Latest in Western Europe
The former Republic of Macedonia recently changed its official name to the Northern Republic of Macedonia (or, herein, North Macedonia).
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on Order from Chaos.
Editor's Note: The Brexit plan that Theresa May negotiated with the European Union has been met with controversy in the British Parliament. The British government is divided among supporters, who feel the deal is the best compromise Britain is likely to get, and opponents on the left and right. May now faces a vote of no confidence, which will determine whether she will continue to lead the Conservative party and whether her plan will receive a parliamentary vote.
Last month, a divided chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (“ECHR”) (that is, a panel of seven judges from ECHR’s “First Section”) issued an opinion declaring several aspects of British surveillance law to be in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. The case is called, perhaps inevitably, Big Brother Watch and Others v. The United Kingdom. The opinion is ponderous, to say the least.
On Wednesday, the North Atlantic Council released the following communique on behalf of the heads of state of NATO member-countries. The full document is below.
Fresh from the NATO summit, President Donald Trump arrived in the United Kingdom on Thursday to engage with a British government that is in disarray.
Over the last few years, “hybrid warfare” has become firmly established in the Western security lexicon. The concept features prominently in NATO and EU policy instruments and has informed the United States’ National Security Strategy adopted in December 2017. (I analyzed this idea in more depth here.)
“Artificial Intelligence Could Soon Enhance Real-Time Police Surveillance” reads a recent Wall Street Journal headline. Technology companies are working with U.S. police departments to develop facial recognition technology for body cameras—but the United States isn’t alone in its exploration and development of facial recognition technology.
Happy Brexitaversary!
On Mar. 12, the European Commission released the final report of its independent High Level Expert Group on Fake News and Online Disinformation (the Group), a group of 39 experts from different sectors and countries that was convened earlier this year and tasked with putting forward strategies to counter disinformation.