Newsweek 12/14/2018

BACK IN THE MID-1980S, WHEN I WAS A reporter covering technology, I interviewed an engineer about a wonky-sounding project. He was trying to establish a “protocol” for exchanging information that would allow engineers to connect computer networks to other computer networks. I argued for a cover story; my editors gave it two pages in the back of the magazine. That engineer was Bob Kahn, now widely known as one of the founders of the internet, which is what his project eventually became. I didn’t realize at the time how big that story would turn out to be; it’s easier to see in hindsight, of course, how dramatically technology can change the world. The present moment offers a chance to make amends. This week, we report on another new technology—autonomous vehicles—that many…

A makeshift memorial honors the late George H.W. Bush at the foot of his monument on December 2. The 41st president and political patriarch, whose family defined Republican politics for decades, died at age 94 in his home in Texas on November 30. His passing stirred a wellspring of longing in both parties, his presidency now symbolic of a bygone era of bipartisanship. Bush’s single term in the White House, from 1989 to 1993, capped more than 40 years of public service, which included stints as a congressman, diplomat, CIA director and vice president. Perceived as aloof on domestic matters, he lost re-election to Bill Clinton, but his foreign policy legacy stands strong. Bush oversaw the end of the Cold War, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the first…

SHOULD WE BE CONSIDERING THE IMPEACHMENT of President Donald Trump? Many tremble at the idea, fearing how Trump’s supporters will react to an impeachment inquiry, worrying that it will only further polarize an already deeply divided nation or that there will not be enough votes in the Senate to convict him even if the House of Representatives votes to impeach. I’m not afraid. As a junior congresswoman, the youngest ever elected at that time, I served on the House Judiciary Committee that voted to impeach President Richard Nixon for the high crimes and misdemeanors he committed in connection with the Watergate cover-up and other matters. To evaluate the case against Trump fairly, we need to set aside his unremitting attacks on the environment, on our close allies, on almost every program that President…

VLADIMIR PUTIN HAS LONG used his influence over key international institutions to fuel Russia’s expansion. There’s the United Nations, where his Security Council veto power allowed him to manipulate the Syrian war, and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the nuclear weapons watchdog where he delayed attempts to hold countries accountable for gas attacks. But the organization over which Putin arguably exercises the most power is Interpol, the world’s largest police agency. To squash political dissent, Russia has issued a growing number of so-called red notices, international warrants that make individuals subject to arrest in any Interpol member state around the world. Sometimes the targets were political dissidents or environmental activists. And sometimes they were as innocuous as the chairman of a Hungarian company that was unlucky enough to beat…

IN 1967, A YOUNG TELEVISION producer approached Richard Nixon to chat about the value of TV in politics. Having lost a presidential bid to the telegenic John F. Kennedy seven years earlier, Nixon hired him—and won the White House. That man, Roger Ailes, would eventually build Fox News into a wildly profitable right-wing media empire and set the stage for a bloviating reality TV star to land in the White House. But behind the scenes, he was a source of terror for some of the network’s female employees, allegedly harassing numerous staffers—including on-air stars like Gretchen Carlson and Megyn Kelly—and blacklisting some who declined to sleep with him. The pattern came to light in 2016, when Carlson filed a lawsuit against him. About 10 more women came forward to allege sexual misconduct,…

There is a famous Chinese saying that “in heaven, there is paradise, on earth, Hangzhou and Suzhou.” Hangzhou, capital of east China’s Zhejiang Province, is reputed for its enchanting scenery and abundant natural resources. With the boom in information technology (IT) and Internet Plus industries, the city now has grown into a paradise for innovation and entrepreneurship. A flourishing industry As reform and opening up entered a new phase in China, Hangzhou seized the opportunity to develop its digital economy and its efforts have paid off. Today, it is known as “the capital of e-commerce” because of its robust Internet industry. Hangzhou’s Internet industry has maintained an annual growth rate of more than 40 percent, higher than that of megacities such as Beijing and Shanghai. Its Internet companies account for 6.5 percent of…