{"id":62705,"date":"2021-02-24T13:05:06","date_gmt":"2021-02-24T02:05:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=62705"},"modified":"2021-02-24T13:05:06","modified_gmt":"2021-02-24T02:05:06","slug":"the-threat-spectrum-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-threat-spectrum-10\/","title":{"rendered":"The threat spectrum"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

Planet A\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The arctic air blast that hit the US, freezing Texas power plants<\/a> and leaving millions without power or clean water last week, has highlighted the country\u2019s key vulnerabilities when it comes to extreme weather events. Texas was doubly vulnerable, as its energy sources aren\u2019t engineered for extreme cold<\/a>, and the state runs off its own energy<\/a> grid<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That this cold snap is connected to climate change seems in little doubt. CBS News meteorologist Jeff Berardelli wrote that climate researcher Jennifer Francis\u2019s \u2018wavy jet stream\u2019 theory could be seen in action<\/a>, as a polar vortex disrupted by naturally occurring sudden stratospheric warming was pushed much further south<\/a> than usual by a climate-change-related disruption. In last week\u2019s storm, this resulted in snow covering 75% of the US<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And Texans didn\u2019t feel the effects equally. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas exempted affluent urban zones<\/a> from power outages while leaving lower income areas. This illustrates how climate change impacts are unevenly distributed along income lines, with the poorest at the highest risk and the earliest affected.<\/p>\n

Democracy watch<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Economist Intelligence Unit\u2019s recent Democracy index 2020<\/a><\/em> revealed a global decline in democratic standards last year. The \u2018unprecedented rollback of democratic freedoms<\/a>\u2019 during the Covid-19 pandemic described in the report has led commentators to ask whether democracy is on a global decline<\/a>, and whether democracy itself is being \u2018killed\u2019<\/a> by the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Significantly, the report showed how, in a pandemic context, most people willingly traded fundamental freedoms during enforced lockdowns to prevent loss of life. However, repression and censorship of lockdown sceptics, including state-sanctioned violence against uncooperative citizens, reduced democratic standards in multiple countries.<\/p>\n

The pandemic also facilitated increased overt state surveillance, posing a long-term threat to democratic freedoms. ASPI\u2019s Kelsey Munro and Danielle Cave argue<\/a> that this phenomenon shifts power away from citizens towards state control and has \u2018generated sudden momentum to cross privacy lines until recently thought unacceptable in democracies\u2019. It will be worth watching to see whether increased public surveillance and lower levels of privacy are wound back as vaccines roll out around the world.<\/p>\n

Information operations<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a recent Comparitech<\/a> study, China was ranked the worst of 96 countries in its collection and use of biometric data. It\u2019s not surprising that China has taken the top spot, given its widespread use of facial recognition technology<\/a> and its extensive national biometric database which now includes a DNA collection program<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Comparitech noted the trend of countries collecting and using biometric data under the guise of measures to control Covid-19. China\u2019s government is one of the most active in this space, using facial recognition drones<\/a> to monitor homes during lockdowns, installing tablets on public buses<\/a> that take pictures and monitor people\u2019s temperature, and developing facial recognition software that can identify people wearing a face mask<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The proliferation of advanced technologies to collect and use biometric data has been a hallmark of China\u2019s domestic surveillance operations, many of which have been tested<\/a> on Xinjiang\u2019s Uyghur<\/a> population before being deployed nationwide and exported<\/a> to governments looking to replicate China\u2019s model of digitally enabled authoritarianism.<\/p>\n

Follow the money\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

On 23 February, the EU imposed<\/a> sanctions on Russia over its treatment of opposition figure Alexei Navalny. EU\u2013Russia relations dropped to a new low<\/a> with foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell\u2019s announcement that the union\u2019s 27 members had agreed to targeted sanctions on yet-to-be-named Russian officials involved in breaching human rights. Before initiating sanctions, Borrell had an unsuccessful visit<\/a> to Moscow, where he attempted to negotiate with the Russian government over its detention of Navalny and crackdown on his supporters.<\/p>\n

Navalny has been an outspoken critic<\/a> of the Kremlin, publicly accusing President Vladimir Putin of corruption. Before he was jailed in Moscow, Navalny was receiving medical treatment in Germany after an attempt on his life using the chemical agent Novichok. This is\u00a0 not the first time<\/a>\u00a0that the Russian government has been credibly accused of attempting to assassinate an opposition leader. Navalny\u2019s case has once again highlighted Russia\u2019s human rights record and Putin\u2019s determination to eradicate all opposition to his regime.<\/p>\n

Terror byte\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The French government has taken steps to dissolve<\/a> far-right group Generation Identity. GI is a pan-European and white nationalist group with offshoots in Austria, Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. An Al Jazeera investigation<\/a> exposed GI\u2019s race- and religion-fuelled violence, as well as its infiltration of far-right French political party National Rally (formerly the National Front), led by Marine Le Pen.<\/p>\n

Dozens of protesters rallied in Paris in response to the ban of GI, some wearing vests embellished with \u2018G\u00e9n\u00e9ration Identitaire<\/em>\u2019. The French government has accused the group of contributing to tensions in the community through its openly hateful rhetoric.<\/p>\n

GI received messages of support from key figures in National Rally, which remains a competitive political force in France. The party\u2019s been boosted by Moscow through reported interference campaigns<\/a> targeting President Emmanuel Macron in the 2017 election and loans<\/a> from Russian banks to National Front worth \u20ac11 million in 2014. Events in France reflect a growing trend of far-right extremism insinuating itself into political parties across the West.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Planet A\u00a0\u00a0 The arctic air blast that hit the US, freezing Texas power plants and leaving millions without power or clean water last week, has highlighted the country\u2019s key vulnerabilities when it comes to extreme …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1310,"featured_media":62707,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2325,283,106,276],"class_list":["post-62705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-biometrics","tag-climate-change","tag-democracy","tag-extremism"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe threat spectrum | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-threat-spectrum-10\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The threat spectrum | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Planet A\u00a0\u00a0 The arctic air blast that hit the US, freezing Texas power plants and leaving millions without power or clean water last week, has highlighted the country\u2019s key vulnerabilities when it comes to extreme ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-threat-spectrum-10\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-24T02:05:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/GettyImages-1231190311.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elena Yi-Ching Ho\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Elena Yi-Ching Ho\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-threat-spectrum-10\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/GettyImages-1231190311.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/GettyImages-1231190311.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":683,\"caption\":\"AUSTIN, TX - FEBRUARY 15: East Austin residents push a car out of the snow on February 15, 2021 in Austin, Texas. Winter storm Uri has brought historic cold weather to Texas, causing traffic delays and power outages, and storms have swept across 26 states with a mix of freezing temperatures and precipitation. (Photo by Montinique Monroe\/Getty Images)\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-threat-spectrum-10\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-threat-spectrum-10\/\",\"name\":\"The threat spectrum | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-threat-spectrum-10\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-24T02:05:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-24T02:05:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/5d5f18e8d49fbd64e4cdcec7538a4d9d\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-threat-spectrum-10\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-threat-spectrum-10\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-threat-spectrum-10\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The threat spectrum\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/5d5f18e8d49fbd64e4cdcec7538a4d9d\",\"name\":\"Elena Yi-Ching Ho\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ac7fbb64e20254c1c95c681e9db3618?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ac7fbb64e20254c1c95c681e9db3618?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Elena Yi-Ching Ho\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/elena-yi-ching-ho\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The threat spectrum | The Strategist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-threat-spectrum-10\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The threat spectrum | The Strategist","og_description":"Planet A\u00a0\u00a0 The arctic air blast that hit the US, freezing Texas power plants and leaving millions without power or clean water last week, has highlighted the country\u2019s key vulnerabilities when it comes to extreme ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-threat-spectrum-10\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2021-02-24T02:05:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":683,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/GettyImages-1231190311.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Elena Yi-Ching Ho","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Elena Yi-Ching Ho","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/","name":"The Strategist","description":"ASPI's analysis and commentary site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-threat-spectrum-10\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/GettyImages-1231190311.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/GettyImages-1231190311.jpg","width":1024,"height":683,"caption":"AUSTIN, TX - FEBRUARY 15: East Austin residents push a car out of the snow on February 15, 2021 in Austin, Texas. Winter storm Uri has brought historic cold weather to Texas, causing traffic delays and power outages, and storms have swept across 26 states with a mix of freezing temperatures and precipitation. (Photo by Montinique Monroe\/Getty Images)"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-threat-spectrum-10\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-threat-spectrum-10\/","name":"The threat spectrum | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-threat-spectrum-10\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2021-02-24T02:05:06+00:00","dateModified":"2021-02-24T02:05:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/5d5f18e8d49fbd64e4cdcec7538a4d9d"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-threat-spectrum-10\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-threat-spectrum-10\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-threat-spectrum-10\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The threat spectrum"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/5d5f18e8d49fbd64e4cdcec7538a4d9d","name":"Elena Yi-Ching Ho","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ac7fbb64e20254c1c95c681e9db3618?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ac7fbb64e20254c1c95c681e9db3618?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Elena Yi-Ching Ho"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/elena-yi-ching-ho\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62705"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1310"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62705"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62705\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62714,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62705\/revisions\/62714"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}