Using transparency to deter Russia’s asymmetric attacks on the West

  Russia is a relatively weak state on the international stage. A former great power, today it has a gross domestic product roughly equal to that of New York state; this feeds into the country’s insecurity about its role in the world and its economic and military strength compared with those of its chief competitors. Russia knows it cannot compete with the West on an even playing field. Thus, it has developed a shadowy, asymmetric strategy to subvert opponents and alter the global status quo. A key part of this approach is the country’s strategic use of ambiguity. As the United States responds to these attacks and seeks to prevent future ones, it must take into account that public transparency, as well as its relationships with allies, are integral to any effective response.

Gene Policinski: Sessions' leak warning to journalists misguided, misplaced

  A threat from the Trump administration, apparently aimed at journalists as part of a larger campaign to prevent widespread government “leaks” that have enraged the president, is the wrong message delivered to the wrong messenger.

  Attorney General Jeff Sessions, only a few days removed from a  challenge from President Trump (issued via Twitter of course) to be tougher on tracking down leakers in the White House and elsewhere, made a statement Friday announcing ramped-up leak investigations and policy reviews–and included  a warning to journalists that they might be subpoenaed in these processes.

Open questions on national security for President-Elect Donald Trump

  The Center for American Progress National Security and International Policy team is deeply committed to the democratic values that have made America great and is collectively determined to ensure that America remains secure, prosperous, and just.

  The initial steps taken by President-elect Donald Trump, including the nomination of several manifestly unsuited candidates for key national security positions, raise a series of very serious questions that the administration will need to answer in the days and weeks ahead.

Gene Policinski: ‘Rebooting’ journalism and a free press — 2.6 terabytes at a time

  The rising global furor over the trove of financial records and other documents contained in the Panama Papers also speaks to any number of Digital Age canards about journalism and a free press.

  Granted, none of the following have yet reached the status of “Aesop’s Fables” in common knowledge. But they go something like this: “News is dead.” Another: “Journalists don’t matter.” And a third: “Who needs the press — old mainstream or new online — when there’s the web and algorithms to edit it for us.”

Gene Policinski: Second try at a shield law echoes the first

  An irony of timing twice has put U.S. Army Pfc. Bradley Manning in the headlines at critical moments in gaining congressional approval of a federal shield law that would protect journalists and their confidential sources.

  On Capitol Hill, there’s new-found  White House support and congressional action behind  proposals to for the first time provide legal means in federal courts for journalists to keep secret their confidential sources and unpublished information. President Obama called for passage of federal shield law in the wake of two controversies in May involving Department of Justice moves to seize journalists’ phone record, e-mail and other data.