While many social media users shrug their shoulders at the thought of tech companies selling their data, the transmission is unlikely to stop there. With China’s new data protection laws, Beijing could have access to the sensitive information of billions of smartphone owners.
Intelligence services and their governments once sought to create a clear line between confidential information and common knowledge. Now, with the rise of brazen attacks and increasing PR concerns, these boundaries are blurred.
Intelligence in war is as much a product of common sense as of technical brilliance. It must be understood and applied wisely to be of any use.
Putin’s justifications for invading Ukraine uncannily reflect the motivations of one of Russian literature’s most famous antiheroes, Dostoevsky’s Rodion Raskolnikov. Both believe themselves to be unconstrained by conventional morality.
Rather than protecting individual data privacy, the fate of democracy in our networked age might depend on establishing a new, radically transparent contract of trust between government and citizens. Estonia is leading the way.
Thanks to cold war, hot war, and the revived quest of many nations for a degree of industrial self-sufficiency, free market globalisation has peaked for the foreseeable future.
For many, the advent of printing was nothing short of miraculous but for others it symbolised a scandalous cheapening of knowledge.
The spirit of innovation embodied by the first Industrial Revolution spread to all aspects of British life — art was no exception.
Tocqueville may not have been an effective foreign minister but his commitment to order and liberty is uncontested.
The notion of integrity evolves with each generation. When it comes to how the idea is applied to genetics, it is worth starting to consider the moral implications of future medical development now.
How did the relatively amicable relations of Russia and Ukraine in the 1990s dissolve into today’s brutal conflict?
The ancient Greeks are often perceived to have been hostile to technological innovation. But from the remarkable Antikythera Mechanism to the foundations of Western music, ancient Greek technology leaves a lasting legacy to this day.
There are countless instances throughout history of what could be called intellectual property theft — from the appropriation of the technology of Chinese silk manufacture in Byzantium to beer-brewing or porcelain recipes in Europe. How did these technology transfers come about?
German car making is nearly as old as the nation itself and embedded in its heart, soul and mind. Replacing combustion engines with batteries is not a like-for-like swap. We are about to give up one of man’s most emotive mechanical creations; more is at stake than facts and figures.
By 1991, the Donbas, the former core of the Russian Empire’s coal, iron and metallurgical industries, was in large part Europe’s biggest rust-belt. For Russia, the benefits of annexing the region are far from clear.
Evolving technology consistently introduces new possibilities for both the attacker and defender. The more inventive terrorists became, the more defensive measures needed to be put in place. As new countermeasures were introduced, terrorists became increasingly inventive to evade them.
Much like Germany, Japan is also undergoing a begrudging reconciliation with its military. But unlike its European counterpart, Japan has to worry about two increasingly hostile neighbours.
While critical theory is not without its uses, it is time that we take a more constructive approach to social issues. ‘Mistake theory’ can offer a useful lens.
Ukraine’s complex history does not neatly fit into modern ideas of nationhood. But Putin’s twisted attempts to use history to justify his invasion have generated a remarkable spirit of Ukrainian patriotism.
Over the past century, religion throughout Europe has been rapidly on the wane. The recent growth of Europe’s Muslim population, however, has slowed this trend.
The Holy Alliance, a significant aspect of this post-1815 world, might offer a useful model to shape a legitimate and workable international order of the future.
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