The Weekly Buzz: Five Must Reads From Around the Web

June 8, 2012

  1. Good Leak, Bad Leak
    By Uri Friedman
    Foreign Policy

    A brief but informative look at the various leaks during the Obama administration and their political and legal implications.
     

  2. Understanding Cyberspace is Key to Defending It
    By Robert O'Harrow Jr.
    Washington Post

    In the aftermath of Stuxnet and its new counterpart, Flame, this article makes the compelling point that, despite technological advancements and our reliance on computers, we still don’t know how to properly protect our respective corners of cyberspace.
     

  3. Fighting Mad: Why Women Turn to the FARC--and How the FARC Turns on Them
    By Anne Phillips
    Foreign Affairs

    An interesting read on the methods the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) draws women into their fold and these women’s experiences as sex slaves and soldiers—all told through the viewpoint an ex-member “Athena.”
     

  4. Is Libya Cracking Up?
    By Nicolas Pelham
    The New York Review of Books

    In the most recent edition of the New York Review of Books, Pelham begins by navigating the treacherous situation for Libyans in the southern part of the country—a region hit hard by the militias and border skirmishes—and moves through the security woes and regional difficulties facing the Libyans today.
     

  5. The Obama Paradox
    By David Rofthkopf
    Foreign Policy

    An interview by David Rothkopf at Foreign Policy Magazine with David Sanger, the author of Confront and Conceal:  Obama’s Secret Wars and Suprising Use of American Power—an excerpt of which appeared last week in the New York Times (“Obama Order Sped Up Wave of Cyberattacks Against Iran”).

 

June 1, 2012

  1. Secret 'Kill List' Tests Obama's Principles and Will
    By Jo Becker and Scott Shane
    The New York Times

    In this third article in the Time’s series “A Measure of Change,” Becker and Shane bring to light Obama’s top secret process to designate terrorists for kill or capture using the testimony of current and former aids.
     

  2. Whoever Wins Egypt's Presidency, the Party is Over for Washington
    By Steven Cook
    The Atlantic

    CFR's Steven Cook breaks down the implications for the U.S. as Egyptians head to the polls to elect a new president.
     

  3. Time To Join the Law of the Sea Treaty
    By Henry Kissinger, George Shultz, James Baker III, Colin Powell, and Condoleezza Rice
    The Wall Street Journal 

    Five former Secretaries of State under Republic administrations defend the push to join the Convention of the Law of the Sea – which is currently under consideration by the US Senate – asserting that continued delay “compromises our nation's authority to exercise our sovereign interest, jeopardizes our national and economic security, and limits our leadership role in international ocean policy.”

  4. Obama Order Sped Up Wave of Cyberattacks Against Iran
    By David E. Sanger
    The New York Times

    The New York Times addresses the use of and push towards normalizing cyberwarfare techniques first by the Bush administration -- and later by the Obama administration -- in this breakthrough report.  In light of Flame’s appearance, this is a must-read.
     

  5. American Foreign Policy is Already Post-Partisan
    By Joshua W. Busby, Jonathan Monten, and William Inboden
    Foreign Affairs

    In this analysis of a study of high-ranking Republican and Democrat foreign policy professionals, Foreign Affairs presents a vivid picture of how, where, and why we disagree on issues of non-proliferation, human rights, bilateral relationships, and more.