Good Reads: From a bold vision for China to cyberwarfare to Norwegian fishing
China's Worldview
China鈥檚 new president, Xi Jinping, has a bold vision for his country, inspired by its ancient prestige. In , Hannah Beech describes how Mr. Xi intends for China to match US military capabilities, becoming the strongest country economically, politically, and culturally.
This 鈥淐hina Dream,鈥� depending on how Xi shapes his tenure as president, could lead to shifts in international dynamics. 鈥淗ow China sees the world matters because Chinese aspirations, tastes and fears will shape the lives of billions of people across the globe. Indeed ... China 鈥� and its worldview 鈥� may once again dictate the narrative of our age,鈥� Ms. Beech writes.
But despite its desire to become the world鈥檚 main superpower, China must deal with internal issues first, Beech writes. Chief among these is stanching the exodus of the country鈥檚 elite 鈥� 150,000 Chinese received permanent residency abroad in 2011. 鈥淲hen a nation鈥檚 elite is ready to bolt at a moment鈥檚 notice, it says much about the regime鈥檚 lack of legitimacy and its staying power,鈥� David Shambaugh, a China scholar, told Beech.
Hero or traitor?
In a carefully executed leak, former National Security Administration contractor Edward Snowden unveiled documents showing how US government programs mine communication data including people鈥檚 e-mails, Facebook posts, and even Skype chats. Digital surveillance is not new, especially during this era of heightened national security awareness. Gathering electronic information is legal under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, but Mr. Snowden said the government is redefining what is constitutional, creating 鈥渁rchitecture of oppression.鈥�
In an identity-revealing video interview with Glenn Greenwald of , Mr. Snowden explained why people should be worried about the government鈥檚 actions.聽
鈥淓ven if you are not doing anything wrong, you are being watched and recorded. And the storage capabilities of these systems increases every year, consistently by orders of magnitude,鈥� Snowden said, adding that just a wrong call could raise suspicion. 鈥淭hen they can use the system to go back in time and scrutinize every decision you鈥檝e ever made, every friend you鈥檝e ever discussed something with, and attack you on that basis to sort of derive suspicion from an innocent life and paint anyone in the context of a wrongdoer.鈥�
The fallout of his actions is not yet known as the United States arranges to press charges against the whistle-blower. Whether he is a hero or a traitor depends on how one weighs the balance between civil liberties and national security.
Cyberwar proliferation
The US government, reportedly using cyberattacks to deter Iran鈥檚 nuclear program, has opened itself up to similar cyberattacks 鈥� igniting a tit-for-tat struggle that is ushering in a new wave of proliferation, which Michael Joseph Gross .
鈥淭he paradox is that the nuclear weapons whose development the U.S. has sought to control are very difficult to make, and their use has been limited 鈥� for nearly seven decades 鈥� by obvious deterrents,鈥� Mr. Gross said. 鈥淐yber-weapons, by contrast, are easy to make, and their potential use is limited by no obvious deterrents. In seeking to escape a known danger, the U.S. may have hastened the development of a greater one.鈥�
Both Washington and Tehran are boosting their arsenal of cyberweapons in a war that is increasingly aggressive and cryptic. Not to mention that cyberwarfare is not limited to traditional rules of engagement. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to be a nation-state to do this,鈥� one hacker told Gross. 鈥淵ou just have to be really smart.鈥�
Eradicating extreme poverty by 2030
Can the world powers eradicate extreme poverty for 1 billion people by 2030? If gross domestic product growth during the past decade is any indicator, the answer is a resounding yes, according to .
Whereas poverty used to be an unchangeable fact of life, unprecedented growth in developing countries has shifted the outlook for eliminating poverty in places where people live on less than $1.25 a day. The primary condition for continued progress is for developing countries to maintain the steady growth of their GDP.
鈥淧overty used to be a reflection of scarcity. Now it is a problem of identification, targeting and distribution. And that is a problem that can be solved,鈥� says the report.
Fishermen no more
In the small coastal communities in northern Norway, traditional occupations of whaling and cod fishing are losing luster for young people bent on landing salaried positions on the mainland, far from their roots. In , Roff Smith explains that this change is a drastic turnaround for the region, where previous generations flocked in order to cash in on a booming industry.聽
鈥淚t isn鈥檛 a scarcity of whales that is bringing down the curtain, or even the complicated politics of whaling,鈥� writes Mr. Smith. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something far more prosaic and inexorable: Norwegian kids, even those who grow up in the seafaring stronghold of Lofoten, simply don鈥檛 want to become whalers anymore. Nor do they want to brave storm-tossed winter seas to net fortunes in cod, as their forebears have done for centuries.鈥�
