The Economist Latin America January 22, 2022

Politics Russia stepped up what looked like preparations to invade Ukraine. Its troops were deployed to Belarus, from which they could open up a second front and threaten Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital. More than 100,000 troops have now massed on Ukraine’s borders. A cyber-attack, allegedly from Russia, closed down Ukrainian government websites. President Joe Biden said Russia was ready to pounce and promised heavy sanctions if it does. America’s secretary of state, Antony Blinken (pictured), was due to meet his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Geneva. Russian domestic television gave little hint that war might be in the offing. France’s President Emmanuel Macron called on Europe to build its own collective security framework in the face of Russian aggression. Atlanticists, especially in eastern Europe, are wary of the idea, which they…

Politics Russia stepped up what looked like preparations to invade Ukraine. Its troops were deployed to Belarus, from which they could open up a second front and threaten Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital. More than 100,000 troops have now massed on Ukraine’s borders. A cyber-attack, allegedly from Russia, closed down Ukrainian government websites. President Joe Biden said Russia was ready to pounce and promised heavy sanctions if it does. America’s secretary of state, Antony Blinken (pictured), was due to meet his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Geneva. Russian domestic television gave little hint that war might be in the offing. France’s President Emmanuel Macron called on Europe to build its own collective security framework in the face of Russian aggression. Atlanticists, especially in eastern Europe, are wary of the idea, which they fear could…

IS THERE ANY limit to the ambition and hubris of big tech firms? In October Mark Zuckerberg renamed Facebook Meta and described humankind’s new future in virtual worlds. On January 18th Microsoft, worth more than $2trn, decided it wasn’t big enough and bid $69bn for Activision Blizzard, a video-games firm, in its biggest-ever deal. These decisions are part of a vast new investment surge at five of America’s biggest firms, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft—call them MAAMA. Together, they have invested $280bn in the past year, equivalent to 9% of American business investment, up from 4% five years ago. Big tech wants to find the next big opportunity, and our analysis of deals, patents, recruitment and other yardsticks shows that cash is flowing into everything from driverless cars to quantum…

IN EARLY SEPTEMBER Boris Johnson set out his vision for beating Margaret Thatcher’s 11-year record, and so to become the longest-serving British prime minister of modern times. Like a bumptious schoolboy, he got far ahead of himself. In the coming days or weeks, he may be kicked out of office by his own MPs. More likely, he will cling on in 10 Downing Street under the permanent threat of eviction (see Britain section). Either way, he no longer controls the fate of his own premiership. The immediate cause of Mr Johnson’s diminishment is, on the face of it, laughably puerile. Downing Street indulged in routine late-night booze-ups while the rest of the country was under strict lockdown. The prime minister’s disingenuous attempts to wriggle out of being blamed did him no…

IS THERE ANY limit to the ambition and hubris of big tech firms? In October Mark Zuckerberg renamed Facebook Meta and described humankind’s new future in virtual worlds. On January 18th Microsoft, worth more than $2trn, decided it wasn’t big enough and bid $69bn for Activision Blizzard, a video-games firm, in its biggest-ever deal. These decisions are part of a vast new investment surge at five of America’s biggest firms, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft—call them MAAMA. Together, they have invested $280bn in the past year, equivalent to 9% of American business investment, up from 4% five years ago. Big tech wants to find the next big opportunity, and our analysis of deals, patents, recruitment and other yardsticks shows that cash is flowing into everything from driverless cars to…

THE FIRST WORLD WAR became inevitable once mobilisation orders had been issued in Berlin, argued A.J.P. Taylor, a British historian. The complexities of early-20th-century railway timetables, upon which troop movements then depended, made any alteration virtually impossible. Modern armies do not suffer the same constraints. But as Russia sends more and more units to Ukraine’s borders, a grim momentum is building. Last week’s diplomacy yielded nothing. Some of Vladimir Putin’s demands are impossible for NATO to accept, as he well knew. (Essentially, he wants NATO never to admit new members, and to remove its forces from any country Russia threatens.) On January 19th President Joe Biden said that he expects Russia to “move in” on Ukraine (see Europe section). On January 14th hackers sabotaged Ukrainian government websites, getting them to display a…