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What the France and UK elections mean for the West
Major Western democracies like France, the UK, Canada, and the US are on the verge of sweeping political change, but how will upcoming elections impact our collective ability to deal with the world’s biggest challenges? How will Western allies approach issues like climate change, the AI revolution, and cyber defense in an increasingly fractured world? Mark Carney, former Governor of the Banks of England and Canada and current UN Special Envoy on Climate Action & Finance, joins Ian Bremmer on GZERO World for a hard look at three of America’s closest allies: France, Britain, and Canada.
“We're operating in a world where security is paramount. You need resilience,” Carney tells Bremmer, “You need to look to those countries where you have common values and you need to reinforce them.”
Carney and Bremmer also delve into the strategic importance of the US-Canada relationship and how our neighbor to the north can be a reliable, strategic partner in many critical areas, including national security and climate transition. He warns Canadians and Americans shouldn’t “hit the snooze button” when it comes to strengthening US-Canada ties and stresses that Canada can be a critical partner in providing lean energy, crucial minerals, and AI expertise. As for Carney’s rumored political future as a potential Liberal Party leader? Well, you’ll just have to watch the interview to find out.
Catch GZERO World with Ian Bremmer every week on US public television (check local listings) and online.
How political unrest across the West will impact the world: A conversation with UN's Mark Carney
Listen: On this episode of the GZERO World Podcast, major Western democracies like France, the UK, Canada, and the US are on the verge of sweeping political change, but how will upcoming elections impact our collective ability to deal with the world’s biggest challenges like climate, AI, and cyber defense? Mark Carney, former Governor of the Banks of England and Canada and current UN Special Envoy on Climate Action & Finance, joins Ian Bremmer to take a hard look at three of America’s closest allies: France, Britain, and Canada.
Upcoming elections in France and the UK could mean big changes for the West, similar to the aftermath of Brexit. Carney says there are still many aspects of the UK-EU relationship that need to be recalibrated. He also stresses the strategic importance of the US-Canada relationship and Canada’s role as a reliable partner in everything from national security to critical minerals to fighting climate change.
Subscribe to the GZERO World Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.
China & Russia are "formidable" cyber adversaries: CISA's Jen Easterly
The next 10 years are critical for America to defend itself from China and Russia in cyberspace, says US cybersecurity chief Jen Easterly.
We'll know by then if we've won or lost the battle for tech innovation against Beijing and Moscow when it comes to things like smart cities, she tells Ian Bremmer on GZERO World.
And despite the Russians being a more urgent threat, the long-term race with China to dominate global tech is arguably even more important.
"Russia is the hurricane, but China is climate change."
Easterly also shares her take on why we haven't seen major cyberattacks from the Kremlin after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Watch the GZERO World episode: Hackers, Russia, China: cyber battles & how we win
How private businesses help fight cybercrime
The federal government wants to help US businesses better defend themselves against cyberattacks — but little can be done if corporations don't report them.
That's why the Biden administration is championing a new law that forces them to do so, says Jen Easterly, head of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
The Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act requires whoever operates critical infrastructure to report attacks coming from state and non-state actors.
And that data will "drive down risk in a much more systematic way," Easterly tells Ian Bremmer on GZERO World.
Watch the GZERO World episode: Hackers, Russia, China: cyber battles & how we win
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Will the US be able to withstand cyber attacks on critical infrastructure?
The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency was set up in 2018 to help protect America's critical infrastructure.
It might sound like a technical term, but CISA chief Jen Easterly explains that critical infrastructure is how we get water, power, gas — even food at the grocery store. And 80% of it is operated by the private sector.
So, how does the agency help businesses defend themselves from hackers?
"In cybersecurity, the federal government is just a partner ... so we all have to work together to drive down risk to the nation," Jen Easterly tells Ian Bremmer on GZERO World.
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US & allies unite against China's cyberattacks
Ian Bremmer's Quick Take:
Hi, everybody. Ian Bremmer here, back in Nantucket for a few days, and a Quick Take to start out the week.Well, I thought I would talk about the finger-pointing happening at China for these cyberattacks. When we've been talking about cyberattacks recently, we mostly talk about Russia. It's been ransomware, it's been espionage, it's been disinformation, and US election intervention and all of these things. But no, this week it is all about China, and specifically the White House had this unusually strong statement, citing concerns about China's, what they call, irresponsible and destabilizing behavior in cyberspace, specifically talking about a hack against the Microsoft Exchange Server that we found out about back in March. That is a big deal.
Second, and related to that, is the fact that there was a massive response, a coordinated response, from NATO, as well as all G7 members. You remember back at the G7 meeting that we had a month ago in the UK, and the surprise was the statement was much more about China, much more coordinated on China, than people would've expected. That was the 3-hour meeting that they shut down the internet so they could all talk internally. There's increasing backlash against what is seen as more assertive Chinese behavior towards the West. We saw the big speech by Xi Jinping at the 100th Communist Party plenum. On the back of that, the Chinese government has made tougher statements on Taiwan, they have taken big moves against Chinese tech companies, against their IPO-ing in the West, in the United States, which is what makes them more transparent and more interoperable and engage in a global way. And now you see the United States and our allies around the world, in turn, taking on more coordination vis-à-vis China.
In the medium-term, one of the biggest questions out there will be to what extent countries like Germany and France and the UK would get on board with the United States that considers its top national security priority to be China, to be a threat from a competitive, assertive, and increasingly powerful China. And what we've seen in last 3 months has been a surprising amount of consolidation of that position. Doesn't mean it's going to continue on that trajectory forever, doesn't mean the Americans will be able to continue to implement on it, but at least for now, what we see is a Chinese government that is looking away from globalization, that's focusing more on domestic supply chain, on domestic consumption, on national champions, and a Chinese model of development, and we're seeing in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, Japan, even South Korea, all say we really don't like that direction. We have to work closer together.
Here's the big push back on all of that, and that's, despite all of these headlines, the level of interdependence and interoperability between the West and China continues to be incredibly deep. And you wouldn't necessarily know it by listening to the headlines. Deep in terms of trade, in terms of tourism, in terms of access to each other's markets, access to each other's financial systems, and frankly, most of the major economic actors in the United States in the West over the coming 5, 10 years, they expect to have not only the present level of engagement in China, but even more exposure to the Chinese market. China is the leading trade partner in almost the entire world in 2021. The United States is not about to supplant that. In fact, that trajectory is moving more in that direction.
So, on the one hand, you have the reality of globalization and interdependence that no matter what the politics are, will continue to get stickier and more engaged. On the other hand, you have the politics of pretty much all of the major economies in the world driving exactly against that. It's the most important cleavage in the world today, geopolitically, and it's one we're going to be spending an awful lot of time trying to suss out as these headlines continue to drive this kind of conflict.Anyway, that's it for me today. I hope everyone has a good week. Talk to you all real soon.
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Combating cybercrime a focus at G7 and Biden-Putin summits
Marietje Schaake, International Policy Director at Stanford's Cyber Policy Center, Eurasia Group senior advisor and former MEP, discusses trends in big tech, privacy protection and cyberspace:
Cyber issues took center stage at the G7 summit. Is there a consensus among world leaders on how to handle cyberweapons?
Well, depending on who is included, there is a growing consensus that the escalations of conflict in cyberspace must stop. And G7 leaders that are now all representing democracies did call on Russia to hold perpetrators of cybercrime that operate from within its borders to account. So, I guess hope dies last because laws in Russia prevents the extradition of suspects to the US, even if Vladimir Putin answered positively when Joe Biden asked for cooperation on that front. And when it comes to limiting the spread of tools that are used for hacking, surveillance and infiltration, the EU has just moved ahead and adopted new dual use regulations which reflect the concerns for human rights violations when journalists are targeted the way that Jamal Khashoggi was. So ending the proliferation of systems that are used to attack would be an urgent but also obvious step for democratic nations to agree on.
Will Biden's meeting with Putin influence a united Western approach in combating cybercrime?
Well, after the intense and high-profile series of ransomware attacks, there's a fresh focus on deterrence and accountability in this space. Biden announced several sectors of critical infrastructure should be off limits for cyberattacks. But the need is really for sufficient consequences to force those in Russia, but also elsewhere to stop their lucrative, cynical practices.
Cloud computing and US cybersecurity
Marietje Schaake, International Policy Director at Stanford's Cyber Policy Center, Eurasia Group senior advisor and former MEP, discusses trends in big tech, privacy protection and cyberspace:
What is cloud computing?
Now it's not that easy to answer but let me give it a try. Cloud computing is the capacity to store or process data over the Internet on servers away from a device like a laptop or a mobile phone. And it actually allows for software, databases, and the storage of data to be sold as a service.
Is the future of cybersecurity in the cloud?
Well, the recently adopted executive order by President Biden with the aim of improving the US's cybersecurity does suggest as much. But I'm afraid it's not that simple. Any software can be exploited and is being breached even when it's run by major companies like Microsoft. So it's worrying that despite national security protections, even large companies cannot protect users against state hackers. So the question is, who can protect the homeland and who can assure cybersecurity?
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