Lack of information can be as bad as disinformation. This is one of the major lessons from last week’s riots in Dublin following the stabbing of three children outside a school. In the hours that followed and despite the attacker being apprehended at the scene, the Garda resolutely avoided describing him. Instead it fell to […]
One of the tricker aspects of writing spy fiction, Somerset Maugham observed, was that the clichés were also very realistic. Honey traps happen, dead drops exist, disguises aren’t unknown, and bright-eyed graduates with a keen interest in global affairs are rich pickings for hostile spymasters. This is the lesson that should be being drummed in to the thousands […]
‘A bank is like a waiter,’ said the Russian former oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky. ‘Its business is to cater to the clients independently of their political beliefs or affiliation’. Khodorkovsky was being provocative, talking in the 1990s about the possibility of managing the Communist Party’s missing billions. The ongoing drama about Nigel Farage’s Coutts account suggests […]
If you’re wondering if a company might be corrupt, then it’s pretty useful to know who owns it. Any number of scandals, ranging from North Korean front companies financing nuclear proliferation, to money laundering, to straightforward organised crime have been uncovered thanks to public registers of ownership. But these vital resources could soon be lost, thanks […]
It seems odd to think that the chief beneficiaries of the leak of our Washington ambassador’s e-mails would be a few Brexit Party MEPs, but they are certainly doing their best to make political capital out of it, seemingly with the faintly bizarre mission to make Nigel Farage our new man in Washington. Since the […]
Poor David Cornwell. He is the country’s most famous (real) spy, a veteran of MI5 and MI6, who as the Berlin Wall was being built, was busy tapping up Soviet diplomats in Bonn, and yet among the UK’s commentariat he has developed a latter-day reputation as some kind of apologist for communism. On Monday, Alex Massie […]
The story of James Goldsmith versus Private Eye is the classic tale of how one rich individual can use a volley of legislation to stifle investigative reporting. “Attacking the distributors was designed to put the Eye out of business, not to redress the libels,” is how the magazine’s QC Geoffrey Bindman described the 60 different […]
When Mark Zuckerberg told a technology conference in 2016 that the idea fake news on his social network was being used to undermine elections was “pretty crazy”, his critics went — well — pretty crazy. His speech shortly after the election of Donald Trump was later criticised by senators investigating interference in the US elections. […]
When Ukraine’s economy imploded after the Russian annexation of Crimea and occupation of the Donbass, the West stepped in to shore up the country’s economy. The IMF tabled billions of dollars of loans to the country’s fledging government which had replaced the corrupt regime of Viktor Yanukovych. These loans, negotiated with the help of US […]
You don’t have to look far for an indication that seven years in, the Syrian war is reaching even bloodier heights. Images from Eastern Ghouta, the suburb of Damascus where over 200 civilians, many of them women and children,have been killed in the last three days, show the effects of the relentless bombardment from artillery […]
Talking about the rise and rise of Bitcoin in China to the WEF, Eric Mu a local entrepreneur and Bitcoin miner listed the factors contributing to its popularity there: “…a large internet-savvy population, cheap and abundant hydropower, mature electrical manufacturing, capital control and a depreciating currency.” In fact, Mu could have been describing any one […]
On Friday a new chapter was added to one of the enduring mysteries of Central Asia – what has happened to Gulnara Karimova? Uzbekistan’s prosecutor had finally brought charges against the glamorous daughter of the late president. As well as apparently terrifying the people of Uzbekistan, she provided journalists with reams of copy, mainly thanks to […]
The news that the UK is joining the EU and sending Afghan migrants home should throw the current situation there into sharp relief. Those fleeing Afghanistan make up the second largest number of migrants trying to make it to Europe. Even in the relatively prosperous parts of the war-torn country, increasingly violent insurgency and poor governance is […]
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has just announced plans to launch a website dedicated to tackling fake news. It’s a noble objective but also a little ironic given Russia’s flagrant display this week of “hybrid warfare” – straightforward propaganda, that is, backed up with black ops and subterfuge. As an optimist on Russia, it […]
China’s One Belt, One Road programme has reached Britain in all its majestic glory. First there was the train which made it from China’s east coast to London last month, and now Theresa May has been invited to attend a global summit on China’s vast industrial project later this year. One Belt, One Road (OBOR) is China’s President Xi Jinping’s […]
In his first speech to the World Economic Forum yesterday, China’s President Xi Jinping turned to Dickens to describe the current predicament facing globalisation: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” The best because Xi believes China’s trade boom is likely to continue, with the economy growing by 6.7 per cent last […]
For anyone worried that 2017 is going to be as volatile as the year before, there is a new concern to throw into the mix. According to this article on Business Insider, some of the tech world’s best minds believe this could be the year that hackers succeed in taking down the internet entirely. “In 2017 […]
Much of the debate over the Investigatory Powers Bill, which received royal assent last week, has centred around the bulk harvesting of our communications data. It was these concerns which led to the new law being dubbed the “Snooper’s Charter”. One aspect of the law which has received less interest, however, is the hacking powers it […]
Today’s Dignity and Freedom Day in Ukraine, marking the third anniversary of the Euromaidan protests, is likely to be a muted affair. Since the revolution in 2014 ousted President Victor Yanukovych, Ukraine has been dependent on the international community to get back on its feet. The IMF has stepped in to plug the hole left […]
Today’s confirmation that the UK is to deploy a battalion to Estonia has reawoken concerns that, far from having a new Cold War with Russia, things are beginning to look decidedly hot. Yet with 330,000 Russian troops deployed across the border, the 800 British soldiers might feel rather like their counterparts who served in Germany during […]
