Foreign Policy: Russia Has Invented Social Media Blitzkrieg. “The tank was a British invention, built to penetrate German trenches during World War I. But it was the Germans who, during the interwar period, figured out how to most effectively utilize the tank, in coordination with aircraft and infantry, for offensive operations. Thus was born the blitzkrieg (‘lightning war’) that allowed the Germans to overrun much of Europe in 1939-1940. The British and the French, who still had more and better tanks, were helpless to resist the onslaught. Something similar seems to have happened with social media networks. All of the leading social media platforms — Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Reddit, Google — are American inventions. Yet the Russians weaponized them to wage political war.”
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US State Department: The United States Withdraws From UNESCO
US State Department: The United States Withdraws From UNESCO . “On October 12, 2017, the Department of State notified UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova of the U.S. decision to withdraw from the organization and to seek to establish a permanent observer mission to UNESCO. This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects U.S. concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO.”
United Nations: United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs Launches the Disarmament Digital Documents Library
United Nations: United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs Launches the Disarmament Digital Documents Library. “The Disarmament Digital Documents Library is a specialised archive that provides quick and easy access to an extensive collection of United Nations disarmament-related documents in one convenient location. It includes historical documents of the first General Assembly session and reports from the Special Sessions on Disarmament (SSOD-I, SSOD-II and SSOD-III), disarmament-related meetings and conferences, and treaty review declarations.”
Nature: Risk of human-triggered earthquakes laid out in biggest-ever database
Nature: Risk of human-triggered earthquakes laid out in biggest-ever database. “The Human-Induced Earthquake Database, or HiQuake, contains 728 examples of earthquakes (or sequences of earthquakes) that may have been set off by humans over the past 149 years. Most of them were small, between magnitudes 3 and 4. But the list also includes several large, destructive earthquakes, such as the magnitude-7.8 quake in Nepal in April 2015, which one paper linked to groundwater pumping.”
World Resources Institute: New Database Can Help Countries Chart a Course for Implementation of NDCs
World Resources Institute: New Database Can Help Countries Chart a Course for Implementation of NDCs. “As countries pivot toward the implementation of the Paris Agreement, many will face shared challenges in translating their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) into climate action. While every country’s path will be different, they all have a clear need for analytical tools and resources to overcome these challenges. The NDC Toolbox Navigator was designed to meet this need. The Toolbox Navigator acts as a manual for practitioners to chart their country’s path under the Paris Agreement by providing access to hundreds of tools and resources that can help countries reach specific NDC targets.”
Google Blog: View the world through someone else’s lens in Google Earth
Google Blog: View the world through someone else’s lens in Google Earth. “Every day, hundreds of millions of people are snapping photos of the world around them. What if you could explore the world through the eyes of all those people? Starting today you’re invited to explore a global map of crowdsourced photos in Google Earth. Take a walk around Shinto shrines or hang out on a beach in Bora Bora—wherever you look, you’re bound to find a unique perspective on the world.”
New York Times: Facebook Navigates an Internet Fractured by Governmental Controls
New York Times: Facebook Navigates an Internet Fractured by Governmental Controls. “Populous, developing countries like Vietnam are where the company is looking to add its next billion customers — and to bolster its ad business. Facebook’s promise to Vietnam helped the social media giant placate a government that had called on local companies not to advertise on foreign sites like Facebook, and it remains a major marketing channel for businesses there. The diplomatic game that unfolded in Vietnam has become increasingly common for Facebook. The internet is Balkanizing, and the world’s largest tech companies have had to dispatch envoys to, in effect, contain the damage such divisions pose to their ambitions.”
