The Global Eye is in partnership with SIOI – Società Italiana per l’Organizzazione Internazionale
Artificial Intelligence
*(Michael Schiffer – Just Security) The U.S. government and American tech companies are in the throes of a debate over whether developers of artificial intelligence should be permitted to publicly release the “weights” — the rules or numerical calculations that determine how large language models “learn,” process information, and make predictions — of their most advanced AI models. The concerns behind that debate are real. Those who favor open-source AI or so-called “open weights” argue that it speeds development of all AI systems and software built on them and can help crowdsource security issues and other flaws. But opponents fear that open models could also be “fine-tuned” for purposes their developers never intended, possibly nefarious uses, and that whatever safeguards are built into a proprietary system evaporate once the weights are public. Yet the current debate relies on assumptions about technology and innovation – and where the “chokepoints” are that safeguard national security and drive economic growth – that may no longer be helpful for shaping policy. Indeed, for the better part of a decade, American technology strategy has been built around a deceptively simple idea: preserve U.S. technological leadership by controlling access to the technologies that make it possible. Export controls on advanced semiconductors, restrictions on AI computing, investment screening, and sanctions lists all reflect this logic. If the United States and its allies control the critical chokepoints of the global innovation economy, they can slow China’s rise and preserve America’s strategic edge. It is a coherent strategy. It is also increasingly a strategy designed for a world that no longer exists. – In Open-Source AI Debate, the U.S. Needs a New Theory of Tech Power
China – Ice Silk Road
* (Marzia Giglioli – The Global Eye) Il clima sta diventando la nuova leva geopolitica e lo scioglimento dei ghiacci nell’Artico la nuova frontiera per la supremazia delle rotte. E nella corsa, come ha scritto il Financial Times, risulta già in vantaggio la Cina che ha inaugurato la Ice Silk Road. Così, mentre le temperature di questi mesi allarmano il mondo e le temperature globali dei mari raggiungono livelli record, i competitor mondiali guardano ai nuovi business e al nuovo potere sui mari con nuove rotte strategiche (e nuove alleanze). – Cina e la Ice Silk Road. Il climate change è la nuova frontiera geostrategica | The Global Eye
France – Ukraine
(RFE/RL) French leader Emmanuel Macron vowed to accelerate delivery of new air interceptor missiles to Kyiv following devastating Russian attacks on a Ukrainian city and a call with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “I spoke with President Zelenskyy in the aftermath of the double Russian strike in broad daylight against a shopping center in Kryviy Rih, which caused numerous civilian casualties, and I expressed our horror and deep sorrow,” Macron wrote on Twitter. Macron said he assured Zelenskyy of “the strengthening of our support with the deployment of interceptors…It is essential that all countries with available capabilities also join this effort. We must also continue to increase pressure on Russia as long as it chooses to refuse a ceasefire and peace”. Macron, in his X posting on August 22, also said Ukrainian allies in the so-called Coalition of the Willing — an initiative led by Paris and London — will meet on August 24 to explore ways to ramp up pressure on Moscow to halt its full-invasion of Ukraine that began in February 2022 and has cost tens of thousands of lives on both sides. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz are set to host the coalition meeting, which will be held in Kyiv, with leaders attending in person and remotely. Macron’s office did not specify which leaders will be there in person. – Macron Pledges Delivery Of French Air Interceptors Following Deadly Wave Of Russian Attacks
International Criminal Court
(Andreas Motzfeldt Kravik, Christopher “Kip” Hale – Just Security) On July 24, the States Parties to the Rome Statute voted 82 to 13, with 15 abstentions, to remove Karim Khan as Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court for serious misconduct and serious breach of duty. Norway was among the states that voted in favor of removal. It was a landmark decision rendered at a time when the Court itself is under siege. The United States, which has already sanctioned Karim Khan, the Deputy Prosecutors and six of the Court’s judges, has announced a campaign to dismantle the Court and is urging states to withdraw from it. So, the Court must choose a new Prosecutor in the middle of a campaign against its existence. This is a perilous moment. But it should not obscure what the vote itself demonstrated. An institution accused of answering to no one has just done what few international bodies ever have and held one of, if not, the most powerful persons inside it to account. – The Court That Removed Its Own Prosecutor
Israel – Britain
(David Haznedari – The Global Eye) Il 13 agosto Galei Tzahal, la radio dell’esercito israeliano, ha mandato in onda una lunga conversazione fra il primo ministro Benjamin Netanyahu e Avi Harush, ufficiale in congedo che ha perso un figlio a Gaza. Discorrendo di Randolph Churchill e del nipote Winston Spencer Churchill, entrambi giornalisti, entrambi in Israele nel giugno del 1967 per raccontare la guerra dei sei giorni, Netanyahu ha osservato che una cronaca di quel tenore oggi non si troverebbe, e ha aggiunto la formula destinata a circolare: nella Britannia di adesso, quella che si può chiamare la repubblica islamica di Britannia. All’intervistatore che chiedeva se il resto d’Europa non fosse ormai simile ha risposto di sì, e ha soggiunto che la prima repubblica islamica dotata di armi nucleari sarà quella britannica. – Netanyahu chiama islamica la Britannia | The Global Eye
Law and Crime Prevention
* (UN News) Conflicts can expose civilians and detainees to grave abuses; the challenge is not only to document these crimes, but also to ensure all survivors are recognised, protected and able to access justice and care. When a Ukrainian prisoner of war was released in 2025 after three years in detention, he carried with him searing memories of rape, forced nudity, beatings and electric shocks to his genitals. His experience is part of a pattern the United Nations is documenting across conflicts: Men and boys are also subjected to conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), often in places where sexual abuses are hard to document, including detention facilities. Women and girls continue to bear the overwhelming burden of this violence. But overlooking male survivors can leave them without appropriate medical, psychological or legal support. According to the UN Secretary-General’s report, women and girls made up 93 per cent of verified victims of conflict-related sexual violence in 2024, compared with seven per cent who were men and boys. The figures, however, do not capture the full extent of the damage which remains heavily underreported; estimates suggest that 90 to 95 per cent of sexual abuse against men and boys in conflict settings is never recorded. – Breaking the silence over sexual violence against men and boys in war | UN News
Nuclear
* (Vincenzo Formisano – The Global Eye) L’energia nucleare è tornata a essere una tesi d’investimento globale. La combinazione di sicurezza energetica, decarbonizzazione e crescita della domanda elettrica sta riportando il settore al centro dei piani industriali di Cina, Stati Uniti, Europa e Asia orientale, con un fabbisogno di capitale che, secondo le ultime analisi, potrebbe salire fino a oltre 250 miliardi di dollari l’anno entro il 2050. – Nuclear power: da tema strategico ad asset infrastrutturale | The Global Eye
US
* (David Haznedari – The Global Eye) Il 17 agosto William Frey ha pubblicato per la Brookings Institution l’analisi delle stime demografiche diffuse dal Census Bureau lo scorso maggio. Le 92 città statunitensi sopra i 250.000 abitanti, considerate nel loro insieme, sono passate da una crescita dell’1,13 per cento nel 2023-24 ad appena lo 0,31 per cento nel 2024-25; 86 di esse hanno registrato risultati peggiori dell’anno precedente e quelle che perdono residenti sono salite da 8 a 32. New York, che nell’anno precedente cresceva, ha perso più di 12.000 abitanti, il maggiore calo in termini assoluti; Charlotte e Fort Worth ne hanno guadagnati circa 20.000 ciascuna. – 32 città americane perdono abitanti | The Global Eye
