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Alan W. Dowd is a Senior Fellow with the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes on the full range of topics relating to national defense, foreign policy and international security. Dowd’s commentaries and essays have appeared in Policy Review, Parameters, Military Officer, The American Legion Magazine, The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations, The Claremont Review of Books, World Politics Review, The Wall Street Journal Europe, The Jerusalem Post, The Financial Times Deutschland, The Washington Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Examiner, The Detroit News, The Sacramento Bee, The Vancouver Sun, The National Post, The Landing Zone, Current, The World & I, The American Enterprise, Fraser Forum, American Outlook, The American and the online editions of Weekly Standard, National Review and American Interest. Beyond his work in opinion journalism, Dowd has served as an adjunct professor and university lecturer; congressional aide; and administrator, researcher and writer at leading think tanks, including the Hudson Institute, Sagamore Institute and Fraser Institute. An award-winning writer, Dowd has been interviewed by Fox News Channel, Cox News Service, The Washington Times, The National Post, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and numerous radio programs across North America. In addition, his work has been quoted by and/or reprinted in The Guardian, CBS News, BBC News and the Council on Foreign Relations. Dowd holds degrees from Butler University and Indiana University. Follow him at twitter.com/alanwdowd.

ASCF News

Scott Tilley is a Senior Fellow at the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes the “Technical Power” column, focusing on the societal and national security implications of advanced technology in cybersecurity, space, and foreign relations.

He is an emeritus professor at the Florida Institute of Technology. Previously, he was with the University of California, Riverside, Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute, and IBM. His research and teaching were in the areas of computer science, software & systems engineering, educational technology, the design of communication, and business information systems.

He is president and founder of the Center for Technology & Society, president and co-founder of Big Data Florida, past president of INCOSE Space Coast, and a Space Coast Writers’ Guild Fellow.

He has authored over 150 academic papers and has published 28 books (technical and non-technical), most recently Systems Analysis & Design (Cengage, 2020), SPACE (Anthology Alliance, 2019), and Technical Justice (CTS Press, 2019). He wrote the “Technology Today” column for FLORIDA TODAY from 2010 to 2018.

He is a popular public speaker, having delivered numerous keynote presentations and “Tech Talks” for a general audience. Recent examples include the role of big data in the space program, a four-part series on machine learning, and a four-part series on fake news.

He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Victoria (1995).

Contact him at stilley@cts.today.

Iran All in for China’s ‘Belt and Road’ Global Commerce Push

Monday, May 3, 2021

Categories: ASCF News Emerging Threats

Comments: 0

Mohammad-Eslami-640x480

Tehran has signed on for China’s global Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) infrastructure project, Iran Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami declared Monday.

Eslami said the BRI developed by China includes “major information technology plans” that are projected to be worth billions of dollars to the country, Tasnim News Agency reports.

In February, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif hailed the close cooperation between Tehran and Beijing as a “win-win interaction,” saying such strategic relations help both countries expand their global footprint.

In an article written for The People’s Daily on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Iran and China, Zarif expressed hope Iran would play a greater role in the BRI, as part of Tehran’s push for a global infrastructure development strategy to link Asia, Europe and beyond.

This is not the first time a move by the Chinese Communist Party into the Middle East has been flagged as it seeks to increase its global presence.

As Breitbart News reported, Chinese state media in March used the blockage of the Suez Canal to propose trade routes across land established by the BRI as an alternative to maritime shipping.

“Despite the logjam in the Suez Canal caused by a massive container ship that got stuck in the key waterway, traders in China have seen a limited impact on their operations, with many turning to more reliable alternatives such as China-Europe freight train service to take much-needed goods from factories in China to the European market,” China’s state-run Global Times boasted.

The article quoted “industry insiders” who said demand for long-distance rail service between China and Europe saw a “surge in demand, with shipping rates rising by 10-20 percent in some cases,” because “clients are seeking stable and safe options to secure their deals.”

China’s BRI began life in 2013 as the One Belt One Road initiative, with the goal of building a vast network of trade routes across the globe.

China has been involved with hundreds of projects under the BRI, ranging from hydroelectricity projects in Uganda to rail links in Malaysia.

Photo: ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty

Link: https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2021/05/03/iran-all-in-for-chinas-belt-and-road-global-commerce-push/

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