Think-Tanks'Press

Informal discussions are sputtering along between Washington and Moscow over implementation of the Minsk armistice in Ukraine. This bilateral process originated in May 2015 as an accompaniment to the Barack Obama administration’s decision to seek Russia’s “help” on Syria.

Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland has been tasked to conduct the unofficial discussions with Moscow about Ukraine, initially with Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin after May 2015 and continuing with top presidential advisor Vladislav Surkov since January 2016.

While Islamic State now holds the upper hand in the Middle East, Al-Qaeda maintains an advantage in Africa. Al-Qaeda’s position, however, has recently been threatened, with IS making significant efforts to expand deeper into the African continent. Over the last three years, there has been an increase in the number of loyal Islamic State cells operating in Somalia, Libya, Nigeria and even Tanzania.

The tremendous growth momentum in high-frequency trading (HFT) seems to have reached its limits in recent years. The increasing cost of infrastructure and relentless competition within the industry are probably the first to blame.

In addition, high-frequency trading firms are hardly participating in those dark pools where large block transactions are executed. Both trends are challenging their business model and trading strategies as HFTs have seen their revenues and profits erode. Furthermore, forthcoming tighter prudential regulatory oversight may lead to an overhang of capacity in the HFT industry.

Aromar Revi warned that the “world is deeply unprepared” to integrate the SDGs within current frameworks and that cities are well at stake here.

As he suggested, we need “new global and local partnerships,” new governance and fiscal arrangements, and increased multi-stakeholder capacity, amidst which cities, as the quintessential ‘glocal’ actors, might be uniquely situated to support an effective and truly ‘global’ governance.

This paper has proposed the implementation of an online service as a citizens’ reporting mechanism and information hub as an integral part of any future strategy to tackle corruption in UK local government.

This proposal possesses the key advantages, firstly, that it will provide a central bank of corruption information that will help to inform not just the law enforcement response but also anti-corruption policy generally; and secondly, that it will strengthen links between local government and the communities it serves, promoting greater community engagement and oversight of responsible officers.

Finally, it has addressed the risks of a ‘digital divide’ and the abuse of the system to make false or inaccurate claims, suggesting effective mitigation strategies and highlighting the need for considered, committed implementation.

Corporate-startup collaboration is rapidly increasing, with more large firms seeing this as a mechanism for accessing innovation and/or promoting internal cultural change.

In a world where technology and business models are rapidly changing, firms with the ability to collaborate and co-create effectively are much more likely to survive the disruption of their industry and sustain competitive advantage. As one interviewee put it: “collaborating with startups allows us to play in the space of the disruptor without actually being disrupted”.