WORLD ROUNDUPWhy Indonesia Matters | The Lockdown Bonfire of Britain’s Freedoms | Is Colombia Trapped in “War Mode?”, and more
··The Lockdown Bonfire of Britain’s Freedoms
The most surprising aspect of Johnson’s first lockdown: It had no legal basis
··Cutting Immigration Means Higher Taxes
More migrant workers in the U.K. mean more economic activity
··Espionage With Chinese Characteristics
China relies on foreign technology and expertise
··Why Bolsonaro Is Going Quietly
And what comes next for Brazil
··The Failure of FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried Will Leave Deep Scars
It is harder now to assert that crypto represents the future
··U.K. Blocks Chipmaker’s Sale to Chinese Firm, Citing Security
The West’s chip war against China expands
··Is Colombia Trapped in “War Mode?” In Wake of Truth Commission, New Leftist Government Recalibrates US Ties
Persistent U.S. demands to extradite former rebel leaders Irks Colombian government
··Russia’s Apoplexy Over Biological Research – Implications for the BTWC and Its Articles V and VI
Russia continues to make baseless its allegations of treaty violations against Ukraine and the US
··Russia (Again) Peddles Its Debunked US-Ukrainian Bioweapons Claims at the United Nations
Russian has tirelessly worked to spread lies about the existence of an illicit US-Ukrainian bioweapons program
··Why Indonesia Matters
Indonesia is back on the map. In the next decade it will only become more important
The Lockdown Bonfire of Britain’s Freedoms (John Jolliffe, The Critic)
The government’s chaotic handling of the Covid-19 crisis resulted in an arbitrary rule by diktat of dubious legitimacy that should never be repeated.
Cutting Immigration Means Higher Taxes (James Kirkup, The Spectator)
More migrant workers in the U.K. mean more economic activity which means more tax revenue than would otherwise have been received. What this all translates to is that those cuts and tax rises announced yesterday are not as big as they would have been without those migrant workers.
Espionage With Chinese Characteristics (Klon Kitchen, The Dispatch)
A brief history of China’s reliance on foreign technology and expertise
Why Bolsonaro Is Going Quietly (Francisco Toro, Persuasion)
Somehow, Brazil did not go completely haywire after the 30 October presidential election. It’s a low bar to clear, but an important achievement nonetheless. Following a bitterly contested campaign, leftist challenger (and two-term former president) Lula beat incumbent far-right president Jair Bolsonaro in a squeaker on Sunday October 30th. It was a scenario many of us had feared, since Bolsonaro had virtually promised a chaotic, “Stop-the-Steal”-style battle if he was announced to have lost.
Instead, he met the announcement with stony silence, ghosting Lula and the world for an interminable 47 hours. Then, in a two-minute speech last Tuesday, he thanked his voters, underlined his followers’ indignation at “how the election was run,” but said that “our methods must not be those of the left” (meaning lawless and chaotic). He never mentioned Lula, much less congratulated him. He neither conceded the election nor contested it. Yet minutes later, through a senior aide, he let it be known that his administration would collaborate in the transition ahead of Lula’s January 1st swearing-in ceremony.
