How the Army will take advantage of tactical cloud

By: Adam Stone   

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The Army has its sights set on cloud computing and is looking to the “tactical cloud” to bring forward the power, speed and scalability benefits of commercial cloud deployments.

“We want to take the flexibility of enterprise cloud, the big commercial cloud services, and put that into the tactical theater,” said Tom Sasala, director of operations and architecture and chief data officer in the Army’s Office of the Chief Information Officer (CIO)/G-6.

The vision: to embed interconnected, high-power computing capability into a wide array of drones, soldier-worn sensors and vehicle-mounted intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance tools. Rather than collect data in the field and ship it back for processing — a time-consuming and bandwidth-intensive process — the Army would leverage the cloud to process on the edge. So, how would tactical cloud transform the fighting force?

Better data, faster

The United States Can’t Solve the Kashmir Dispute

By Sumit Ganguly 

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On July 22, during a White House meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, U.S. President Donald Trump made a surprise offer to mediate the long-running dispute between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. “It is impossible to believe,” Trump said, “that two incredible countries who are very, very smart with very smart leadership can’t solve a problem like that. If you would want me to mediate or arbitrate, I would be willing to do it.” 

Even more surprising, Trump claimed that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had sought his intervention in the matter. For informed observers, this claim was hard to believe. And indeed, within hours of Trump’s statement, India’s foreign minister strenuously denied that Modi had made any such suggestion. More to the point, he reiterated India’s long-standing position that the Kashmir dispute must be solved through strictly bilateral negotiations between India and Pakistan. Modi, probably wanting to avoid implying that Trump was a liar, maintained a studious silence.

India to Sign $2 Billion Deal for 24 Naval Helicopters by Year’s End

By Franz-Stefan Gady

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India is expected to sign a $2 billion-plus deal for the procurement of 24 Lockheed Martin-Sikorky MH-60R Seahawk Romeo multirole maritime helicopters from the United States by the end of the year, according to the top officer of the Indian Navy.

“The LOR (letter of request) and LOA (letter of acceptance) procedures [are on track] and we should be ready by the end of the year,” Admiral Karambir Singh was quoted as saying by The Economic Times on July 25.

The helicopters will be directly bought from the U.S. government under a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense to expedite the procurement of the new helicopters.

Death toll in attack at Afghan political office rises to 20

By RAHIM FAIEZ

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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The death toll from an attack against the Kabul office of the Afghan president’s running mate and former chief of the intelligence service climbed to at least 20 people on Monday, an official said.

Around 50 other people were wounded in Sunday’s attack against the Green Trend party headquarters, which lasted hours and included a gunbattle between security forces and the attackers, who were holed up inside the building, according to Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi.

Several gunmen were killed by the security forces, Rahimi said.

The attackers’ potential target, vice presidential candidate and former intelligence chief Amrullah Saleh, was “evacuated from the building and moved to a safe location,” Rahimi said. Some 85 other civilians were also rescued from inside.

20 Dead in Attack on Office of Afghan President Ghani's Running Mate

By Rahim Faiez

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The death toll from an attack against the Kabul office of the Afghan president’s running mate and former chief of the intelligence service climbed to at least 20 people on Monday, an official said.

Around 50 other people were wounded in Sunday’s attack against the Green Trend party headquarters, which lasted hours and included a gunbattle between security forces and the attackers, who were holed up inside the building, according to Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi.

Several gunmen were killed by the security forces, Rahimi said.

The attackers’ potential target, vice presidential candidate and former intelligence chief Amrullah Saleh, was “evacuated from the building and moved to a safe location,” Rahimi said. Some 85 other civilians were also rescued from inside.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but both the Taliban and the Islamic State (IS) group are active in the capital and have carried out large-scale attacks in Kabul in the past.

Opinion: Trump Gave Pakistan What It Wanted, But Afghan Peace Is Far From Guaranteed

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SHAMILA N. CHAUDHARY

On Tuesday, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan wrapped up a three-day visit to Washington, D.C., at the invitation of President Trump. The much-anticipated visit followed last year's cuts in U.S. aid to Pakistan and wrangling between the two leaders on Twitter, where Trump accused Pakistan of deceit and Khan retorted that Pakistan wasn't to blame for U.S. failures in Afghanistan.

And it was, of course, Afghanistan that figured centrally in Khan's visit, which took place as U.S.-led peace talks continue with the Afghan Taliban. When describing U.S. policy in Afghanistan in a talk on Tuesday, Khan invokedAlbert Einstein's definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Khan wanted to let everyone know that under his watch and Trump's leadership, the insanity was now over.

By the time he wrapped up his visit, Khan had secured what Pakistan has always wanted: a seat at the table on Afghanistan, and the Pakistani perspective acknowledged. (Trump even said he'd like to mediate between India and Pakistan over the disputed territory of Kashmir, something India sees as a purely bilateral issue. The State Department later walked Trump's statement back).

China’s Giant Spy Drone Just Tailed a U.S. Navy Cruiser

by David Axe 
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China reportedly activated one of its Soar Dragon large spy drones to keep tabs on a U.S. Navy cruiser that sailed through the Taiwan Strait in late July 2019.

The Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS Antietam transited the Taiwan Strait on July 24, 2019 as a show of force. In addition to the Soar Eagle, Beijing sortied J-11 fighters 10 times during Antietam’s nine-hour transit, according to Taiwan’s Up Media.

The Chinese pilots reportedly issued a radio warning to one of Antietam’s MH-60R helicopters as the rotorcraft was flying along the west side of the strait, air space about which China is particularly sensitive.

With a wingspan measuring around 80 feet and an endurance of perhaps 10 hours, the subsonic Soar Eagle is China’s answer to the U.S. military’s own Global Hawk surveillance drone. The unmanned aerial vehicle also is known by its Chinese name Xianglong.

Joint Bomber Patrol Over the Pacific: The Russo-Chinese Military Alliance in Action

By: Stephen Blank

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On July 24, 2019, Russian and Chinese military planes flying together invaded Japanese and South Korean airspace only to encounter Korean fighters that shot at the Russian aircraft. The Russian contribution to this joint air patrol included an A-50 Beriev airborne radar, which can track and coordinate multiple aircraft, as well as Tu-95 strategic bombers. China’s contingent of assets similarly included strategic bombers along with an airborne early warning and control (AEW&C or, more commonly, “AWACS”) jet. In other words, the Chinese and Russian planes were flying a joint “reconnaissance mission in force” (razvedka boem; a.k.a., “reconnaissance by fire”), a warfare tactic whereby military forces may target expected enemy positions in order to prompt a reaction and thus reveal the enemy’s presence. Indeed, the bilateral Russian-Chinese air patrol over the Sea of Japan and inside the Republic of Korea’s (ROK—South Korea) Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ) was driven off by ROK fighters, which fired multiple rounds of warning shots (Kommersant, July 24). Though media and expert analysis has closely examined the details of this Sino-Russian mission (see EDM, July 25), thus far less has been written on what this joint bomber patrol says about the continued crystallization of a Sino-Russian military alliance—whether formal or not—directed against the United States and its Asia-Pacific allies, Japan and South Korea.

Turkey's Delicate Dance in Iraqi Kurdistan

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After a brief hiatus following the September 2017 failed independence referendum, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) has reclaimed its place at the helm of the Kurdish government in northern Iraq. 

The return of the political status quo in the region will open the KDP up to deeper diplomatic and economic cooperation with Turkey, its most important external ally. 

The KDP will continue to grant Turkey leeway to increase its military operations against the Kurdistan Workers' Party in exchange for closer economic and trade ties with Ankara.

But in its effort to curtail an independent Kurdish state, the Turkish government will further irk its own Kurdish population, thus exposing itself to additional security and political risks at home. 

On July 17, a Turkish diplomat was shot and killed in eastern Arbil, the capital of Iraq's northern Kurdish region. The assassination was likely perpetrated by a sympathizer of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, the Kurdish group that Turkey has been targeting in regional military operations for decades. Ankara's high-risk tolerance will serve it well in the months ahead, as it continues to prioritize building its Iraqi-Kurdish ties — taking advantage of the economic leverage it wields over the newly formed Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). But just how much violence and political backlash Turkey can endure to prevent the formation of an independent Kurdish state will be tested because the risks in the region, as evidenced by the latest incident, remain as high as ever.

About that Counter-Iran Coalition…

BY JON B. ALTERMAN
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What if the United States threw a party and no one came? It is finding out in the Persian Gulf, where Trump administration’s calls to unite to counter Iranian aggression are being met with caution, circumspection and shrugs.

The reason is not fear of the Iranians. Instead, it is a calculus by Washington’s allies and partners that they may be safer staying far away from whatever the United States really intends and what they might be drawn into.

The Iranian government seems to be pursuing a policy that keeps tensions in the Gulf simmering but not boiling. The goal is to create a crisis but not a war. Iran is trying to force the world to engage with it and seeking to thumb its nose at the U.S.“maximum pressure” campaign that threatens any multinational that does business with the Islamic Republic. 

What's Driving Japan's Trade Restrictions on South Korea?

By Mina Pollmann

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Since the 1980s, countries around the world have bought into the free trade ideology and liberalized trade. Even after the United States, the traditional leader of the global free trade regime, dramatically rejected the benefits of international cooperation by pulling out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Japan stepped up to keep the momentum going for TPP-11. As the world’s fourth largest exporter and fourth largest importer, with limited natural resources and an aging population, it makes eminent sense for Japan to pick up the baton that the United States dropped.

Japan’s leadership on free trade and standardizing regulations is also in line with its self-portrayal as the champion of a rules-based international order. The emphasis on rules is intended to distinguish Japanese leadership from China’s. And yet – despite Japan’s economic self-interest in free trade and rhetorical claims to international standing on the basis of rules – Japan is in the headlines across the world for escalating a trade dispute with South Korea, its third largest export destination and fourth largest import origin. What is behind this seemingly self-defeating policy decision?

Government Official: Russia Has Launched Production of Su-57 Stealth Fighter

By Franz-Stefan Gady

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The Russian military aircraft industry has started manufacturing the Sukhoi Su-57 fighter aircraft, Russia’s first alleged indigenously designed and developed fifth-generation stealth fighter jet, according to the office of Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Yuri Borisov.

In a press release quoted by TASS news agency, the vice-premier’s office stated that Sukhoi of United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) has begun fulfilling the terms of a contract signed by UAC and the Russian government at the “Army-2019″ forum, which took place last month outside of Moscow.

“A state contract was signed at the Army 2019 international arms exhibition between the Defense Ministry of Russia and the Sukhoi Company for the delivery of a batch of Su-57 fifth-generation fighter jets. The Sukhoi has started to fulfil its contractual obligations,” the statement reads.

Russia’s Strategic Rocket Forces Test Fire Nuclear-Capable Topol ICBM

By Franz-Stefan Gady

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Russia’s Strategic Rocket Forces have test fired a road-mobile Topol intercontinental-range ballistic missile (ICBM) from the Kapustin Yar practice range in the Astrakhan Region in south Russia on July 26, the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) said in a statement.

“On July 26, 2019, a combat unit of the strategic missile forces conducted a test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile of the Topol mobile ground-based missile system from the Kapustin Yar state central practice range in the Astrakhan region,” the MoD said.

The Topol ICBM reportedly hit its target in Sary-Shagan, located near Lake Balkhash in Kazakhstan, about 1,600 kilometers from the Kapustin Yar ballistic missile test site. All test objectives were met, according to the MoD.

The Topol variant test launched on July 26 was reportedly a RT-2PM Topol (NATO reporting name: SS-25 Sickle). The Russian MoD in the past has also identified the missiles used in these experimental test launches as Topol-E, “an experimental missile for conducting the trials of new types of ICBM,” according to TASS news agency. The RT-2PM Topol first entered service in 1985. The ICBM is expected to be phased out in the coming years and will be replaced by an upgraded Topol variant.

Why President Essebsi, and Tunisia, Stood Alone

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By Allen James Fromherz

Last Thursday, Beji Caid Essebsi, the president of the Republic of Tunisia, died in a military hospital at the age of 92. His death fell on a national holiday of particular resonance: Republic Day commemorates the founding of modern Tunisia on July 25, 1957, when the country abolished its monarchy and became a republic.

Essebsi had an important connection to the events of 1957. He belonged to the party and government of the Republic of Tunisia’s first president, Habib Bourguiba, who was among the most important, and most stridently secular, nationalists in the Arabic-speaking world. Bourguiba was friends with U.S. President John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy. He made headlines for drinking orange juice on television in the middle of the day during Ramadan, as well as for policies against veiling. Less famous, but more profound, were the changes Bourguiba made to Tunisia’s economy and social fabric—reforms that propelled Tunisia to become one of the most developed and educated countries in the Muslim world.

North Korea’s Military Capabilities

by Eleanor Albert

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Vehicles carry missiles during a military parade in Pyongyang. Sue-Lin Wong/Reuters

The United States and its Asian allies regard North Korea as a grave security threat. North Korea has one of the world’s largest conventional military forces, which, combined with its missile and nuclear tests and aggressive rhetoric, has aroused concern worldwide. But world powers have been ineffective in slowing its path to acquire nuclear weapons.

While it remains among the poorest countries in the world, North Korea spends nearly a quarter of its gross domestic product (GDP) on its military, according to U.S. State Department estimates. Its brinkmanship will continue to test regional and international partnerships aimed at preserving stability and security. Recent U.S.-North Korea summits and U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s brief meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the demilitarized zone in June 2019, have deepened direct diplomacy. But the negotiations so far demonstrate that the dismantling of North Korea’s arsenal will remain a lengthy and challenging process.

What are North Korea’s nuclear capabilities?

Russia’s Defense Industry in Increasing Disarray as More Plants Set to Close

By: Paul Goble

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Russian President Vladimir Putin constantly talks about how his country is building up its Armed Forces and supplying them with super weapons, but Russia’s defense industry is increasingly incapable of making those promises a reality. With growing debt (because the state has yet to pay for what it has ordered), increasing shortages of skilled workers and an inability to come up with domestically produced components (now unavailable because of sanctions), Russia’s defense contractors are in serious trouble. Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov says that ever more defense firms are “living from hand to mouth,” while others contend that the entire sector is “in crisis” and that many of the largest and most important plants will have to close down entirely (RBC, July 8). If that occurs, Putin’s words will ring increasingly hollow.

In early July 2019, Borisov shocked many when he declared that Russia’s military-industrial complex was seriously in debt. Additionally, he asked the government to take steps to write off 600 billion–700 billion rubles ($10 billion–$13 billion) in bank loans that the defense firms needed to take out because the government had not paid them for orders it had placed (RBC, July 8). The total indebtedness of the sector is now “more than two trillion rubles” ($30 billion), he acknowledged; yet, two-thirds of that, Borisov argued, is normal and still serviceable. The remaining third, however, threatens the survival of firms that are now barely able to keep their heads above water—not to mention their bank lenders and the economy as a whole.

Democracy in Hong Kong

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Eleanor Albert

Hong Kong is a special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China that, unlike the mainland’s provinces, has certain political and economic freedoms. The former British colony is a global financial capital that has historically thrived off its proximity to China. But in recent years many in Hong Kong have become concerned with what they see as efforts by Beijing to encroach on the city’s political system and intensifying economic disparities. As China’s economic and military might continue to grow, some fear that Hong Kong’s significant autonomy could erode.

Hong Kong is largely free to manage its own affairs based on “one country, two systems,” a national unification policy developed by Deng Xiaoping in the 1980s. The concept was intended to help reintegrate Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau with sovereign China while preserving their unique political and economic systems. After more than a century and a half of colonial rule, the British government returned Hong Kong in 1997. (Qing Dynasty leaders ceded Hong Kong Island to the British Crown in 1842 after China’s defeat in the First Opium War.) Portugal returned Macau in 1999, and Taiwan remains independent.

International Democracy Support: Filling the Leadership Vacuum

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THOMAS CAROTHERS

At its recent global summit in Ottawa, the Open Government Partnership (OGP), a multilateral initiative comprising seventy-nine national governments, twenty local governments, and thousands of civic organizations, released its first flagship report assessing the state of open government globally, “Democracy Beyond the Ballot Box.” The report analyzes and evaluates both progress and shortcomings in OGP members’ efforts to make governance more transparent and accountable to citizens. Building on this valuable stocktaking report, and reflecting the importance of this topic globally, the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program is publishing a series of three articles exploring key issues facing the open government agenda. This is the second article in the series.

The United States has long played a crucial leadership role in supporting democracy globally. Although this leadership has often been flawed, as well as resented and resisted by numerous countries, it has been a significant factor in galvanizing and strengthening the loose community of governments, multilateral organizations, international nongovernmental organizations, and others working in the domain. Under President Donald Trump’s direction, the United States has backed away from this role in numerous, highly public ways. This has left many democracy practitioners wondering how damaging the shift will be and whether other actors will be able to fill the vacuum.

Who Says Foreign Policy Doesn’t Win Elections?

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By Dina Smeltz

Rolling into the 2020 election, President Donald Trump is bound to tout his record on foreign policy as a resounding success. While he hasn’t built a wall and expensed it to Mexico, he has followed through on pledges to withdraw from the Iran nuclear agreement and the Paris climate accord, to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, to renegotiate NAFTA, and to aggressively press China on trade. He has delivered on many of his campaign promises, whether the rest of the United States supports them or not.

Mostly not, according to public opinion surveys. While American attitudes on foreign policy tend to change very slowly, surveys conducted since Trump’s election in 2016 capture some interesting shifts, especially among Democratic voters. In the era of “America first,” Democrats are even more likely than usual to rally behind U.S. allies and multilateralism. Overwhelming majorities of Democrats support the Iran nuclear agreement, the Paris climate accord, and trade—all of which reads as a rebuke of Trump. What’s more surprising is that the public at large generally shares these views, though by more modest majorities.

AMERICA DOESN’T NEED A GRAND STRATEGY

BY MICHAEL FUCHS FOREIGN 

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In 2014, as Syria fell apart and Russia invaded Ukraine, criticism of U.S. President Barack Obama’s foreign policy mounted. Perhaps frustrated by questions about why he wasn’t solving these complex problems, the president and his advisors summarized the administration’s foreign policy as “don’t do stupid stuff.” The phrase took on a life of its own and became the subject of derision for those claiming Obama did not have a coherent foreign policy. The New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman suggested that this was the “Obama doctrine.”

Unsatisfying as Obama’s explanation may have been, the sentiment wasn’t wrong. Ever since the U.S. strategy of containment was thought to have won the Cold War, the United States has searched, mostly in vain, for a new grand strategy. The gravitational pull for policymakers and experts to develop an overarching vision for America’s role in the world—encouraged by high-level officials and congressional mandates—is strong and can be an important process that establishes policy priorities for the bureaucracy, sends signals to friends and foes, and helps evaluate assumptions and refine goals.

State election offices made for an easy target for Russian hackers

By: Andrew Eversden 

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In the months before the 2016 presidential election, one U.S. state received a notification from a federally-backed cybersecurity group, warning about suspicious cyber activity directed at its networks. The state IT officials did not share the alert with other state government leaders and as late at January 2018, the same officials reported nothing “irregular, inconsistent, or suspicious" took place before the vote.

In fact, GRU, Russia’s military intelligence agency, had scanned one of the state’s “election-related” domains, according to a new Senate report.

In another state, leaders did not turn over to the Senate which of its systems had been targeted by Russians. Officials told Senate investigators they hadn’t seen evidence of scanning or attacks on its election infrastructure. Instead, they told the committee that they had seen a “probing” of its state systems. Again, DHS told the committee that GRU had scanned the state’s Secretary of State website.

The Bill for ‘America First’ Is Coming Due

BY KORI SCHAKE

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Two of America’s closest treaty allies have announced military efforts explicitly designed to exclude the United States.

In this crowded and enervating week of news, it would have been easy to miss two small but consequential signs of the damage President Donald Trump and his team have done to America’s standing in the world. Two of America’s closest treaty allies have announced military efforts explicitly designed to exclude the United States. Australia is “seeking to cement its status as the security partner of choice for Pacific nations” by establishing an expeditionary training force. And the United Kingdom wants to create a multinational force to ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

It’s not a coincidence that allies are striking out on their own. Countries in the Pacific worry that the U.S. is forcing them to choose between their economic connections to China and their security relationships with the U.S. And while forcing this choice, the U.S. is also publicly calling the security guarantees into question—President Trump did so before arriving in Japan for the G20 summit. Meanwhile, European allies blame Trump-administration tactics for Iran’s decision to lash out at shipping in the Gulf. That’s why British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt stressed that the purpose of the multinational force was to dissociate European governments from U.S. policy toward Iran. Hunt explicitly said, “It will not be part of the U.S. maximum pressure policy on Iran because we remain committed to preserving the Iran nuclear agreement.”

A Politically Neutral Hub for Basic AI Research

By Sophie-Charlotte Fischer and Andreas Wenger 

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Sophie-Charlotte Fischer and Andreas Wenger warn that policymakers and experts increasingly view artificial intelligence (AI) within the narrow context of great power competition. In response, our authors argue that international science diplomacy could help change this situation. Further, politically neutral Switzerland, with its dynamic AI ecosystem, is well-positioned to take a leading role. By providing a hub committed to the responsible, inclusive, and peaceful development and use of AI, it could lessen the danger posed by a few powerful actors racing to harness this immature technology.

This article was originally published in the CSS Policy Perspectives series by the Center for Security Studies in March 2019. It is also available in German and French. Image courtesy of US Department of Energy/Flickr.

In the international policy discourse, artificial intelligence (AI) is frequently discussed narrowly in terms of a new technology race between great powers. However, international science diplomacy can make an important contribution to promoting the manifold opportunities enabled by AI, while mitigating some of the associated risks. 

Key Points

Now they own our weapons: What a cyber-fueled war would look like

by Richard Clarke and Robert Knake 

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Since he left the Bush White House—and railed against the way the administration handled the threat of terrorism and the invasion of Iraq—Richard Clarke has been sounding the alarm on cybersecurity. “Cyber 9/11” or “Cyber Pearl Harbor” are tossed around a lot among American cyberworriers, and Clarke says it may have already happened during the 2016 U.S. election. But the real granddaddy of all cyberdangers is a cyberconflict that spills into a shooting war. In this excerpt from their new book, The Fifth Domain, Clarke and former White House director of cybersecurity policy Robert Knake imagine what that kind of battle might look like—just a few months from right now. —The Ed.

Envision the near future. Perhaps the most likely international crisis that might erupt this year or next is a conflict between Iran and Israel. What follows is a scenario of how such a crisis could evolve and our assessment of how the U.S. military’s current cybercapabilities might perform.

•TEL AVIV, 10 NOVEMBER 2019

How NATO’s special operations can take advantage of the tech boom

By: Andrew White 

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U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order in May restricting the access of foreign telecommunications suppliers to U.S. markets, signaling an escalation of the dispute between the United States and the Chinese telecommunications company Huawei.

Less than a week later, Google decided to debar Huawei, a market leader in fifth-generation (5G) telecommunications technology, from some Android updates. The move meant that future Huawei smartphones could lose access to apps on the Google Play platform, as well as some security updates, when a new version of Android is launched later in 2019.

The White House views Huawei’s participation in the construction of its 5G network as a security risk, and this year the Trump administration has led a campaign to encourage allies around the world to impose similar restrictions. The case highlights the potentially transformative implications next-generation technologies, including 5G, could have on military conflict. But given its role at the leading edge of military and intelligence deployments, one organization is paying special attention to these trends: the NATO special forces community.

Digital authoritarianism and the threat to global democracy

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By Justin Sherman

Digital technologies empower the growing number of autocratic governments around the globe to surveil their citizens more comprehensively and for less cost than ever before. These technologies promise to concentrate power in the hands of a few, and, as they prove effective and efficient, set in motion a vicious cycle of deeper and more pervasive surveillance. In the process, digital-abetted authoritarianism contributes to undermining global democracy.

From FitBits to smart refrigerators, more and more devices are hooked into the global internet every day. There, they collect information all the time. In tandem, artificial intelligence (AI) tools and other algorithmic systems are enabling unprecedented surveillance of physical spaces through technology like facial recognition as well as monitoring of online spaces through capabilities such as real-time bulk data analysis. Governments are increasingly using these digital technologies to enhance the extent to which they can monitor their own citizens: internet surveillance tools are used to spy on web traffic; facial recognition is used to track individuals in crowded public places; and GPS trackers permit the real-time geolocation of people, vehicles, and other objects.

What broke a UK satellite for a week?

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By: Kelsey Reichmann 

The European Union’s Galileo satellite navigation system was unusable for four days following an outage with undisclosed origins.

The Galileo is the EU’s global positioning system that was purchased in 2016 in an attempt to receive GPS data outside of the United States and Russia’s systems.

The outage started July 14 and affected the navigation and timing systems, but did not have an effect on the Search and Rescue service (SAR). The problem was fixed July 18, according to news releases on the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency website.

In a July 18 update, the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency said the malfunction initiated with ground equipment.

“The technical incident originated by an equipment malfunction in the Galileo ground infrastructure, affecting the calculation of time and orbit predictions, and which are used to compute the navigation message. The malfunction affected different elements on the ground facilities,” according to the press release.

US Air Force Wants Wargames that Simulate Lasers, Electromagnetic Weapons

BY AARON BOYD
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Directed energy weapons—i.e., lasers and high-powered electro-magnetic weapons—are fast becoming a reality for troops and the Air Force wants its airmen to be prepared.

The Air Force Research Lab issued a request for information Friday seeking a vendor that can provide wargame modeling and simulations that include how energy weapons are being used today and how they will be used in the near future.

“The purpose of these [military utility] studies is to determine if and how well AFRL/RD and industry technologies can help address warfighter needs and gaps including complementing current fielded technologies and those under development by others,” the notice states.

The Air Force has been working on laser weapons systems, or LaWS, and high powered electro-magnetics, HPEM, for some time, with plans to deploy the technologies on planes by 2020.

Expert warns of cyber attacks on power grid: new approach needed to defend against and wage cyber warfare

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The Military and Aerospace Electronics take:

29 July 2019 -- Clarke’s new book, The Fifth Domain, written with cyber warfareexpert and fellow White House veteran Robert Knake, is in many ways a follow-up to a book they wrote in 2012 called Cyber War.

These days, Clarke is still trying to get Americans to think hard about the next big cyber attacks -- and the ones that are quietly happening as you read this sentence.

Companies and government need to be more resilient, and Clarke and his coauthor offer 80 recommendations on what the U.S. should be doing, including enhancing standards for the power grid and outsourcing some government cyber security to a growing private industry.

Here's What an AI Code of Conduct for the Pentagon Might Look Like

by Cortney Weinbaum
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Have you ever witnessed two people talking past each other? They seem to be discussing the same topic using the same language, but you begin to wonder if they are actually talking about two different things. The public debate about the use of artificial intelligence in the Department of Defense is beginning to feel that way to me.

Some technologists have called for DoD AI ethics, but in the next breath they call for an end to programs that have never been demonstrated to be unethical. What gives?

I recently completed a study examining ethics across all scientific disciplines, and my team identified 10 ethical principles that span disciplines and international borders. With this foundation, I believe what advocates want from DoD is actually a code of conduct for how DoD will use AI: a set of rules and guidelines that the government will hold itself accountable to adhering to and that would allow technology developers and researchers to know how their work will be operationalized.

Are fighter pilots at greater risk for prostate cancer? The Air Force is now asking

BY TARA COPP AND SHIRSHO DAS GUPTA

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WASHINGTON

The Air Force has begun to look at whether there’s increased risk for prostate cancer among its fighter pilots. A new investigation by McClatchy shows just how serious the problem may be.

The fighter pilot study was requested by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein after he was contacted by concerned veterans service organizations in 2018, according to the report obtained by McClatchy.

At the heart of the Air Force study was a question of whether extended exposure in the cockpit to radiation may be linked to increased risk of prostate cancer.

The study said “pilots have greater environmental exposure to ultraviolet and ionizing radiation ... (fighter pilots) have unique intra-cockpit exposures to non-ionizing radiation.” The Air Force study was conducted by the 711th Human Performance Wing at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio

History and the 5G dilemma

Arun Mohan Sukumar

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As India looks to developing 5G technology, its quest in the 1980s for an American supercomputer offers lessons

New technologies have a curious history of finding their way into the crosshairs of international politics. ‘5G’ is no different. In many respects, the dilemma facing Prime Minister Narendra Modi — to embrace Huawei and other Chinese purveyors of 5G-enabled telecommunications infrastructure, or to salvage the political relationship with the United States — is similar to the one faced by Rajiv Gandhi in the 1980s. Then, India had sought for itself a “supercomputer” from, among others, Japan. Instead, it was dealt a bad hand by the U.S., and made to settle eventually for an American machine that belonged to an older, slower generation of computers. The lessons from that moment in history are instructive, and Indian policymakers would do well to heed them.

Don’t Trust the Taliban With Afghanistan’s Cultural Preservation

BY ADAM TIFFENALLIANCE 
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In May, Taliban fighters in northwest Afghanistan attackedsecurity posts that were providing protection for the ancient Minaret of Jam. The 12th-century minaret, known for its intricate brick construction and ancient Arabic calligraphy, is one of only two sites in Afghanistan that hold UNESCO World Heritage status. The attackers killed 18 members of the government security forces and cut off access to the minaret, the status of which is unknown.

So it is alarming that cultural heritage does not seem to be on the agenda for the peace talks with the Taliban. As a cultural heritage organization, we are concerned about the Taliban’s intentions for the incomparable treasures of world history in Afghanistan. Along with our fellow stakeholder groups representing the Afghan government, women, and civil society, we are particularly concerned about being excluded from discussions between the United States, Taliban, and other actors who are determining the framework for peace negotiations.

Trump’s Three Missteps on Pakistan

By Daniel Markey 

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Editor’s Note: Pakistan is where good policy options go to die. U.S. administrations have struggled to develop a coherent and effective policy toward Islamabad, trying to coerce and co-opt it, with limited success at best. Daniel Markey of SAIS offers a readout of Prime Minister Khan’s visit to Washington. He points out mistakes the Trump administration made and argues that a continued tough approach is necessary.

Pakistan’s prime minister, army chief and other top national security officials arrived in Washington, D.C., on July 20 for a working meeting at the White House and cabinet-level talks at the State Department and Pentagon. In briefings ahead of the visit, senior U.S. officials stressed their desire to use the visit as a means to encourage Pakistan to further facilitate ongoing negotiations with the Afghan Taliban, while Pakistani officials proclaimed their own more expansive desire to “reset” relations with Washington.

Pakistan opposition parties hold protest rallies against PM Khan

Gul Yousufzai

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QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistan’s main opposition parties held protest rallies in cities across the country on Thursday, accusing Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government of ruining the economy and seeking to intimidate and silence its opponents.

Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, addresses supporters during a countrywide protest called "Black Day" against the government of prime minister Imran Khan, in Quetta, Pakistan July 25, 2019. REUTERS/Naseer Ahmed

The so-called “Black Day” protests, a year after Khan’s PTI party swept to power following a bitterly contested election, come amid mounting economic problems for Pakistan and a political climate that has grown increasingly angry.

Surging prices of fuel and everyday staples, a plunging currency that has lost a quarter of its value since the election and allegations of media censorship and stifling opposition voices has fueled the protests.