/end-forever-war-end-dollars-global-dominance

The end of Xi Jinping’s Taiwan dream

Tsai capitalized on growing disquiet in Taiwan over China’s approach to Hong Kong, where pro-democracy protesters have agitated for months against what they view as Beijing’s steady assault on political freedoms. For Xi, the pitch for unification has hinged on Taiwan adopting a framework similar to Hong Kong’s “one country, two systems” model — where integration with the mainland would, in theory, not jeopardize civil liberties and democratic rights.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/01/14/end-xi-jinpings-taiwan-dream/?utm_campaign=todays_worldview&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=Newsletter&wpisrc=nl_todayworld&wpmm=1

When Does Activism Become Powerful?

It’s about much more than amassing money or people.

From Hong Kong to Chile to the United States, people around the world are angry. They don’t have a say in things that matter in their lives. So they protest, sign petitions, call their lawmakers and organize sit-ins. Despite this enormous energy, their actions can often feel futile. How can we make them add up to something more, so people have power over the things they care about?