As the World Turns, A Geopolitical Soap Opera

It’s been a terrible week for Uber and its CEO. It all started when a former employee recounted harrowing cases of sexual harassment. This caused some investors to question the company culture, which resulted in even more stories of Uber’s horrid culture. And then to add fuel to the fire, a leaked videotape of the CEO shows him carrying on like a stereotypical tech bro.

China’s Growing Influence, From UN Veto to African Naval Base: The past few months have been full of geopolitical turmoil with the election of Donald Trump, Brexit and European populism, ongoing fighting in Syria, and Russian intrigue, amongst many other global changes. But yesterday felt a bit like old times with China and Russia vetoing a UN resolution that would have imposed sanctions on Syria for its use of chemical weapons. On the opposite side stood what has historically been good ol’ Western democracy in the guise of US, France, and the UK. After the vote, the US Ambassador to the UN criticized China and Russia for their veto. Perhaps this will help end President Trump’s bromance with Vladimir Putin and return things to “normal”: China and Russia supporting dictators and the US generally standing up for human rights.

China has amassed 10,000 troops in Urumqi in Western China, with the official reason being its desire to quell ethnic violence in the region. However, the region has been noticeably quiet, and many observers see the large military presence as ashow of force to demonstrate Beijing’s military might.

What isn’t a show of force is China’s development of a naval base on the horn of Africa, just a few miles from a US military base that is heavily used for operations in the Middle East and North Africa. US officials were blindsided by Djibouti’s decision to grant China a lease for the land. The buildup of the China naval base highlights China’s foreign might in terms of economic and military matters. China has had the world focused on the South China Sea when in reality, they are significantly flexing their powers all around the globe.

President Trump’s First Address to Congress is Most UnTrumpian: Trump’s spoke about supporting NATO, changing the tax code, spending on infrastructure and the military, paid family leave, and improving health care. His speech was as American as apple pie and baseball. What the speech lacked was specifics, especially since a day earlier Trump echoed Avril Lavigne’s sentiments by calling health care “complicated.” The speech was also impressive in that it didn’t create a Twitter nuclear fallout. Trump played it safe, and dare we say it presidential, even refusing to rail against the press or Democrats.

Kansas Shootings Officially Being Investigated as Hate Crime: The White Houseofficially condemned the Kansas shootings as acts of “racially motivated hatred” that “have no place in our country.” In his speech to Congress, President Trump’s first words were to condemn anti-Semitic attacks that have taken place around the US and last week’s shooting in Olathe, Kansas.

One of the victims of the shooting in Kansas was 32-year-old Srinivas Kuchibhotla. Kuchibhotla was cremated on Tuesday in Hyderabad, India with hundreds in attendance. The two Indian men shot last week were employees of Garmin, the GPS company, which was founded in Kansas by an American and a Taiwanese immigrant. The FBI has officially confirmed that it is investigating the shootings as a hate crime.

North Koreans Yell “I Want Your Body, Kim”: A high-level delegation from North Korea arrived in Kuala Lumpur to claim the body of Kim Jong-Nam, but Malaysian officials will not release the body without DNA samples from family members in order to positively identify the body. North Korea has not formally acknowledged that Kim is the victim of the crime, saying that they have identified the body “only as a North Korean national with a diplomatic passport bearing the name Kim Chol.”

EU Move Enrages Russia: In a move that is sure to further cripple EU-Russia relations, Brussels cleared the way for visa-free travel for Ukrainian citizens within the 28-member area. Russian president Vladimir Putin, seeing the European Union as his personal anti-Christ, is likely to view the move as further provocation from the regional bloc. Fresh in Putin’s mind is the remembrance of things past, like the downfall of his BFF Viktor Yanukovych due to the public debate about the EU trade deal. One can understand Putin’s reaction somewhat – what with the new Ukrainian government taking a markedly pro-EU stance and repeatedly blaming Russia for crimes against its people. While Russia might be able to block votes in the UN, it’s unlikely that it will be able to do anything to stop European Union and Ukrainian efforts to bring the Yellow-Blue nation under the Blue-Yellow starred flag.

Yesterday was Pancake Day in the UK, which celebrates the start of Lent as people run around flipping pancakes. Yes, pancake-flipping races. If you try this at home, remember the rule to break the rules by stuffing extra pancakes in your pockets to take the place of those that fall out of your pan.

More Reads:

• One of our favorite books last year was “Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World.” And this corporate blog piece does a surprisingly excellent job synthesizing the main points of the book.
• People have faulted social media for the rapid spread of fake news, but will rapid technology developments completely undermine our notions of democracy? (Scientific American)
• This Cambodian grandmother is a bad mama jama, no seriously, she’s accused of killing tens of thousands as a Khmer Rouge official. (NYT)
• Here’s another fierce grandmother that we wouldn’t want to mess with, a 93-year-old Kung fu sensation. (CNN)    
• How people who live at the top of the world have evolved to survive on so little oxygen (BBC)
• Why some people are sleepy until the moment they lay in bed (Time)
• The allure of a dumbphone, when smartphones seem more oppressive than exciting (The Atlantic)

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