The 1 Malaysia Development Berhad scandal has it all. Gigantic sums of money, secretive offshore accounts, political corruption, criminal laundering – and a profound question mark over whether lessons can be learnt. In this day and age, it is perhaps less conceivable that such a wide-ranging scam can happen, than that it would still be […]
1MDB: Out-of-control fraud could happen anywhere Read More »
Political campaigns are fought on two fronts: the ‘ground war’ (doorstepping, rallies) and the ‘air war’ (advertising and social media). While it would be unlikely that a candidate could win using one stream alone, there is considerable debate over which is more effective. Is it the ground game, where time and effort is made to
Hell To Poyais: the Air War in scams Read More »
You are the weakest link. In fact, we all are. However, advanced we make our cyber security systems, the simple fact is that humans make mistakes, humans get complacent. The Aramco hack of 2012 immediately springs to mind. One technician opened a spam email and within hours 35,000 company computers were damaged or destroyed. But
Dr Know – How Will AI Alter International Geopolitics? Read More »
For the first time in its 60 years history, the opposition recently won an election in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Whilst it is too early to state whether or not the transition of power has been peaceful, let alone successful, this could mark a watershed moment in one of Africa’s key economies. In
Transitions in Cobalt Country Read More »
Echoes from Moscow Many Soviet traits have endured long after the Berlin Wall came down. One of the most persistent is the distinctive ‘cult of personality’ that blighted the Soviet political environment since the days of Lenin and Stalin. It has tainted all aspects of society in one way or another. Similarly, in the last
Turkmenistan – The Land of Personality (Cults) Read More »
Russia and China are the headline names when it comes to fake news, but tiny Macedonia is attempting to outstrip them all. This country has become the gold standard in creating and spreading fake news: sometimes at the behest of shadow clients, sometimes just for the fun of it. However the normalisation of fake news
Today over Macedonia… Read More »
State-owned enterprises are a common occurrence around the world. What is much less common, perhaps unsurprisingly, is the inverse of this relationship. What if a company, or group of companies, owned and controlled a state? There are some well-known historical examples, namely the Honourable East India Company and the United Fruit Company (the origin of
Transnistria: A Lesson in Corporatocracy Read More »
Since the last column on Brazil, much has changed. The most traditionally left-leaning continent on the planet has seen the election in its largest country of the most right-wing leader it has ever had. While Brazil faces an uncertain immediate future – to say nothing of how its place and policies might dramatically shift in
Brazil: Fear For The Future? Read More »
The transfer of power, from national governments to multinational corporations, will be a defining feature of the 21st Century. In 2000, 51 of the 100 largest economies in the world were corporations; 49 were countries. In 2016, 69 of the largest economies in the world were corporations; 31 were countries. Similarly, the largest 10 corporations
Corporatocracy: The Business of Politics is the Politics of Business Read More »
The 194 representatives of Interpol’s member states met last Wednesday for the annual congress in Dubai during which they elected the new President of the organization, the South Korean Kim Jong-Yang. The other potential candidate was the Russian Alexander Prokopchuk, but Western states were strongly opposed to his nomination due to the current nature of
A view to a chill: Russian relations getting worse? Read More »