ASPI suggests
Posted By
Sofia Patel, Jacqueline Westermann and Malcolm Davis
on April 27, 2018 @ 14:30
The world
Although French President Emmanuel Macron appeared to be on his best behaviour during his visit to Washington, his speech to Congress demonstrated that the Franco–American partnership will
undoubtedly be tested.
Carnegie offers a slick analysis of the most pressing issues concerning Paris, especially where US President Donald Trump and Macron are likely to butt heads: climate change, the Iranian nuclear deal and trade policy.
After two weeks of peaceful protests in Armenia (
video explainer), former president-turned-Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan resigned.
Foreign Policy pulls the plug on speculation that Russia was involved,
Chatham House dissects the local political challenges facing the small Eastern European state and
Carnegie situates domestic challenges related to populism and nationalism within wider international trends such as a resurgent Russia and relations with the EU.
Speaking of nationalism and populism,
Salon’s latest piece on the rise of ‘fascist fashion’ is a fascinating read, explaining how certain trends and styles should be understood to be embedded in particular social and cultural environments that could serve as gateways to radicalisation. For a more academic perspective, read
Daniela Pisoiu’s excellent study of the application of
subcultural theory to individual cases of jihadi and right-wing radicalisation in Germany.
Vice’s exposé on American sociologist Theodore Abel’s 1934 experiment explains why people were (and are) attracted to Nazism. And for those with a penchant for tackling extremism digitally, check out
this new plug-in software—‘No Platform for Fascism’—intended to help anyone who wants to register a complaint about far-right video content on YouTube.
An intriguing study from
Lancaster University explores human perceptions of colour—in particular, how our perception of colour is likely down to personal experience such as
synaesthesia, terminology or even language. To follow, here’s a selection of studies that analyse different aspects of language:
CSIS discusses language barriers in Iraqi Kurdistan,
Quartz talks about the resource potential of Africa’s multilingualism, and the ABC’s in-house language researcher
Tiger Webb dissects Australians’ historic struggle to pronounce ‘Australia’.
A grim piece explores one of the
worst excesses of the British Empire: the
Criminal Tribes Act passed in 1871. The act allowed particular Indian communities to be designated as ‘hereditary criminals’ in order to deal with the dangers of mass unemployment (as a result of British policy). Many were classified as ‘criminal tribes’ and forced to work. This became a way of generating a ‘powerless, commoditized labour force’.
A couple of long reads are well worth your time:
Maya Rao recounts life as a woman on the North Dakota oilfields, and
The New Yorker explores how American racism influenced Hitler. Over at the Modern War Institute, commander of the Australian Defence College, Major General Mick Ryan, has published a
reading list covering all things artificial intelligence. And in a punchy interview for
GQ, former Labour Party leader Ed Miliband talks to Tony Blair’s former spin doctor, Alastair Campbell. Topics include Brexit and
bacon sarnies, a familiar struggle for
his Australian counterpart, it seems …
Tech geek
Future fighter aircraft have been in the headlines this week. Lockheed Martin is promoting the idea of an F-22/F-35
hybrid for
Japan that would involve integrating advanced F-35 avionics and computers into an updated F-22 airframe. Such an aircraft—if it were ever made—‘could be superior to both original versions’. The
challenge would be affording what would be an entirely new fighter program in an already tight fiscal environment.
China is suggesting that future development of
the J-20 could include ‘
metamaterials’ that will enhance the aircraft’s
stealth capabilities. If true, exploiting metamaterials would make it hard to detect the jet with radar, and potentially also by the human eye, bringing a Star Trek–style ‘cloaking device’ a step closer to becoming fact, not science fiction.
Russia’s Victory Day parade in Moscow is scheduled for 9 May. This is an annual opportunity for Russia to put its advanced military technology on display. Likely to appear this year are the T‑14 Armata main battle tank, the Su‑57 fifth-generation fighter and Russia’s new BMPT‑75
‘Terminator 2’ urban warfare vehicle. Russian MiG‑31BM interceptors armed with Mach 10
Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missiles may also fly over Moscow. Watch a video (with Russian audio) of rehearsals
here. The Russians will also demonstrate
robotic tanks for the first time.
Finally, and given we’re talking about Terminators, a new
report from the RAND Corporation suggests that
artificial intelligence might destabilise nuclear deterrence by making it easier to detect and track an opponent’s nuclear forces, thus making a first strike easier.
Multimedia
This
New York Times photo series captures the stark smog pollution in Poland, where 19 million people use coal to heat their homes, resulting in 48,000 deaths ‘annually from illnesses related to poor air quality’.
In this
documentary, DW looks at Dennis Rodman’s naïve attempts to get involved as a peacemaker on the Korean peninsula. [42:31]
Buzzfeed and Apple News started distributing the mini-documentary series
‘Future History: 1968’, which looks at events from 1968 with technology from today. Very cool! [each episode approximately 10:00]
Podcasts
The
BBC Worlds Service’s Tim Whewell talks to Russian mothers whose sons took their wives and children with them when they went to fight for IS. The mothers are now trying to get their daughters-in-law and grandchildren back. Whewell also travels to Iraq to trace the missing families’ routes and learn their fate. [26:29]
Beth Oppenheim talks to Sophia Besch about the difficulties the UK and the EU face as they try to negotiate the conditions for European military cooperation and defence industrial policy after Brexit for the
Centre for European Reform. [14:09]
Events
Canberra, 30 April, 3.30–5.00 pm, ANU Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, ‘Unravelling the inter-Korean summit’. Info and registration
here.
Sydney, 30 April, 5–7 pm, AIPIO NSW and Department of Security Studies and Criminology at Macquarie University, ‘Producing intelligence collaboratively’. More
here.
Canberra, 2 May, 11 am, ANU College of Science: ‘Talking to artificial intelligence: an anthropologist’s perspective’. Details
here.
Sofia Patel is an analyst, Jacqueline Westermann is a researcher, and Malcolm Davis is a senior analyst at ASPI. Image courtesy Radek Kołakowski via Wikimedia Commons.
Article printed from The Strategist: https://www.aspistrategist.org.au
URL to article: https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/aspi-suggests-82/
[1] undoubtedly be tested: http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-macron-congress-20180425-story.html
[2] Carnegie: https://carnegieendowment.org/2018/04/19/macron-s-visit-will-test-franco-american-security-partnership-pub-76141?utm_source=ctw&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20180426&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWldOaFpUQmhZelZpTURNMiIsInQiOiJHd0tVTVdmd0x1WDI0ZWE2eTNTSG92NE9CZkVsMCtWcWlOem5zYWtzOEl1eEtrY25xMmhlRTV1aHpIVnordWF6SDV0VHBkZXp3KzQ0RGN5eTVEaVhtbU11WlFvMEhKK2VIVDMrdWFVbG42Y2Q2NHlOQ3ZYQXhyT3pSVmxKVUhEXC9yZlNQQzluRE93R2pmZGNxQXpYcDdnPT0ifQ%3D%3D
[3] video explainer: https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2018/apr/23/armenia-protests-sit-ins-picket-lines-prime-minister-video-explainer
[4] Foreign Policy: http://foreignpolicy.com/2018/04/23/sometimes-armenian-protests-are-just-armenian-protests/
[5] Chatham House: https://www.chathamhouse.org/expert/comment/armenia-constitutional-power-grab-backfires
[6] Carnegie: https://carnegieendowment.org/2018/04/24/armenia-s-democratic-triumph-pub-76165?utm_source=ctw&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20180426&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWldOaFpUQmhZelZpTURNMiIsInQiOiJHd0tVTVdmd0x1WDI0ZWE2eTNTSG92NE9CZkVsMCtWcWlOem5zYWtzOEl1eEtrY25xMmhlRTV1aHpIVnordWF6SDV0VHBkZXp3KzQ0RGN5eTVEaVhtbU11WlFvMEhKK2VIVDMrdWFVbG42Y2Q2NHlOQ3ZYQXhyT3pSVmxKVUhEXC9yZlNQQzluRE93R2pmZGNxQXpYcDdnPT0ifQ%3D%3D
[7] Salon’s latest piece: https://www.salon.com/2018/04/21/the-rise-of-fascist-fashion-clothing-helps-the-far-right-sell-their-violent-message
[8] Daniela Pisoiu’s excellent study: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09546553.2014.959406
[9] subcultural theory: http://www.erikclabaugh.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/181899847-Subculture.pdf
[10] Vice’s exposé: https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/vby94d/nazis-explain-why-they-became-nazis
[11] this new plug-in software: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-anarchists-combatting-the-far-right-on-youtube?mbid=social_twitter
[12] Lancaster University: http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/linguistics/news-and-events/news/2018/the-way-you-see-colour-depends-on-what-language-you-speak/
[13] synaesthesia, terminology or even language: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20180419-the-words-that-change-the-colours-we-see?ocid=global_future_rss
[14] CSIS: https://www.csis.org/analysis/bringing-back-babel-language-barriers-iraqi-kurdistan
[15] Quartz: https://qz.com/1201975/african-universities-should-use-african-languages-not-just-english-french-and-portuguese/
[16] Tiger Webb: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-14/australians-struggle-to-pronounce-the-word-australia-correctly/9643680
[17] worst excesses of the British Empire: http://www.3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2018/04/the-criminal-tribes-of-madras-presidency.html
[18] Maya Rao recounts: https://longreads.com/2018/04/23/life-on-the-oil-frontier/
[19] The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/04/30/how-american-racism-influenced-hitler
[20] reading list: https://mwi.usma.edu/war-books-ai-military-generalist-reading-list/
[21] GQ: http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/ed-miliband-interview
[22] bacon sarnies: https://www.google.com.au/search?q=ed+miliband+bacon&rlz=1C1GGRV_enAU751AU751&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjNs52MkdnaAhUGJJQKHa5GC4sQ_AUICigB&biw=1680&bih=944#imgdii=k40swtaBM4ZbSM:&imgrc=Scx_SYu2K86X_M:
[23] his Australian counterpart: https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/federal-election-2016-bill-shorten-confounds-by-eating-sausage-sizzle-from-side-20160702-gpwwpi.html
[24] hybrid: https://theaviationist.com/2018/04/23/lockheed-martin-to-propose-5th-gen-f-22-f-35-hybrid-to-japan/
[25] Japan: http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/20288/japans-interest-in-an-f-22-f-35-hybrid-could-mean-a-restart-for-f-22-production-line?xid=twittershare
[26] challenge: http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/lockheed-martin-wants-merge-f-22-f-35-1-fighter-japan-it-25509
[27] the J-20: http://en.people.cn/n3/2018/0321/c90000-9440007.html
[28] metamaterials’: http://www.popsci.com.au/tech/military/chinas-new-stealth-fighter-uses-powerful-materials-with-geometry-not-found-in-nature,487759
[29] stealth: http://www.newsweek.com/china-says-it-can-make-fighter-jets-invisible-cloaks-made-metamaterials-842167
[30] ‘Terminator 2’: https://warisboring.com/russian-terminators-roll-out-for-victory-day-rehearsals/
[31] Kinzhal: http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/russia-getting-ready-show-new-hypersonic-missiles-terminator-25332
[32] here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMgGJwjJIuo
[33] robotic tanks: http://warisboring.com/russia-parades-war-bots-for-the-first-time/
[34] report: https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PE296.html
[35] artificial intelligence: https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/04/24/how-ai-could-destabilize-nuclear-deterrence/
[36] New York Times photo series: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/22/world/europe/poland-pollution.html
[37] documentary: http://www.dw.com/en/dennis-and-the-dictator/av-43504964
[38] ‘Future History: 1968’: http://1968.digital/en/main
[39] BBC Worlds Service: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3cswf4q
[40] Centre for European Reform: https://soundcloud.com/cer_london/sophia-defence-after-brexit
[41] here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/unraveling-the-inter-korean-summit-tickets-45283772984
[42] here: https://www.mq.edu.au/about/events/view/aipio-nsw-producing-intelligence-collaboratively/
[43] here: http://www.anu.edu.au/events/talking-to-artificial-intelligence-an-anthropologist%E2%80%99s-perspective