martes, 1 de agosto de 2017

Tuesday, August 1, 2017
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Today's Insight

China’s Military Goal: Peer Capability with the U.S. by Mid-Century | Will Edwards, The Cipher Brief
China’s new capabilities and their application towards its national goals of great power status and domestic security have serious implications for the United States and China’s neighbors, according to the Pentagon’s 2017 report on Chinese military power. These capabilities are the results of decades of planning and reorganization within the People's Liberation Army.

Expert Commentary

Enhancing China's Status as a Great Power |
 Jeffrey Engstrom and Michael S. Chase, RAND Corporation
"The PLA is increasingly being tasked with missions that are both intended to enhance China’s status as a great power as well as to protect Chinese interests, citizens, and investments worldwide."

Avoiding an East Asia Arms Race |
 Dennis Wilder, Former Senior Director for East Asian Affairs, National Security Council
"Force projection options, both regionally in East Asia and far distant from China’s coast, are the most important capabilities that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is trying to develop as Beijing emerges as a major power with global security and economic interests."


Today's Column: Fine Print

Pushback Against Iran | Walter Pincus, Senior National Security Columnist, The Cipher Brief
President Donald Trump is now talking about declaring Iran “non-compliant” with the July 2015 nuclear agreement that the Tehran regime signed with the P5+1. If Trump carries out the threat, it eventually could lead Iran to withdraw from the agreement and possibly reactivate its nuclear weapons development program.


Must Read On The Cipher Brief

Former Diplomats: U.S. Embassy Staff in Moscow Will Rise to the Challenge | 
Mackenzie Weinger, National Security Reporter, The Cipher Brief
In retaliation for the wave of new sanctions the United States Congress passed (and President Trump is expected to sign), Moscow has ordered the U.S. cut 755 diplomatic staff by September.


The Cipher Brief Special Reports


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Podcasts


The Cipher Brief Daily Podcast
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15 Minutes
This week, The Cipher Brief brings you a special best of episode of one of our most fascinating guests, Jason Matheny, Director of IARPA, the research branch for the intelligence community that works on ways to tell the future - among other projects. The Cipher Brief’s CEO and Publisher, Suzanne Kelly, spoke with Jason about what exactly IARPA does, what keeps him up at night, and if there’s ways to predict political instability and unrest.

Listen to 15 Minutes: Best of Special with Jason Matheny, Director of IARPA - or get it on iTunes


The Cipher Take


Putin Signs Bill Banning Internet Proxies in Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a new bill that cracks down on software – including virtual private networks (VPNs) and anonymizers – that allow internet users to sidestep government censorship. The bill, which has already been approved by the Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, will take effect on November 1. The law is an effort to better enforce the Russian internet regulator Roskomnadzor’s blacklist of thousands of websites deemed illegal by the Kremlin.

The Cipher Take:
Russia states that “unlawful content” blocked from access by those within the country’s borders contain materials advocating drug abuse, suicide, and child pornography, as well as “extremism.” The new bill does not necessarily ban further content, but seeks to close a loophole allowing Russians to access banned content through VPN and anonymizing services such as Tor. Such services encrypt internet traffic and bounce it around the world to skirt localized internet censorship.  

While many countries, including the United States, have banned certain online content, the move by Russia has caused civil liberties and human rights groups to condemn the action as a clampdown on political dissent through censorship, particularly leading up to the upcoming Russian presidential elections in March. Other countries, notably China, have taken steps to hinder the effectiveness of VPNs and anonymous browsers by filtering all of their traffic through a central entry point, known as the Great Firewall of China.


The trend toward asserting national sovereignty over the internet – whether through domestic surveillance and censorship regimes, or data localization laws and other protectionist policies – is often referred to as either the “democratization” or the “balkanization” of the internet – often the latter in the case of major Western powers that seek to maintain a free and open digital commons for global free flow of information and trade.

Want more of The Cipher Take? Read the rest of our analysis on today's headlines at thecipherbrief.com.


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Former CIA Chief of Station
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