Americans will give each other 200 million roses over the Valentine season. The majority were grown in Colombia. How did this come to be? For decades, U.S. Government trade, development, and drug eradication policies were designed to move South American growers away from cultivating the coca plant used to make cocaine by substituting commercially profitable production of cut flowers.
China’s cybersecurity law can be used as a form of “backdoor” trade retaliation to hurt U.S. firms in China.
Forty percent of American marriage proposals happen between Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day. Nothing is more synonymous with an engagement than a sparkling diamond ring. Happy couples have international trade to thank for their symbol of commitment: the United States imports 99 percent of its gemstones from other countries.
The North Korean regime continues to amass missile and nuclear technologies, through a combination of global licit and illicit transactions. North Korea trades for currency, for fuel, and for military materiel to preserve its power. Will expanded sanctions choke off revenue for weapons programs, or will continued trade ties with China throw North Korea a lifeline?
Digital trade is a boon to consumers and businesses all over the world. But cyberspace is a Darwinian environment with predators and victims. Cyber criminals are fast and innovative. Defenders are too often slow and reactive. The risks, however, can be reduced and managed.
The scope and speed of cyber attacks show just how interconnected and fragile the infrastructure of global commerce is. It’s a vulnerability that criminals are all too eager to exploit: cybercrime is a booming international business.