Policy Currents | The newsletter for policy people
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** May 2, 2024
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Russia Is Its Own Worst Enemy
Russia's President Vladimir Putin falsely claims that the West aims to "dismember and plunder" his country. But according to RAND's William Courtney and Phillip Wasielewski of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, if the Kremlin wants to identify the party responsible for Russia's struggles, "it need only look in a mirror."
For example, Moscow has adopted populist self-sufficiency policies that deny Russia the benefits of international trade and investment, weakening its economy. Further, the war in Ukraine has had devastating effects on the Russian people--life expectancy of Russian men has fallen to 64 years--and stirred internal unrest.
The West is not, in fact, calling for regime change in Russia. But according to Courtney and Wasielewski, Moscow's self-inflicted wounds may mean that, even if regime change were the goal, the West could advance this simply by continuing to do more of what it already does: help Ukraine expel Russian aggressors, strengthen Western alliances, and promote respect in Russia for human rights and political liberties.
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Are We Giving AI Too Much of Ourselves?
Whether it's unlocking a smartphone, paying for coffee, or boarding an airplane, you're probably used to trading your identifying information--by displaying your face or providing a fingerprint--to get something you need. But as AI tools increasingly take charge of decisionmaking, people could be forced to give up too much of who they are, says RAND's Douglas Yeung. That's why more must be done to minimize algorithms' technical errors and bias, and to ensure that AI tools keep personal data private. Otherwise, "we risk becoming the people the machines say we are," Yeung says, "and not who we might want to be."
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New Zealand Is the Latest to Pivot to the U.S.
Earlier this month, New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met in Washington, declaring that the two countries are "working more closely than ever." This marks a new era in New Zealand's foreign policy, says RAND's Derek Grossman. It's also the latest example to show how China's behavior is driving countries into Washington's welcoming arms. How, exactly, will New Zealand support U.S. objectives in the Indo-Pacific and beyond? That remains unclear, Grossman says. But overall, this shift is good news for the United States and its allies.
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