Think-Tanks'Press

In November 2015, the European Union enacted new binding rules for network neutrality under Regulation 2015/2120. This was the culmination of a process that began in September 2013, with roots that go back nearly ten years.

In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission adopted the current incarnation of its Open Internet Order several months earlier, in February 2015.

The Trojan Horse scenario occurs when a country conceals a major demand within a minor issue in order to obtain disproportionate advantage from another country.

The recipient country misreads the demand as a minor issue and miscalculates the cost of concessions. These concessions then expose the country to disproportionate vulnerabilities beyond the original issue and that country’s potential for negotiation becomes more limited.

Australia has a long history of prioritising fossil fuels over renewables in research and development (R&D) funding. ARENA turned this around, making Australia a world leader in renewables. Government plans to cut ARENA’s funding while providing new funds for fossil fuel R&D risks putting Australia back decades in energy R&D.

There is strong public support for ARENA. There was a clear majority against passing the cuts in every state.

The Chinese have long been obsessed with strategic culture, power balances and geopolitical shifts. Academic institutions, think-tanks, journals and web-based debates are growing in number and quality, giving China’s foreign policy breadth and depth.

At the root of the Party’s current approach is a recognition that think tanks – or state intellectuals – perform a dual function in China.

Most vendors appeared to be operating from the United States (890), followed by the United Kingdom (338), and Germany (225).

Revenues to vendors reporting to operate from the Netherlands on cryptomarkets accounted for 8 per cent of total drug revenues. On a per capita basis, revenues to vendors operating from the Netherlands were 2.4 times higher than those from the United Kingdom and 4.5 higher than those from the United States.

The Western distaste for IS brutality and immorality should not obfuscate strategic clarity. IS are truly bad guys, but few of their opponents are much better. Allowing bad guys to kill bad guys sounds very cynical, but it is useful and even moral to do so if it keeps the bad guys busy and less able to harm the good guys. The Hobbesian reality of the Middle East does not always present a neat moral choice.

The American administration does not appear capable of recognizing the fact that IS can be a useful tool in undermining Tehran’s ambitious plan for domination of the Middle East.