United Kingdom

The United Kingdom faces numerous uncertainties as Brexit nears its nominal finish line.

The United Kingdom faces numerous uncertainties as Brexit nears its nominal finish line.

The 1884 International Meridian Conference gave the world standard time and constituted a seminal moment in the history of globalization. 

The integration of the internet and cyberspace into democratic politics has contributed to a crisis in Anglo-American democracy, with an intensely polarized population, constantly distracted political debate, a deliberately misinformed body politic, and dysfunctional political institutions. The United States and UK have few options to prevent cyber-facilitated disruption.    

Brexit supporters argue that the EU threatens sovereignty and stifles growth, while opponents counter that EU membership strengthens trade, investment, and the UK’s standing in the world.

This week: Problems for UK-U.S. intelligence sharing relationship; Singapore passes misinformation law; NSA hacking tools used by the Chinese; EU competition authority set to investigate Apple; and, the United States prepares to combat Russian interference in 2020 elections. 

The birth of Archie, the first son of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, has led to British media speculation, picked up by the New York Times, that the Queen (actually, in conjunction with the Theresa May government) may dispatch them to Africa for a undetermined period. Their role, beyond lubricating the UK’s ties with its former African colonies, would be to build support for the Commonwealth of Nations. It would also get the Royal couple out of the media circus surrounding Archie’s birth. There is further speculation that Archie’s mixed race would make the family particularly attractive to Africans. Perhaps. The Times quotes Trevor Phillips, a historian of Caribbean migration to the UK and himself from British Guinea, as saying that the idea is an “open-and-shut brilliant notion.” For Phillips, the family “symbolizes leaving behind the colonial inheritance” and that they “will create a narrative that is about modernity and glamour and diversity.” On the other hand, Kehinde Andrews, professor of black studies at the University of Birmingham, said that “they send her (Meghan) out to the dark parts of the world to shore up the Commonwealth….Using Meghan Markle as part of a P.R. campaign to maintain those links is the worst possible outcome.” What about the Africans? Of the Commonwealth’s fifty-three members, nineteen are in sub-Saharan Africa. By and large, Commonwealth membership is not a political issue. It is largely irrelevant to African political concerns. However, African elites like the stage that the Commonwealth conferences, games, and other activities provide them. A Nigerian, Emeka Anyaoku, was the Secretary General of the Commonwealth, resident in London, from 1990 to 2000. South Africa almost immediately rejoined the Commonwealth, from which it had withdrawn during apartheid days, after its transition to “non-racial” democracy in 1994, in a glittering ceremony at Westminster Abbey attended by the Queen. Many Africans appear to be as fascinated by Harry, Meghan, and Archie, as everybody else world-wide. But the royals’ handlers will need to take care that the family’s mixed race is not presented in a patronizing way. Further, Africans will pick upon British racism that has surfaced with respect to the family, such as radio host with the BBC tweeting an image of a couple holding hands with a chimpanzee captioned “Royal baby leaves hospital.” The BBC immediately fired the host, but the image was already viral on social media. Doubtlessly it circulates in Africa.  It is well known that Queen Elizabeth, the head of the Commonwealth, is concerned that it survives. Supporters of the UK’s departure from the European Union also see the Commonwealth as providing more palatable partners than the Europeans, though, of course, the European Union is a far more powerful economic bloc than all of Africa. At this stage, it is unclear whether Meghan, Harry, and Archie actually will be off to Africa or how long they would stay. British media speculates they would be gone for anywhere from “a few months” to “two or three years.” If they do assume the role of emissaries to the Commonwealth, they would also, presumably, visit the powerhouses: Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, and others. But, a royal focus on Africa and the Commonwealth, if done carefully, could be a net positive for its African members and for the UK.

This week: New executive order for cyber talent in government; UK defense secretary fired amidst Huawei leaks; Facebook bans American far-right figures; Dutch intelligence agency names Russia and China as major threats; and, an increase in the NSA annual report of the number of unmasked U.S. identities. 

This week: Sri Lanka bans social media; UK National Security Council's Huawei decision leaked; election system vendors working to secure election security; and, Facebook faces landmark FTC fine.