Alcuni temi dal diario di oggi:
La tecnologia per il peacekeeping. In August 2021, under India’s presidency, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) adopted a statement recognising the importance of technology in peacekeeping. At the high-level Security Council open debate on “technology and peacekeeping”, India’s External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar stated that “21st-century peacekeeping must be anchored in a strong ecosystem of technology and innovation”.1 In the meeting, Secretary-General António Guterres outlined elements of a digital transformation strategy for peacekeeping. Another significant development of that day was the launch of UNITE AWARE, a technology platform developed by India in collaboration with the UN, aimed at providing terrain-related information to the UN peacekeepers to ensure their safety and security. These developments suggest that future peacekeeping operations will be technology-enabled. India shows enthusiasm and interest in this envisioned transformation. India is one of the largest troop-contributing countries (TCC) to UN peacekeeping missions, however, the question is whether it can become a technology-contributing country (TecCC) as well. (IDSA)
La sfida del COP26. At COP26, the governments of highly emitting countries will have a critical opportunity to accelerate emissions reductions through ambitious revisions of their nationally determined contributions (NDCs). If emissions follow the trajectory set by current NDCs, there is a less than 5 per cent chance of keeping temperatures well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and less than 1 per cent chance of reaching the 1.5°C target set by the 2015 Paris Agreement. Unless NDCs are dramatically increased, and policy and delivery mechanisms are revised accordingly, many of the climate change impacts described in this research paper are likely to be locked in by 2040, and become so severe they go beyond the limits of what nations can adapt to. As well as the immediate physical and socio-economic consequences of changes in climate, the paper captures the systemic cascading risks likely to arise as these direct risks and impacts compound to affect whole systems, including people, infrastructure, the economy, societal systems and ecosystems. (Chatham House)
AUKUS. Prospettive:
– The US, UK and Australia have announced a new alliance named “AUKUS” to target China, and they even made a deal to provide nuclear submarines to Australia. Chinese military experts warned that such a move will potentially make Australia a target of a nuclear strike if a nuclear war breaks out even if Washington said it won’t arm Canberra with nuclear weapons, because it’s easy for the US to arm Australia with nuclear weapons and submarine-launched ballistic missiles when Australia has the submarines. (Global Times)
– The U.S. and U.K. will aid Australia’s ambitions for a nuclear-powered submarine fleet as part of a new trilateral security partnership that leaders of the three counties are set to announce Wednesday. While the new defense technology-sharing pact is yet another step by Western allies to counter China’s strength, it will also upend Australia’s largest-ever defense contract, a AUS$90 billion deal to build submarines designed by the French company Naval Group, the Australia-based ABC News was first to report. (Defense News)
– Australia will get its first nuclear-powered submarines under a new trilateral relationship with the United States and United Kingdom intended to improve security in the Pacific, President Joe Biden announced Wednesday. The move will put nuclear-powered submarines, which have longer range than Australia’s current conventional subs and can stay underwater for months, in China’s backyard as the administration seeks to pivot its foreign policy to the Indo-Pacific region. (Defense One)
– A new world is beginning to take shape, even if it remains disguised in the clothes of the old. The United States, Britain, and Australia have announced what is in effect a new “Anglo” military alliance. The basics are these: In 2016, Australia struck a deal with France to buy a fleet of diesel-powered submarines, rejecting an Anglo-American alternative for nuclear-powered vessels. In March this year, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (or, “that fellow down under,” as Joe Biden referred to him), began talking with Washington about reversing its decision. Then, last night, in a live three-way public announcement, Biden, Morrison, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed that the Australians would scrap their agreement with France to team up with Britain and the U.S. instead, forming a new “AUKUS” military alliance in the process. (Defense One)
I problemi tra Iran e Azerbaijan. As new Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi forms his government, Baku and Tehran are expected to enter the next uneasy and uncertain phase in their bilateral relations. In particular, issues relating to the unfinished railway segment of the North-South Transport Corridor (NSTC) and the controversial hydropower projects on the Azerbaijani-Iranian border remain unresolved. On top of those, the augmenting Azerbaijani-Israeli partnership is a major factor that continues to complicate Tehran’s perspective on Azerbaijan. (The Jamestown Foundation)
Russia e Internet. The final months ahead of the elections to the Russian State Duma (lower chamber of parliament) were marked by a total cleansing of the political field (see EDM, September 13). This included an aggressive crackdown on the Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF) (RIA Novosti, June 9), entailing reprisals against everyone who supported the structures of Alexei Navalny (Deutsche Welle—Russian service, May 17), and the denouncement as “foreign agents” of the overwhelming number of opposition media outlets (BBC News—Russian service, August 20). (The Jamestown Foundation)
Elezioni in Russia. As Russia prepares to vote for the State Duma elections from September 17-19, the ruling United Russia (UR) party is expected to retain control of the lower house of parliament. Despite the approval ratings that have stayed well below 30 percent over the past year, most analysts believe that the party will be able to secure a majority, if not a super-majority, in the 450 member parliament. Yet, the situation today is much different from the 2016 Duma elections that saw UR attain a record 343 out of 450 seats in the Duma, benefiting from favourable public opinion following the annexation of Crimea. (ORF)
Europa e USA per supply chains resilienti. The US, the EU and the UK hold a leading position in international trade and the global economy, and enjoy wide-reaching economic partnerships with Asia-Pacific nations. Governments in the US and Europe have a critically important role to play in supporting firms’ efforts to build visible, agile and sustainable supply chains that have resilience against unexpected disruptions. Geopolitical and trade tensions in recent years, and the shift towards digital, service-led and low-carbon economies, have driven the rethinking and restructuring of traditional, efficiency-oriented, global production networks, even before the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper offers insights into how US and European governments can harness an array of public policy tools to protect strategic supply chains without sliding into protectionism and while managing resultant trade-offs. The most sustainable opportunities will require a mix of approaches, ranging from reshoring production to establishing stockpiles of critical inputs, while collaborating at bilateral, regional and global level to reinforce the international trade system. (Chatham House)
EU-India Connectivity Partnership. The beginning of the rollout of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) between 2013–2015 has already redefined the vocabulary of international relations, especially that of engagement between major economic powers and developing nations. The concept of ‘connectivity’ has since then risen to the top of the foreign policy agenda of virtually all global players, including the European Union (EU) and India. Determined, at least on paper, to offer a competitive, more sustainable alternative to the BRI, Brussels and New Delhi have committed to increase cooperation on connectivity initiatives by signing the “EU-India Connectivity Partnership” on 8 May 2021. (ORF)
La Cina ha chiesto ufficialmente di aderire al Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). China on Thursday officially applied to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), in a landmark move that attests to the country’s commitment to global trade liberalization despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and intensifying efforts by the US to isolate and contain China’s development. (Global Times)
Il futuro dell’esercito britannico: robotica, intelligenza artificiale, tecnologia ibrida. The British Army is leaning heavily into robotics, artificial intelligence and hybrid-power technology as part of a new acquisition process dubbed Mercury, according to a British Army leader involved in future procurement planning. The Army is grappling with how to acquire technologies that it believes it will need in the future, how to spiral in those technologies across its equipment programs and how to cultivate skills in its soldiers to use capabilities as they come online, Col. Christopher Coton, the service’s assistant head for concepts, said at the DSEI defense exhibition in London on Sept. 15. (Defense News)
Buona lettura !
The Science of Where
Esri:
– Experiments with line symbology III – Intensity
– Web accessibility best practices for Survey123 authors
– Experiments with line symbology II – Multiplicity
– Access 2020 U.S. Census Data with Esri
– Using Bookmarks in ArcGIS Earth
– Experiments with line symbology I – Simplicity
– A Process for Deprecating Maps and Layers
– Hatched fills and how to sneak them into ArcGIS Online
– ArcGIS Field Maps app for Integromat released! (Sept 2021)
– Automate email notifications for field updates
– Basemap and Imagery Updates Include Over 120 Communities Around the World!
– How Maps Inform Public Health Decisions in San Bernardino County
– Telecom: The Digital Twin You Use Everyday
– A Look Back: How a GIS Team Guided Response and Recovery After 9/11
Esri Italia:
– Relive è una nuova App che permette di realizzare video in 3D di un percorso realizzato durante una escursione, una corsa, una passeggiata in bici, o una qualsiasi avventura. Relive: traccia i tuoi percorsi a piedi o in bici in 3D
– Esri Italia ha supportato la Società Sogin nella realizzazione del portale cartografico “RE.MO. – REte di MOnitoraggio”. In particolare Esri Italia ha portato a termine la realizzazione di un applicativo cartografico Web-GIS, utilizzando servizi sviluppati appositamente e pubblicati sule macchine Sogin e contenuti di ArcGIS Online. Un WebGIS per SOGIN
– Wind offre servizi integrati di telefonia mobile, fissa e internet, servizi voce e dati nei mercati consumer e business. Grazie a Esri Italia, Wind ha realizzato un tool cartografico a supporto delle attività di operations di Rete. La Business Intelligence a supporto delle operations di Wind
– Il Portale Cartografico di AGCOM. Per l’implementazione del portale cartografico è stata scelta la tecnologia ArcGIS Online, con il supporto di Esri Italia. AGCOM
– Esri Italia è partner di TIM, e prima diTelecom Italia, da oltre 20 anni nella realizzazione di piattaforme e progetti innovativi che da sempre contraddistinguono la leadership tecnologica del maggiore operatore italiano nelle TLC. TIM
– Esri Italia a Servizi a rete Tour 2021 (22 e 23 settembre 2021)
– Esri Italia partner di un corso per Mobility Manager (ottobre 2021)
– Speciale Esri User Conference 2021 in diretta dall’Italia
TechInnovation e dintorni
Global Times:
– China to enhance supervision on international transmission of car network data: MIIT
IDSA:
– Technology and Peacekeeping: Can India become a Technology-Contributing Country (Rajeesh Kumar)
The Jamestown Foundation:
– Russian Authorities Seek Total Control Over Internet (Kseniya Kirillova)
Nella cybersecurity, in difesa e d’intelligence
AEI:
– Prioritize long-range nuclear limits (John D. Maurer)
Defense News:
– Northrop, Leonardo take the plunge together for future unmanned rotorcraft efforts (Vivienne Machi)
– UK industry team demos new counter-missile protection for armored vehicles (Jen Judson)
– Leonardo fine-tunes its 757 jetliner converted into a Tempest test rig (Tom Kington)
– British Army chief talks Taliban, TikTok and the United States (Andrew Chuter)
– British military intel chief has ‘ambitious plans’ for automation (Vivienne Machi)
– British defense boss commiserates a bit with France over Australia submarine breakup (Andrew Chuter)
– UK’s future force to lean heavily into robotics, AI and hybrid power (Jen Judson)
– British Army’s land industrial base strategy due out this year (Jen Judson)
Defense One:
– Tell Us Why Small Businesses Can’t Get Contracts, Pentagon Asks (Courtney Bublé)
– Australia Will Get Nuclear-Powered Subs In New Partnership With US, UK (Jacqueline Feldscher)
– America’s New Anti-China Alliance (Tom McTague)
Global Times:
– AUKUS another hostile signal to China, worsens Asia-Pacific security (Yang Sheng)
– PLA flotilla returns from far sea voyage, breaks island chains (Liu Xuanzun)
GNET:
Spazio chiama Terra
Defense News:
– UK Space Command: Step one for space domain awareness is bringing data together (Nathan Strout)
Viaggio nei mondi e nelle questioni globali
AEI:
– How do we make sense of the new poverty data for 2020? (Angela Rachidi, AEI) – The Global Eye
Chatham House:
– The Abraham Accords one year on: A missed opportunity for Biden? (Sanam Vakil)
– How Morocco’s Islamist party fell from grace (Mohammed Masbah)
– US and European strategies for resilient supply chains (Marianne Schneider-Petsinger)
– Terrorism in Africa (Alex Vines OBE, Jon Wallace)
East Asia Forum:
– How human rights groups can help Cambodia’s COVID-19 response (Sim Vireak)
– The benefits of Japan’s social infrastructure and civic ties in uncertain times (Daniel P Aldrich)
– Great power competition and small state leverage in the Indo-Pacific (Hunter Marston, Akhil Ramesh)
Global Times:
– Faster trade from inland China to Africa via Port of Guangzhou
– MAP modern agriculture platform online services 7% of national arable land area
– Chinese diplomat warns Germany, EU against targeting businesses
– US, EU attempt to block China’s technology growth is doomed
– Reasonable actors in US still worth engaging with on finance
– China adds 9.38m urban jobs in Jan-Aug, but pressure lingers
– China’s consumption slowdown signals challenges, but recovery to continue
– China urges India to stick to UNSC resolution to refrain from engaging in nuclear tests: FM
– Japan should firmly grasp correct direction of relations with China: Chinese Ambassador to Japan
– The EU should think again about labeling China as a rival (Song Lin)
– China officially applies to join CPTPP, as the US increasingly isolated in trade
Hudson Institute:
– American Global Leadership Is in Retreat (Walter Russell Mead)
– Will Biden Keep His Promise to Australia and Keep China in Check? (John Lee)
– America’s Money Lost the Afghan War (Casey Michel, Paul Massaro)
– What to Expect from Japan’s Upcoming Elections (Riley Walters)
IDSA:
– Saudi Arabia’s Shrinking Options in Yemen (Prasanta Kumar Pradhan)
– (Mis)Understanding the Communist Party of China’s Control (M.S. Prathibha)
– Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and its Relations with Afghan Taliban (Ashok K. Behuria)
ORF:
– Explaining the Rise of Minilaterals in the Indo-Pacific (Rajeswari (Raji) Pillai Rajagopalan)
– Why Afghanistan will be a new geopolitical pivot (Pinak Chakravarty)
– Lebanon to end subsidies and introduce cash cards (Anchal Vohra)
– Russia votes: State Duma elections 2021 (Nivedita Kapoor)
SIPRI:
The Jamestown Foundation:
– Is the Belarusian Political Crisis Finally Coming to an End? (Grigory Ioffe)
