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A joint investigation run by <\/span>Four Corners <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>Fairfax <\/span><\/i>into Chinese influence-buying in Australia aired on Monday night. It was a cracker, and if you missed it then we commend both the <\/span>Four Corners<\/span><\/i> episode<\/span><\/a> (47 mins), as well as the interactive two-parter over at Fairfax: <\/span>soft-power <\/span><\/a>and <\/span>hard-power<\/span><\/a>. Concern about the degree to which Beijing wields influence in Australia also came up in James Clapper\u2019s remarks and Q&A to the National Press Club on Wednesday\u2014check out the transcript <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Some quick bites on James Comey\u2019s testimony. First up, two pieces from Benjamin Wittes of <\/span>Lawfare<\/span><\/i>\u2014one on <\/span>Comey\u2019s written testimony<\/span><\/a>, and one <\/span>after the his appearance had wrapped up<\/span><\/a>. Second, two efforts from <\/span>The Atlantic<\/span><\/i>\u2014David Frum reckons Comey <\/span>vanquished five lines of defence<\/span><\/a>, and Amy Zegart on <\/span>the era of \u2018normalized deviance\u2019<\/span><\/a>. Third, <\/span>some history<\/span><\/a> for ya! And finally, <\/span>Lawfare<\/span><\/i>\u2019s <\/span>swelling list<\/span><\/a> of Trump\u2013Russia resources.<\/span><\/p>\n After a longread for your weekend? <\/span>This personal reflection<\/span><\/a> over at <\/span>Buzzfeed <\/span><\/i>looks at the Philippines\u2019 political history and tries to reconcile the country\u2019s devout Catholicism with the support shown for its barbarous and bellicose leader.<\/span><\/p>\n Let\u2019s focus on two stellar research efforts this week. The first, which came out a few months ago but is worth re-upping, is from the CSIS Commission on Countering Violent Extremism. <\/span>The report offers eight core policy recommendations<\/span><\/a> to address CVE efforts predominantly in the US, but is also just as applicable internationally. The second is Nick Bisley\u2019s fresh addition to ANU\u2019s Centre of Gravity essay series, <\/span>Integrated Asia: Australia\u2019s Dangerous New Strategic Geography<\/span><\/i><\/a>. Bisley dives into Asia\u2019s shifting security order and considers where Australia should direct its efforts in an environment that\u2019s less than sympathetic to Canberra\u2019s interests.<\/span><\/p>\n And finally, at the time of writing, results from the UK\u2019s general election are still coming in. But that doesn\u2019t mean that we haven\u2019t been able to enjoy some of the day\u2019s spoils. We couldn\u2019t go past some of the<\/span> finer<\/span><\/a> Tweets<\/span><\/a> referencing \u2018<\/span>the naughtiest thing Theresa May has ever done<\/span><\/a>,\u2019 but nothing thus far has rivalled<\/span> Lord Buckethead<\/span><\/a>, a competitor for May\u2019s constituency of Maidenhead. With a cool 249 votes under his\u2026bucket\u2026we\u2019re confident the future holds great things for this budding politician. And finally, the hashtag<\/span> #DogsatPollingStations<\/span><\/a> has been trending on Twitter though unfortunately there has been no sign of <\/span>a Dachshund named Colin<\/span><\/a>. It\u2019s great to see the pups exercising their democratic rights, voting for more treats and walks for good-boys nationwide.<\/span><\/p>\n Podcasts<\/b><\/p>\n For an authoritative voice on all things Trump, Comey and Russia, check out this timely special edition of <\/span>Lawfare<\/span><\/i>\u2019s \u2018Rational Security\u2019 podcast <\/span><\/a>(48 mins). As the testimony rolls onwards and upwards, you\u2019re going to need the background\u2026 <\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s from a few weeks back, but if after the enlightening episode of <\/span>4 Corners<\/span><\/i> this week you\u2019re wondering about other parts of the world that China might be extending its economic tendrils, look no further than <\/span>this fascinating podcast from the University of Melbourne<\/span><\/a>. Over the 35 minute episode, Dr Lauren Johnston weighs up the pros and cons of Chinese investment in the Africa, and how it might impact on the Sino\u2013African political relationship.<\/span> Video<\/b><\/p>\n If you haven\u2019t come across the <\/span>CrashCourse <\/span><\/i>YouTube channel yet, <\/span>allow us to introduce you<\/span><\/a>. Offering short lessons on subjects from sociology to film history to mythology, with each episode you\u2019ll find yourself becoming an expert on topics you hadn\u2019t considered before. While we at <\/span>The Strategist<\/span><\/i> find it hard to go past the <\/span>World History series<\/span><\/a>, this week\u2019s <\/span>Computer Science episode<\/span><\/a> (13 mins) is dedicated to Alan Turing, whose work ranged from breaking Nazi codes in WWII, to what we now call Artificial Intelligence. <\/span><\/p>\n Events<\/b><\/p>\n Sydney: The Lowy Institute\u2019s Owen Harries Lecture is set to be delivered <\/span>early next week by Jake Sullivan<\/span><\/a>, a former senior advisor to Hillary Clinton. And if you can\u2019t get along, Jake is hitting the road to pop up in Melbourne and Canberra on the <\/span>15th <\/span><\/a>and <\/span>19th<\/span><\/a> respectively.<\/span><\/p>\n
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