US sanctions pressure on Russia will not let up

Significance One bill would prohibit the US government from ever recognising the 2014 annexation of Crimea. Two others instruct the Director of National Intelligence to report on President Vladimir Putin's wealth and on Russian efforts to spread disinformation and undermine the stability of European allies. The fourth is a resolution condemning Putin and subordinates for the 2015 killing of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov. These measures come as larger sanction packages are under discussion. Impacts A proposed US boycott of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum in June will mark a further downward turn in relations. The EU will retain existing sanctions but new measures mirroring US actions are unlikely. Moscow will focus on replacing Western technological imports with Chinese alternatives and domestic manufacture.

Significance Earlier, on August 30, the Commission said the Irish government's tax arrangements with Apple constituted illegal state aid that required a payment of 13 billion euros (14.4 billion dollars) to the Irish authorities. The cases have given rise to suspicions that the EU authorities are unfairly targeting US companies. Impacts Short-term relations with the US government will deteriorate but -- if the Microsoft experience is any guide -- without lasting damage. The Apple ruling may bolster the Commission's reputation, as concerns over corporate power and inequality resonate with the EU public. Once it is outside the EU, the United Kingdom may have few attractions as a hub for US internet operations.


Significance Microsoft said WikiLeaks had been in contact with them about vulnerabilities disclosed when WikiLeaks published files on March 7, the first in a series called ‘Vault 7’. This leak has been rebuked by US national security officials, but further revelations could be forthcoming. Impacts Customers may be reluctant to buy products that have previously been associated with CIA spy tools and listening devices. The revelations will damage an already strained relationship between the US government and technology firms. Privacy concerns will hinder internet regulation liberalisation between the United States and other countries, particularly in the EU.


Significance The European Commission and the US government on February 2 announced a political agreement in principle on rules to govern the transfer of data between them: the EU-US Privacy Shield. The two sides hope the deal, which will be finalised in the coming weeks, will constitute a suitable replacement for the Safe Harbour agreement declared illegal by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in October 2015. However, already privacy advocates are criticising the contours of the arrangements, while European data protection agencies are suspending judgement until the full details are revealed at end-February. Impacts The United States will need to scale up oversight and dispute resolution capacities in the federal government to address European concerns. If European concerns are not assuaged by the agreement, major US companies may increase their EU-based data-storage and management capacity. This will raise costs for US tech companies, but it will also boost the trust of Europeans in US data companies.


Subject Internet policy. Significance The US government agency responsible for advising the president on internet policy closed a consultation in July on future international policy priorities for the internet. The consultation coincided with questions about declining US influence in global internet governance. Impacts The decline in US-China economic relations will affect their diplomacy on internet policy in Dubai. Disputes with the EU over privacy will intensify. US technology companies will remain the principal influencers of future US internet policy at home and abroad.


Significance The proposals identified areas where the euro could potentially become more dominant, such as the issuance of green bonds, digital currencies, and international trade in raw materials and energy. Ambitions to enhance the international leverage of the euro are being driven by the aim to strengthen EU strategic autonomy amid rising geopolitical risks. Impacts Developing its digital finance sector would be an opportunity for the EU to enhance its strategic autonomy in financial services. Challenging the US dollar would require the euro-area to rebalance its economy away from foreign to domestic demand. Member state division will prevent the economic reconfiguration the euro-area needed to make the euro a truly global currency.


Significance The two sides have suspended tariffs arising from their dispute over subsidies to Airbus and Boeing, are working on an international deal on corporate taxation and have established a high-level council to discuss issues at the nexus of security, technology and trade. Impacts A major aim of closer transatlantic cooperation is better coordination of policies with respect to China. Closer transatlantic cooperation over China might soften US opposition to the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. It will be difficult for the US government to pass legislation concerning trade given the Democrats' precarious majority in both houses.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ross D. Petty

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the debate about brand marketing that occurred as part of the 1930s consumer movement and continued after the Second World War in academic and regulatory circles. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents an historical account of the anti-brand marketing movement using a qualitative approach. It examines both primary and secondary historical sources as well as legal statutes, regulatory agency actions, judicial cases and newspaper and trade journal stories. Findings In response to the rise of brand marketing in the latter 1800s and early 1900s, the USA experienced an anti-brand marketing movement that lasted half a century. The first stage was public as part of the consumer movement but was overshadowed by the product safety and truth-in-advertising concerns. The consumer movement stalled when the USA entered the Second World War, but brand marketing continued to raise questions during the war as the US government attempted to regulate the provisions of goods during the war. After the war, the public accepted brand marketing. Continuing anti-brand marketing criticism was largely confined to academic writings and regulatory activities. Ultimately, many of the stage-two challenges to brand marketing went nowhere, but a few led to regulations that continue today. Originality/value This paper is the first to recognize a two-stage anti-brand marketing movement in the USA from 1929 to 1980 that has left a small but significant modern-day regulatory legacy.


2009 ◽  
pp. 142-150
Author(s):  
Ned Kock ◽  
Pedro Antunes

Government funding of e-collaboration research in both the US and EU seems to be growing. In the EU, a key initiative to promote governmental investment in e-collabo-ration research is the Collaboration@Work initiative. This initiative is one of the EU’s Information Society Technologies Directorate General’s main priorities. In the US, government investment in e-collaboration research is channeled through several gov-ernment branches and organizations, notably the National Science Foundation. There are key differences in the approaches used for government funding of e-collaboration research in the EU and US. Some of these differences are discussed here, as well as related implications.


2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (8) ◽  
pp. 2-6
Author(s):  
Bethany Latham

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the US Government Publishing Office’s (GPO) partnership program: what it is, how the GPO defines partnership, the types of institutions that are participating and the resources these institutions are making available through partnership. Design/methodology/approach – This paper reviews the available literature and information from the US GPO on its partnership program, examines the institutions contributing to the program and what those contributions entail, surveys the resources made available through these partnerships and examines how this affects access to government information. Findings – Partnership with the US GPO provides benefits to libraries, museums, government agencies and other entities, increasing discoverability and enhancing access to digital collections of government information and other resources. Originality/value – This paper examines the parameters of the US GPO’s partnership program, why libraries and other institutions might wish to partner with the GPO and the effect these partnerships have had on enhancing access to government information resources, an area that has not been extensively covered in library literature.


Significance Several recent strains in the relationship guaranteed a tense official dialogue and tepid reception of Xi across Washington -- the impact of China's economic slowdown on the US stock market, accusations of Chinese cyber theft of US government workers' personal data, and continued maritime tensions. Impacts China's climate change commitments will improve its international image, but will not reduce tensions on other issues. Washington will impose sanctions if it believes China is breaking the new cybercrime agreement. US politics ahead of next year's presidential election will put more strain on China-US relations. Dialogue on the South China Sea is unlikely to bear fruit while Washington's policy is undecided.


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