ITK Daily | November 13

Happy Sunday.

To be ITK, know this:

Biden’s message to world: The US can still lead. Never mind the political turmoil. WP

+ One of the president’s enduring challenges, however, has been to persuade his fellow leaders that former president Donald Trump’s disruption of American foreign policy was an aberration, not a long-lasting shift.

+ “The results from Tuesday show that the American people are sending him out to the world stage in a very strong position,” Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, told reporters ahead of the trip.

In an era of confrontation, Biden and Xi seek to set terms: Their first in-person presidential meeting, coming after both warned of deepening military, economic and diplomatic rivalry, will show how they address a range of US-China tensions. NYT

Pro-tip: When Chris Buckley writes, you read it.

+ Their scheduled meeting Monday in Indonesia will take place months after China brandished its military potential to choke off Taiwan, and the United States imposed a series of export controls devised to hobble China’s ability to produce the most advanced computer chips.

+ Compounding the tension is Beijing’s partnership with Moscow, which has remained steadfast even after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

+ Whether it’s a partnership of convenience or a robust alliance, Beijing and Moscow share a growing interest in frustrating the American agenda, many in Washington believe.

+ “This is in a sense the first superpower summit of the Cold War Version 2.0,” said Evan S. Medeiros, a Georgetown University professor who was President Obama’s top adviser on Asia-Pacific affairs.

+ Colin Kahl, the No. 3 official in the Pentagon, told reporters Tuesday that Chinese leaders have “been much more willing to signal that this thing is edging toward an alliance as opposed to just a superficial partnership.”

+ Xi and Biden have talked on the phone five times in the past 18 months.

+ Summits on neutral ground, like this one in Bali ahead of the Group of 20 meeting of leaders, have an increasingly Cold War feel: more about managing potential conflict than finding common ground.

+ The Apple iPhone and many other staples of American life are assembled almost entirely in China.

+ “It may not be the Cold War, with a capital C and capital W, as in a replay of the US-Soviet experience,because of China’s substantial capabilities and its global reach, this cold war will be more challenging in many ways than the previous one.”

+ In a 48-page National Security Strategy document, Biden wrote that China “is the only country with both the intent to reshape the international order and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military and technological power to advance that objective.” The US National Defense Strategy paper, weeks later, declared that China “remains our most consequential strategic competitor for the coming decades.”

Make in India? It will take more than subsidies: The central government needs to give investors in export industries the freedom to decide where and how they operate, not just money. Mihir Sharma

+ “Make for the world.”

+ India doesn’t have real industrial policy as such. What it has instead are multiple government schemes, costing about Rs. 2 trillion, for “production-linked incentives” or PLIs

+ Some of these targeted sectors have obvious strategic value, including semiconductors, solar modules, mobile handsets, and batteries. Others have clearly been chosen because will employ lots of people — textiles, for example.

+ Modi has talked often about “cooperative competitive federalism” — the idea that India’s states would freely compete for investors and raise each other’s standards in doing so. When it comes to PLI choices, however, New Delhi appears to have a thumb on the scales.

+ A real commitment to export-led manufacturing growth would require greater trust in investors. The government should spend less on subsidies, but make sure that investors have free choice as to where and how they operate.

US intel report says key Gulf ally meddled in American politics: The United Arab Emirates steered US foreign policy in its favor through a series of legal and illegal exploits, according to an unprecedented US intelligence document. WP

+ The activities covered in the report, described to The Washington Post by three people who have read it, include illegal and legal attempts to steer US foreign policy in ways favorable to the Arab autocracy.

+ The UAE has spent more than $154 million on lobbyists since 2016, according to Justice Department records. It has spent hundreds of millions of dollars more on donations to American universities and think tanks, many that produce policy papers with findings favorable to UAE interests.

+ Since 2012, it has been the third-biggest purchaser of US weapons and built what many consider the most powerful military in the Arab world by cultivating close ties to the US political, defense, and military establishment.

+ The investigation showed that over the past seven years, 280 retired US service members have worked as military contractors and consultants for the UAE, more than for any other country, and that the advisory jobs pay handsomely.

+ @azeem: There are only interests.

COP27 is about Africa and action: A new consensus between developed and developing countries can make effective action to combat climate change a reality. This week's COP27 - UN Climate Change Conference meeting in Egypt must begin to forge that consensus. Tony Blair

+ By 2050, a quarter of the world’s population will be African, and their energy and development requirements are increasing faster than anywhere else in the world.

+ Africa boasts 60% of the world’s best solar resources but has only 1% of installed solar PV capacity.

The Bank of Canada is warning Canadians to brace for a rough winter: CBC reports central banks are making things worse now in hopes of making them better down the road.

You can forget about crypto now: The industry’s latest meltdown is not like all the rest. Will Gottsegen

+ But it turns out that there are no adults, and no room.

+ Crypto was built on the idea that you shouldn’t have to trust banks with your money, that people should be able to hold it themselves, hopefully somewhere a little more secure than a mattress.

+ Crypto will always persist in some form, but the future of crypto as an institution—as something that might one day destabilize the big banks, or at least operate in parallel—has never been less certain.

+ @MattBallen4791: The insanity of Theranos, speed of Lehman, and scale of Enron.

+ @TonyFratto: Fortune favors the US dollar… in an economy with sound institutions; an independent central bank, the reliable rule of law; deep, rich, liquid, and well-regulated markets; and the free flow of people, ideas, and capital.

Bloomberg: Bankrupt FTX hit by mysterious outflow of about $662 million

+ FTX US’s general counsel says the facts are currently unclear

+ Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX empire fell into bankruptcy on Friday

FTX held less than $1bn in liquid assets against $9bn in liabilities: FT reports the vast gap highlights the dire state of Sam Bankman-Fried’s exchange before it collapsed into bankruptcy.

A crypto wunderkind charmed DC and amassed incredible wealth. In one week, it all collapsed. WP reports Sam Bankman-Fried emerged from obscurity to become the second-biggest Democratic donor in the midterm elections.

Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao, crypto’s ‘corporate raider’: The Binance founder’s actions left Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX filing for bankruptcy. FT

AFP: US seeks 15-year term for Theranos founder in fraud case

6,021: The number of 星巴克 stores in China.

A musical experiment from the '80s to keep BC teens from loitering is now a global practice CBC

+ 7-Eleven stores in BC started playing Muzak to deter loitering 4 decades ago

Brills: @rorysutherland: Will anyone join me in launching "The Career Ending Conference." Simple idea: everyone speaking is within six months of retirement, and can say what they really think.

This former BlackRock executive says ESG investment model is broken: Terrence Keeley’s new book hints at a quiet debate within a firm that has embraced sustainable investing. WSJ

+ Keeley said the strategy has proved to be neither a reliable generator of returns nor a real catalyst for change. In his new book, “Sustainable: Moving Beyond ESG to Impact Investing,” he argues that investors should shift money away from ESG indexes toward “companies with persistent environmental and social problems and engaging them to change.”

Electric vehicles need more—and faster—charging stations. How do we get them? Potential EV buyers, afraid of running out of juice, want to make sure fast chargers are widely available. Three experts offer their solutions. WSJ

+ The Biden administration has set an ambitious goal: Half of all vehicles sold in 2030 must be zero-emission, and 500,000 charging ports must be in place to service them.

+ Currently, there are only about 150,000, not counting the 11,500 or so in Tesla Inc.’s private network, according to EPRI, an independent, nonprofit energy research and development institute.

+ Not only do there need to be more chargers, but they need to be faster. The majority of public stations have what are called Level 2 chargers, which add about 25 miles of driving for each hour of charging.?

+ Some 38,000 are Level 3 fast chargers, according to EPRI, which can add about 100 to 200-plus miles of driving per 30 minutes of charging, depending on the vehicle and charger power. Newer electric vehicles can travel 200 to 300 or more miles on a full charge, depending on the model.

Judy Woodruff, PBS News anchor and managing editor, announced she will step aside from the anchor desk at the end of 2022.

Jonathan Swan is joining 纽约时报 .

Can you tell whether this headline was written by a robot? Not this time, but AI is churning out articles, illustrations, fake product reviews, and even videos. Christopher Mims

+ “It is probably impossible that the majority of people who use the web on a day-to-day basis haven’t at some point run into AI-generated content,” says Adam Chronister, who runs a small search engine optimization firm.

+ Google knows that the use of AI to generate content surfaced in search results is happening and is fine with it, as long as the content produced by an AI is helpful to the humans who read it, says a company spokeswoman.?

+ AI content services are thriving. They make content creators more productive, but they also are able to produce content that no one can tell was made by a machine. This is also often true of AI-generated content of other kinds, including images, video, audio, and synthetic customer service representatives.

+ By 2025 or 2030, 90% of the content on the internet will be auto-generated, says Nina Schick, author on the subject of generative AI and its pitfalls.

+ Even if AI-generated content doesn’t take over the whole internet, as it becomes more widespread, there’s a danger that all of us come to trust whatever we see even less than we do now, says Schick.

Why independent voters broke for Democrats in the midterms: GOP candidates closely aligned with Trump turned off some centrists and in-play Republicans. WSJ

+ Republicans succeeded in one of their top goals this year: They brought more of their party’s voters to the polls than did Democrats. But in the course of energizing their core voters, Republicans in many states lost voters in the political center—both independents and many Republicans who are uneasy with elements of the party’s focus under Trump.

+ More than 30% of the midterm voter pool, by one measure, were independent voters, or people who don’t affiliate with either political party.

How the 2022 midterms became a squeaker: Interviews with more than 70 current and former officials show the outside forces — and miscalculations and infighting — that led to an improbable, still-undecided election. NYT

Ron vs Don: The Republican battle for 2024 has already begun: Donald Trump is already lashing out at the popular Florida governor after many of his chosen candidates floundered in the midterms. FT

+ Trump has been gearing up to announce his next bid for the White House next week. But after Republicans failed to win the huge number of seats in the midterms they had expected, many are now blaming Trump for spoiling their chances.

+ With some in the party turning on Trump and scouting around for an alternative candidate to support for 2024, DeSantis has emerged as the most potent early challenger.

+ Mike Lawler, a Republican who defeated incumbent Democrat Sean Patrick Maloney in New York’s Hudson Valley, told CNN: “I would like to see the party move forward. I think any time you are focused on the future, you?can’t so much go to the past.”

Ron DeSantis is Donald Trump with brains and without the drama FT

The rise of the celebrity oversharer: We would ‘respect their privacy at this difficult time’ — if only they’d let us. Kara Kennedy

+ Oversharing is fast becoming one of the greatest PR marketing techniques of modern times.

40 chickens in 40 days: How a Philadelphia man cheered his city: Alexander Tominsky was on an epic quest to give Philadelphia something to celebrate, but he said he felt relieved to be done with the challenge. “My body is ready to repair,” he said. NYT

Philadelphia. Not for amateurs.

Michigan’s Biff Poggi, Jim Harbaugh’s consigliere, is the most interesting man in coaching The Athletic

Go Blue!

Rugby League World Cup - Final: Samoa v Australia on Saturday, November 19 @ 11:00 am ET.

Rating the World Cup 2022 home kits: Gorgeous Ghana, a Wales wonder, but bonkers from Belgium The Athletic

World Cup 2022 starts in seven days.

FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - opening?match: Qatar v Ecuador on Sunday, November 20 @ 11:00 am ET

Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc?

Caracal produces ITK Daily.

Caracal is a geopolitical business communications firm specializing in global business issues at the intersection of globalization, disruption, and politics.

Caracal believes that to be a world-class geopolitical business communicator, you need global street smarts coupled with holistic, high-frequency, and high-low communications.

To receive Caracal ITK Daily by email, subscribe here.