關於 common sense media report ，我們在網路上蒐集到這些相關的討論、資訊與評價

[時事英文] 中美網絡戰鬥力
　
在過去的二十年中，對常規軍事作戰的理解已從二維戰場（battlefield）轉變為多維系統的作戰空間（battlespace），資訊戰（information warfare）也早已開始。我們今天先透過紐約時報的報導探討傳統資訊戰的定義。
　
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《2015 紐約時報》報導：
　
As China president Xi Jinping begins a trip to the United States that could include the first arms control accord for cyberspace between the United States and China, a new RAND report that rates the cyber warfare capabilities of the world’s two largest economies shows how important such an agreement could be. The report, which rates the capabilities of both militaries over the course of two situations, a conflict over Taiwan and one over the Spratly Islands, dedicates an entire chapter to the respective cyber capabilities of both sides.
　
1. arms control（國與國一致進行的）軍備控制
2. accord (n.) （國家之間的）協議；條約
3. cyberspace 網際空間
4. rate (v.) 評估
5. cyber warfare 網路戰
6. a conflict over ⋯⋯的衝突
7. dedicate 奉獻，獻出（全部精力、時間等）*
8. respective 各自的；分別的
　
中國國家主席習近平正在對美國進行國事訪問，此行有可能會簽訂中美網路空間的首個軍備控制協議。蘭德公司也在此際發佈報告，對全球兩大經濟體的網路戰能力進行評估，顯示了這樣一個協議有多麼重要。該報告評估了兩軍在兩種局勢下的戰力，一是臺海衝突，二是南沙群島爭端。報告用了整整一章來分析美中各自的網路戰能力。
　
*dedicate: https://bit.ly/2VNp0NL
　
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As it maps out the potential conflicts, and in turn the potential ways each country could attack the other’s network, it becomes apparent why a first agreement between President Obama and Mr. Xi might focus on the rules of the road for attacks on core infrastructure instead of on better publicized Chinese attacks aimed at gaining advantages and intellectual property for companies.

In particular, it argues unclassified networks for key infrastructure are more vulnerable than those of the military, and that broad attacks have a huge potential to cause unanticipated escalations. Even so, it says that the United States would probably do better than might be expected given the high-profile media coverage of Chinese cyberattacks.
　
9. map sth out 詳細安排；籌劃
10. potential conflict 潛在的衝突
11. the rules of the road 使用規則
12. gain advantage 取得優勢
13. intellectual property 智慧財產權
14. have a huge potential 有著巨大的可能性
15. unanticipated escalation 意料之外的逐步升級
16. high-profile 高調；備受關注的
17. cyberattack（由駭客發起的）網路攻擊
　
報告對潛在的衝突進行了描述，進而又對雙方可能採取哪些方式來攻擊彼此的網路進行了分析，從中可以看到為什麼歐巴馬和習近平簽訂的第一個協議可能會側重在攻擊核心基礎設施的規則上，而不是更為人知的中國為獲得商業優勢和智慧財產權進行的網路攻擊。這份報告特別指出，關鍵基礎設施使用的非機密網路較軍方網路脆弱，而且那樣的廣泛攻擊很有可能導致雙方沒有預計到的衝突升級。即便如此，報告說，鑒於中國的網路攻擊得到了大篇幅的報道，美國在網路戰中的表現可能比人們預期的出色。
　
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The Chinese military “has been heavily involved in large-scale cyber espionage since the mid-2000s, which has made it the subject of much media attention.

Because the most common targets of these attacks have been lightly defended corporate and unclassified government systems, this activity may have created an exaggerated sense of the capabilities that China might bring to bear in an operational military context,” it concludes. Citing a 2013 document distributed throughout China’s People’s Liberation Army called “The Science of Military Strategy,” the report adds that the Chinese army recognizes the major advantages to being aggressive in cyberwar.
　
18. cyber espionage 網路間諜活動
19. media attention 媒體關注
20. bring to bear 運用
21. cite 引用
22. throughout (prep.) 遍及
23. China’s People’s Liberation Army 中國人民解放軍
　
中國軍方「自２０００年代中期起，一直在積极參與大規模網路間諜活動，因此成為備受媒體關注的話題。由於這些攻擊最常見的目標是防禦措施較少的企業以及非機密的政府系統，因此對於中國在網路戰方面的能力，可能存在一種誇大，」該報告認為。該報告援引發表於２０１３年、在中國人民解放軍全軍分發的《戰略學》，稱中國軍方認識到在網路戰中採取攻勢的好處。
　
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One danger of that, and also more broadly of employing cyberattacks in a situation of escalating conflict, is that of unintentional escalation. Using several hypothetical situations, the report shows how a cyberattack could deepen a conflict. For example, it points out that if China were to make a move for Taiwan, a cyberattack aimed at hurting the potential for the United States to intercede, could contradictorily force the U.S. to come into the conflict. Likewise it argues that in the case of some kind of regional conflict, United States attacks on Chinese infrastructure that in peace-time would be deemed mainly of civilian importance could take on deeper military implications.
　
24. escalating conflict 逐步升級的衝突
25. unintentional 無意的；非故意的
26. hypothetical 假設的；假定的
27. deepen a conflict 深化衝突
28. point out 指出
29. aim at 瞄準；對準
30. make a move 採取行動
31. intercede 介入；調停
32. contradictorily force 反而迫使
33. regional conflict 區域衝突
34. peace-time 和平時期
35. be deemed 被認為；被視作
36. take on 呈現；開始具有（某種特徵）
37. implication 暗示；牽連
　
這種思維，以及在不斷升級的衝突中廣泛採用網路攻擊的策略的危險之處在於，它會在無意之中導致衝突升級。該報告假設了幾種情況，來說明網路攻擊將如何令衝突升級。假設中國在臺海採取行動，如果它為了預防美國調停而發起網路攻擊，可能反而會迫使美國參與衝突。同樣，報告認為，在發生區域衝突的情況下，美國對通常主要作為民用的中國基礎設施開展網路攻擊，可能就會產生更深層次的軍事影響。
　
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Even so, there are plenty of reasons that China and the U.S. would be unlikely to carry out a major attack aimed broadly at civilian populations. In particular, the report points out that close economic relations could mean an unintentional business fallout at home while the interconnectedness of the Internet makes the effects of broad attacks unpredictable (for example, Chinese data stored abroad could be inadvertently disrupted). Also likely to be on the front of Beijing’s mind, the report argues, are a few larger concerns. In particular, during wartime issues surrounding control of potentially destabilizing information within China and tracking of dissident activity are also likely to “loom large.”
　
38. carry out 執行
39. fallout 不良影響；惡果
40. at home 在國內
41. interconnectedness 緊密關係
42. inadvertently 無意地；非故意地
43. on the front of sb’s mind 在……的腦海中
44. wartime 戰時
45. destabilize 使不穩定；暗中顛覆（反對政權）
46. dissident (n.) 異見者；意見不同者；持不同政見者
47. loom large 顯得突出；變得嚴重
　
即便如此，仍有充足的理由認為美中不太可能針對平民開展大規模攻擊。特別是美中經濟關係密切，而網際網路具有很強的相互關聯性，廣泛襲擊的影響是不可預知的，因此這種攻擊可能會造成無法預計的商業後果（例如，中國儲存在國外的數據可能會在無意中遭到破壞）。報告認為，北京可能有幾個更加重視的關注點。特別是，在國內控制那些可能導致社會不穩定的訊息，以及追蹤異見者的活動，有可能在戰爭時期「特別重要」。
　
《紐約時報》完整報導：https://nyti.ms/2RS4b2P
　
圖片出處：https://bit.ly/2RUKKqa

資訊戰爭講義 (Information Warfare): https://bit.ly/2xcimbQ
　
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時事英文講義：https://bit.ly/2XmRYXc
　
時事英文大全：http://bit.ly/2WtAqop
　
如何使用「時事英文」：https://bit.ly/3a9rr38
　
＃美中網路戰英文

Dedicated especially to my family and friends who are quick to share stuff without verifying the content:

It REALLY IS Ok to NOT be the FIRST person to report whatever information you receive.

Please, please verify your source before hitting the SHARE/SEND/FORWARD button.

"When social media does more harm than a virus"

https://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/columnists/ceritalah/2020/02/02/the-digital-era-when-social-media-does-more-harm-than-a-virus

🇩🇰 這是一篇深度報導，來自歐洲現存最古老的報紙：丹麥Weekendavisen，題目是從香港抗爭運動、香港聯繫加泰羅尼亞的集會，前瞻全球大城市的「永久革命」。一篇報導訪問了世界各地大量學者，我也在其中，雖然只是每人一句，加在一起，卻有了很完整的圖像。

以下為英譯：

Protest! The demonstrations in Hong Kong were just the beginning. Now there are unrest in big cities from Baghdad to Barcelona. Perhaps the stage is set for something that could look like a permanent revolution in the world's big cities.

A world on the barricades

At the end of October, an hour after dark, a group of young protesters gathered at the Chater Garden Park in Hong Kong. Some of them wore large red and yellow flags. The talk began and the applause filled the warm evening air. There were slogans of independence, and demands of self-determination - from Spain. For the protest was in sympathy with the Catalan independence movement.

At the same time, a group of Catalan protesters staged a protest in front of the Chinese Consulate in Barcelona in favor of Hong Kong's hope for more democracy. The message was not to be mistaken: We are in the same boat. Or, as Joshua Wong, one of the leading members of the Hong Kong protest movement, told the Catalan news agency: "The people of Hong Kong and Catalonia both deserve the right to decide their own destiny."

For much of 2019, Hong Kong's streets have been ravaged by fierce protests and a growing desperation on both sides, with escalating violence and vandalism ensuing. But what, do observers ask, if Hong Kong is not just a Chinese crisis, but a warning of anger that is about to break out globally?

Each week brings new turmoil from an unexpected edge. In recent days, attention has focused on Chile. Here, more than 20 people have lost their lives in unrest, which has mainly been about unequal distribution of economic goods. Before then, the unrest has hit places as diverse as Lebanon and the Czech Republic, Bolivia and Algeria, Russia and Sudan.

With such a geographical spread, it is difficult to bring the protests to any sort of common denominator, but they all reflect a form of powerlessness so acute that traditional ways of speaking do not seem adequate.

Hardy Merriman, head of research at the International Center for Nonviolent Conflict in Washington, is not in doubt that it is a real wave of protest and that we have not seen the ending yet.

"I have been researching non-violent resistance for 17 years, and to me it is obvious that there are far more popular protest movements now than before. Often the protests have roots in the way political systems work. Elsewhere, it is about welfare and economic inequality or both. The two sets of factors are often related, ”he says.

Economic powerlessness

Hong Kong is a good example of this. The desire among the majority of Hong Kong's seven million residents to maintain an independent political identity vis-à-vis the People's Republic of China is well known, but the resentment of the streets is also fueled by a sense of economic powerlessness. Hong Kong is one of the most unequal communities in the world, and especially the uneven access to the real estate market is causing a stir.

According to Lee Chun-wing, a sociologist at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the turmoil in the city is not just facing Beijing, but also expressing a daunting showdown with the neoliberal economy, which should diminish the state's role and give the market more influence, but in its real form often ends with the brutal arbitrariness of jungle law.

'The many protests show that neoliberalism is unable to instill hope in many. And as one of the world's most neoliberal cities, Hong Kong is no exception. While the protests here are, of course, primarily political, there is no doubt that social polarization and economic inequality make many young people not afraid to participate in more radical protests and do not care whether they are accused of damage economic growth, 'he says.

The turmoil is now so extensive that it can no longer be dismissed as a coincidence. Something special and significant is happening. As UN Secretary General António Guterres put it last week, it would be wrong to stare blindly at the superficial differences between the factors that get people on the streets.
“There are also common features that are recurring across the continents and should force us to reflect and respond. It is clear that there is growing distrust between the people and the political elites and growing threats to the social contract. The world is struggling with the negative consequences of globalization and the new technologies that have led to growing inequality in individual societies, "he told reporters in New York.

Triggered by trifles

In many cases, the riots have been triggered by questions that may appear almost trivial on the surface. In Chile, there was an increase in the price of the capital's subway equivalent to 30 Danish cents, while in Lebanon there were reports of a tax on certain services on the Internet. In both places, it was just the reason why the people have been able to express a far more fundamental dissatisfaction.

In a broad sense, there are two situations where a population is rebelling, says Paul Almeida, who teaches sociology at the University of California, Merced. The first is when more opportunities suddenly open up and conditions get better. People are getting hungry for more and trying to pressure their politicians to give even more concessions.

“But then there is also the mobilization that takes place when people get worse. That seems to be the overall theme of the current protests, even in Hong Kong. People are concerned about various kinds of threats they face. It may be the threat of inferior economic conditions, or it may be a more political threat of erosion of rights. But the question is why it is happening right now. That's the 10,000-kroner issue, ”says Almeida.

Almeida, who has just published the book Social Movements: The Structure of Social Mobilization, even gives a possible answer. A growing authoritarian, anti-democratic flow has spread across the continents and united rulers in all countries, and among others it is the one that has now triggered a reaction in the peoples.

“There is a tendency for more use of force by the state power. If we look at the death toll in Latin America, they are high considering that the countries are democracies. This kind of violence is not usually expected in democratic regimes in connection with protests. It is an interesting trend and may be related to the authoritarian flow that is underway worldwide. It's worth watching, 'he says.

The authoritarian wave

Politologists Anna Lürhmann and Staffan Lindberg from the University of Gothenburg describe in a paper published earlier this year a "third autocratic wave." Unlike previous waves, for example, in the years before World War II, when democracy was beaten under great external drama , the new wave is characterized by creeping. It happens little by little - in countries like Turkey, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Hungary and Russia - at such a slow pace that you barely notice it.

Even old-fashioned autocrats nowadays understand the language of democracy - the only acceptable lingua franca in politics - and so the popular reaction does not happen very often when it becomes clear at once that the electoral process itself is not sufficient to secure democratic conditions. Against this backdrop, Kenneth Chan, a politician at Hong Kong Baptist University, sees the recent worldwide wave of unrest as an expression of the legitimacy crisis of the democratic regimes.

“People have become more likely to take the initiative and take part in direct actions because they feel that they have not made the changes they had hoped for through the elections. In fact, the leaders elected by the peoples are perceived as undermining the institutional guarantees of citizens' security, freedom, welfare and rights. As a result, over the past decade, we have seen more democracies reduced to semi-democracies, hybrid regimes and authoritarian regimes, ”he says.

"Therefore, we should also not be surprised by the new wave of resistance from the people. On the surface, the spark may be a relatively innocent or inconsiderate decision by the leadership, but people's anger quickly turns to what they see as the cause of the democratic deroute, that is, an arrogant and selfish leadership, a weakened democratic control, a dysfunctional civil society. who are no longer able to speak on behalf of the people. ”The world is changing. Anthony Ince, a cardiff at Cardiff University who has researched urban urban unrest, sees the uprisings as the culmination of long-term nagging discontent and an almost revolutionary situation where new can arise.

"The wider context is that the dominant world order - the global neoliberalism that has dominated since the 1980s - is under pressure from a number of sides, creating both uncertainty and at the same time the possibility of change. People may feel that we are in a period of uncertainty, confusion, anxiety, but perhaps also hope, ”he says.
Learning from each other.

Apart from mutual assurances of solidarity the protest movements in between, there does not appear to be any kind of coordination. But it may not be necessary either. In a time of social media, learning from each other's practices is easy, says Simon Shen, a University of Hong Kong political scientist.

“They learn from each other at the tactical level. Protesters in Hong Kong have seen what happened in Ukraine through YouTube, and now protesters in Catalonia and Lebanon are taking lessons from Hong Kong. It's reminiscent of 1968, when baby boomers around the globe were inspired by an alternative ideology to break down rigid hierarchies, 'he says.
But just as the protest movements can learn from each other, the same goes for their opponents. According to Harvard political scientist Erica Chenoweth, Russia has been particularly active in trying to establish cooperation with other authoritarian regimes, which feel threatened by riots in the style of the "color revolutions" on the periphery of the old Soviet empire at the turn of the century.

"It has resulted in joint efforts between Russian, Chinese, Iranian, Venezuelan, Belarusian, Syrian and other national authorities to develop, systematize and report on techniques and practices that have proved useful in trying to contain such threats," writes Chenoweth in an article in the journal Global Responsibility to Protect.

Max Fisher and Amanda Taub, commentators at the New York Times, point to the social media as a double-edged sword. Not only are Twitter and Facebook powerful weapons in the hands of tech-savvy autocrats. They are also of questionable value to the protesting grass roots. With WhatsApp and other new technologies, it is possible to mobilize large numbers of interested and almost-interested participants in collective action. But they quickly fall apart again.

The volatile affiliation is one of the reasons why, according to a recent survey, politically motivated protests today only succeed in reaching their targets in 30 percent of cases. A generation ago, the success rate was 70 percent. Therefore, unrest often recurs every few years, and they last longer, as Hong Kong is an example of. Perhaps the scene is set for something that might resemble a permanent revolution in the world's big cities - a kind of background noise that other residents will eventually just get used to.

"Since there is still no obvious alternative to neoliberalism, the polarization that led to the protests initially will probably continue to apply," says Lee of Hong Kong Polytechnic University. "At the same time, this means that the anger and frustration will continue to rumble in society."