This is what I've found this week.
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Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel: Get Used to Endless War
From ISIS to climate change, the Pentagon chief says, the threats that face the United States are long-term challenges.
David A. Graham Oct 29 2014, 2:47 PM ET
Sometimes it feels like what's happening now, at any given moment, is bigger, more important, worse, and more dangerous than before. Luckily, that often turns out to be incorrect: Today's news is tomorrow's hazy memory, and what once seemed like an existential threat is now nothing more than an unpleasant recollection.
It sure seems like there are frightening events happening everywhere today—from ISIS to Ebola, Russian imperialism to Chinese saber-rattling, climate change to congressional dysfunction. But is it really worse, or will this, too, pass?
Bad news: It's really worse, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told James Fallows at the Washington Ideas Festival Wednesday.
"I think we are living through one of these historic, defining times," Hagel said. "We are seeing a new world order—post-World War II, post-Soviet Union implosion—being built. There are many questions, foremost among the American people: What's the role of America in this new world that is evolving? Should we have a role? What is appropriate?"
And Hagel didn't seem especially sanguine that it would end anytime soon. In other words: Get used to endless war.
"What we’re seeing in the Middle East with ISIL is going to require a steady, long-term effort. It's going to require coalitions of common interest," Hagel said.
But he noted that cooperation is in short supply, especially in his old stamping grounds on Capitol Hill, where Hagel served two terms in the Senate. "I hope that changes after next Tuesday; I don’t know," he said. "Partnership is critical, because its not a matter of 'We all have to agree.' We need different opinions, but ... both sides get to some conclusion and make a decision on how we go forward."
He noted in particular the challenge of global warming, which Hagel's Pentagon has made a priority, declaring it a national-security threat, even as Hagel's own Republican Party continues to block broader steps.
Even if a new era of comity arrived in Washington, however, Hagel forecast that the U.S. would continue to grapple with overseas threat for the foreseeable future. "Tyranny, terrorism, the challenges and threats to our country ... is going to be with us," he said. "It’s a reality. I see these things continuing to stay out of there."
Buckle your seatbelts.
here:
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/10/defense-secretary-chuck-hagel-get-used-to-endless-war/382079/
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CBI and Ricoh: New World Order of Robots Will Help, Not Steal, British Jobs
Lianna Brinded By Lianna Brinded November 14, 2014 10:06 GMT
The Confederation of British Industry and IT services company Ricoh have urged companies to use technology more effectively in order to increase productivity and efficiency in the workplace and to stop worrying about "robots stealing their jobs".
According to Ricoh data, which surveyed 1,007 full time, office based employees in UK private companies, 75% of people said that they are less productive away from their desks as they felt that they do not have the right technology to work effectively away from the office.
On top of that a further 22% said they want to work from home but don't have the right technology, and nearly half of those who do work from home say not having the right equipment hampers their productivity.
"The overwhelming message from this research is that UK employees feel technology has vastly improved productivity in and out of the office, but there is still a lot of room for further improvement," said Phil Keoghan, CEO at Ricoh UK.
"With the recent drive towards a mobile workforce, it is surprising that so few people feel they are as productive when working at home or away from the office.
"This is not about spending a fortune on technology, it is largely about making simple policy changes to allow people easy access to company networks, providing people with laptops and tablets, and training them in how to use them."
Speaking to IBTimes UK, CBI's director for employment and skills' Neil Carberry added that the British economy would be better off embracing technology and stop fearing the robots will replace jobs and view the digital evolution as an opportunity to maximise efficiency.
"Technology is a fundamental part of how people will benefit in the UK as it will help businesses' productivity rise and in turn help wages increase with the rise in efficiency," said Carberry.
"People need to stop worrying about the New World Order, post-financial crisis, about labour being replaced by robots and see it as great potential in raising skill levels."
Office for National Statistics data shows that 30.76 million people are employed in the UK.
However, a joint report by big four accountancy firm Deloitte and the University of Oxford said that Britons earning less than £30,000 a year are likely to have their jobs taken by robots over the next two decades as 10 million UK positions are said to be eliminated in favour of automation.
The report falls neatly in line with previous estimates that robots will steal around half of all jobs around the world in the not too distant future as the globe has entered a second age of machinery that will have a more profound effect on society than the onset of the industrial revolution.
Meanwhile, Ricoh UK's director of outsourcing operations Alan Mason told IBTimes UK that Ricoh itself was leading by example by listening to employees about working hours and implementing more technological capability to allow people to work away from the office, has led to an increase in business productivity.
"By listening to employees and giving them the technological tools to work away from the office, it has led greater productivity and longer opening hours for the company," said Mason.
"We are now open 7 in the morning to 7 in the evening because people are able to work under non-standard office hours. We have also cut office space down because of this. Organisations need to trust their employees too."
more here:
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/cbi-ricoh-new-world-order-robots-will-help-not-steal-british-jobs-1474817
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Time for a 'new world order?' No, it's already here
Published time: November 01, 2014 21:31
Putin has called for a “new world order,” with the aim of stabilizing the globe. He believes the US is abusing its role as global leader. What’s not being widely reported is the fact that the pillars of the old order have been crumbing for years.
It used to be all so simple. The world was split into two camps – the West and the rest. And the West was truly the best. Twenty years ago, six of the world’s biggest economies were part of the pro-Washington world.
The leader, the US itself, was so far in front that its total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was more than four times larger than China’s and nine times the size of Russia’s.
The world’s most populous country, India, had almost the same gross income as comparatively tiny Italy and the UK. Any notion that the order would change so dramatically in a mere two decades seemed laughable.
The Western perception was that China and India were backward and would take a century to become rivals. Russia was seen as a basket case, on its knees and ruled by chaos. There was a lot of merit in that notion in the 90's.
The world economy in the 1990s and today:
World’s Largest Economies by GDP, adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP), Source: World Bank
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1995 (in USD billions)
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2015 (IMF Forecast)
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United States 7,664
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China 19,230
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Japan 2,880
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United States 18,287
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China 1,838
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India 7,883
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Germany 1,804
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Japan 4,917
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France 1,236
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Germany 3,742
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Italy 1,178
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Russia 3,643
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United Kingdom 1,161
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Brazil 3,173
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India 1,105
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Indonesia 2,744
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Brazil 1,031
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France 2,659
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Russia 955
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United Kingdom 2,547 |
more here:
http://rt.com/op-edge/201563-time-new-world-order/
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The author of that last article clearly does not understand that a "New World Order" is built upon the last shift in social, economic and political movements around the world.
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Henry Kissinger’s new world order
Diane Francis | November 1, 2014 7:04 AM ET
Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg Henry Kissinger spoke at the International Economic Forum of the Americas about his latest book, “World Order.”
Henry Kissinger flew into Toronto this week for a conference, and at 91 years of age demonstrated the mental acuity that earned a front-row seat in foreign policy circles for decades.
He spoke at the International Economic Forum of the Americas about his latest book, “World Order,” which astutely links the past and present to future events. The premise is that world order changed after 9/11 and the new normal is a multi-polar mix of nation-states, regions, cultures and shadowy non-state players.
Before that, a binary Cold War pitted two ideologies against one another in a grip of mutually assured destruction. But now too many irreconcilable differences, and no diplomatic mechanism to find common ground, exist. The only effective international institutions are economic, not political, which further puts these factions at odds with one another.
The absence of international cohesion results in unilateral actions, often uninformed by either history or geographic reality. The most egregious examples of late are the invasion and nation-building attempts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Kissinger supported the Iraq move, but has since recanted.
“I thought it would be a quick operation to replace Saddam [Hussein],” he was quoted as saying. Instead, as we all know, it turned into a long-term occupation to create a first-world democracy from scratch in a geography that wasn’t a cohesive nation-state.
Kissinger points out that since the Second World War, four of the five wars the United States has been involved in have resulted in withdrawals — Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. Kissinger worked with Nixon who inherited the war from Johnson and the only “success” was the Gulf war which, ironically, liberated an undemocratic monarchy in Kuwait.
Kissinger’s best contribution to this global challenge is his analysis that technology is another player that must contribute to world order, not disrupt it as is now the case. He believes that cyber warfare and real-time information flow impedes decision-making, democracies and diplomacy.
“Conflicts within and between societies have occurred since the dawn of civilization, but the immediacy of information is a test. Every incident is flashed round the world, everything becomes part of domestic politics, political careers are molded in public. Boldness, leadership and stealth are all more difficult,” he wrote.
Kissinger describes four models of “world order” extant: Europe’s Westphalian model of nation-states with equal status; the U.S. model; China’s notion of itself as a great regional power; and an Islamic system of believers and infidels.
more here:
http://business.financialpost.com/2014/11/01/henry-kissingers-new-world-order/
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