PDF files exploiting a a vulnerability in Acrobat Reader were sent to a passel of defense contractors this week. A sophisticated attack, the files when opened exploited a vulnerability that had been patched in Reader just days prior, and handed control of the newly zombified computer over to master servers in Taiwan. Most impressive was […]
Attended Secretary of State Clinton’s policy address on Internet Freedom yesterday. It’s fun to see HRC on the big stage; I worked for her during the 2008 primary, and always enjoy hearing her speak. This was by definition a major address; the Secretary does not do many of these in a year, and as such […]
Some stories never die. Human trafficking, a multibillion dollar a year global industry, seems to be one of them. In recent years, there has been a huge advocacy effort that has raised awareness on the issue, but still the trade of people as goods persists in every corner of the world. One of the most […]
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has moved quickly to connect with and help Haitian journalists impacted by the recent earthquake there. CPJ has responded with direct assistance for basic daily needs to “get them on their feet again”, according to the organization. CPJ’s Journalist Assistance program is cooperating with Jean Roland Chery. He is […]
THE FULL REPORT CAN BE READ HERE The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and other members of an international solidarity mission that investigated the November 23 massacre of 57 people in the southern Philippines is saying that Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her government must take all necessary measures to provide local media with […]
I wrote here a while ago about food miles – see under Transportation of Food. I looked at two arguments: that the long distances we transport food has a discernible impact on the production of greenhouse gases – and that it doesn’t. From what I’ve been reading over the past couple of years, the weight […]
Israel has a comparative advantage in medical care and specifically in treating trauma victims, which comes not only from its advanced human capital, especially in technology and health care, but also from vast experience treating victims of terror and war. Read the NYTimes article published yesterday on the subject. Israel has been treating Haiti’s earthquake victims […]
…even under Barack Obama. Nice piece in the FT on European angst about American power, and the continent’s inability as yet to offer a unified foreign policy with punch. Ideally, EU foreign and defense policies could serve as a counterweight to the G-2, read: China and the U.S. The latest flare-up of this angst involved a […]
UNESCO: Attendance not the only challenge to educating world’s poor While school registrations have increased in poor countries around the world since the United Nations adopted “Education for All” goals in 1999, many children are not getting an education, according to a report from UNESCO. Unqualified teachers, lack of school supplies, absent educators and latent […]
Greetings and salutations, gracious readers! My name is Chris Doten, and I’ll be your guide as we tour the networked wilderness of international relations in the Internet age. I’ve spent years working with computers, networks, and web applications, got myself a foreign policy degree from Tufts’ Fletcher School, and have bummed around in China and […]
Finally capitulating to voter outrage, and the very kind of “Change” he campaigned on last year, President Obama proposed tough new financial industry restrictions under what he called “the Volcker Rule” – named after Paul Volcker, the former Fed Chair.
As you’ve probably heard, the Supreme Court finally issued its opinion on the Citizens United case. Read the full opinion here. And for a good round-up of commentary, I recommend SCOTUSBlog. One interesting point made my Lyle Denniston there is this: Another question, and this one the Court explicitly said it was not deciding, was […]
The news media is awash with reports on the first year anniversary of the Obama presidency. Take a look at this assortment on Google News and you will find that the assessment is grim. The Economist, for example, offers this rather dismal analysis of President Obama’s foreign policy: Mr Obama has been on a goodwill […]
Yesterday Human Rights Watch released their annual World Report for 2010, detailing the state of human rights affairs around the world for the previous year. Many of the stories they focused on were also covered and editorialized here throughout 2009, from government abuses in Eritrea and Sri Lanka to increased civilian casualties in the Democratic […]
John Brown’s Public Diplomacy Press and Blog Review, Version 2.0. If you aren’t reading this on a daily basis you should be. It is the best collection of everything you need to know about public diplomacy and it’s downright entertaining, too. An excellent post on putting Ottoman ghosts into proper historical context – by Patricia […]