11–20 of 21 posts
This kind of initiative is really great. It's refreshing to see the governments of major powers unite in order to enshrine protections for their citizens. It really paints a stark contrast with the USA-Russia-China totalitarianesque power bloc, though. Our government in the US is currently weaseling out of net neutrality while strongly pushing for omni-surveillance in addition to the usual drumbeat of anti-liberty me…
This kind of initiative is really great. It's refreshing to see the governments of major powers unite in order to enshrine protections for their citizens. It really paints a stark contrast with the USA-Russia-China totalitarianesque power bloc, though. Our government in the US is currently weaseling out of net neutrality while strongly pushing for omni-surveillance in addition to the usual drumbeat of anti-liberty me…
Brazil is not a major power.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nomin...
http://money.cnn.com/news/economy/world_economies_gdp/
Do you mean it's not a major power in privacy-related matters? It might not be and all the actions from the current president could just be PR stunts but at least the talks are happening in a certain direction (opposite to the US vision).
So... aside from the hot air, the only concrete thing I got from that press release was that the EU politicians are so pissed that the EU court struck down their draconian data retention laws that they're going to pass a new one that resolves the technicalities on which the old one was struck down. And apparently, this is somehow going to bring the EU to "a gold standard in privacy protection". What?
Where did you read that? Are you confusing the "data protection" with "data retention" terms? They sound similar but are opposite laws/movements.
This is realpolitik jazz-hands with football thrown in to make light of a topic of grave importance. Also, of course, any framework set up today to control data tomorrow will tomorrow be turned on its head and used as a legislative basis for expanded intrusive activities.
I wonder if this "Vice-President of the European Commission" has any idea that her message will be read as "blah blah blah world cup blah blah go team! blah blah blah".
I really hope Brazil loses this tournament, that the abuses in building the stadiums are scrutinized further and a lot of government officials and companies are punished for this ridiculous private event paid with people's tax money. Yes, I'm a dreamer.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Brazil is not a major power.
In which area exactly? Since 2005 it's been featured in the top 10 biggest economies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nomin... http://money.cnn.com/news/economy/world_economies_gdp/ Do you mean it's not a major power in privacy-related matters? It might not be and all the actions from the current president could just be PR stunts but at least the talks are happening in a certain direction (oppo…
> In which area exactly?
If you are interested in learning more about power in international relations here are some wikipedia entries that might be a good start:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_%28international_relatio...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_power
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_power
Addendum: It seems that you are from Brazil. Please do not take this personally or interpret it as a dismissal of Brazil.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In which area exactly? Since 2005 it's been featured in the top 10 biggest economies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nomin... http://money.cnn.com/news/economy/world_economies_gdp/ Do you mean it's not a major power in privacy-related matters? It might not be and all the actions from the current president could just be PR stunts but at least the talks are happening in a certain direction (oppo…
> In which area exactly? This question really gets to the heart of what it means to be a major power. If you have to narrow the examination to focus on somethings and exclude others you are not dealing with a major power. Major powers are major players in military, economic, diplomatic, and cultural spheres (it is important to note that these are big spheres too, like global sized spheres). I have never heard anyone…
Brazil aspires to be a world power but its execution is always sub par. I really like the quote that says "Brazil is the country of the future, and will always be". It is so true.
We're certainly no military (our presence in Haiti is a joke) or economic power (our GDP is increasing mainly due to population size and small improvements in quality of life for really poor people, but industry productivity and innovation are, again, a joke and not taken seriously here). We like to think that in diplomatic issues Brazil has played some kind of middleman role but that's questionable (people won't give you status/credit just because.. and we don't even use the economic weight correctly, often trying to be the good guys) and in cultural sphere.. well, soccer and carnival are not something I'm proud of.
Thanks again for your explanation, it's certainly spot on.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In which area exactly? Since 2005 it's been featured in the top 10 biggest economies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nomin... http://money.cnn.com/news/economy/world_economies_gdp/ Do you mean it's not a major power in privacy-related matters? It might not be and all the actions from the current president could just be PR stunts but at least the talks are happening in a certain direction (oppo…
> In which area exactly? This question really gets to the heart of what it means to be a major power. If you have to narrow the examination to focus on somethings and exclude others you are not dealing with a major power. Major powers are major players in military, economic, diplomatic, and cultural spheres (it is important to note that these are big spheres too, like global sized spheres). I have never heard anyone…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> In which area exactly? This question really gets to the heart of what it means to be a major power. If you have to narrow the examination to focus on somethings and exclude others you are not dealing with a major power. Major powers are major players in military, economic, diplomatic, and cultural spheres (it is important to note that these are big spheres too, like global sized spheres). I have never heard anyone…
Got it, and it makes perfect sense. Your initial comment was a bit too dry so I wanted to clarify. Thanks for those links, they look very interesting. Brazil aspires to be a world power but its execution is always sub par. I really like the quote that says "Brazil is the country of the future, and will always be". It is so true. We're certainly no military (our presence in Haiti is a joke) or economic power (our GDP…
I am glad that you did not take any offense to my comments. I actually have always been interested in Brazil, the flag was probably one of the first countries' flags I could recognize as a child after US, Canada and USSR (at the time). My mother went to Brazil with American Foreign Service in the 60s. So ever since I was a little kid I remember getting a Christmas card from her host family and I have always wanted to take them up on the open offer to come visit.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> In which area exactly? This question really gets to the heart of what it means to be a major power. If you have to narrow the examination to focus on somethings and exclude others you are not dealing with a major power. Major powers are major players in military, economic, diplomatic, and cultural spheres (it is important to note that these are big spheres too, like global sized spheres). I have never heard anyone…
I would say that Brazil is no lesser a power than Russia. Russia just makes more noise. India is in the same league, I guess. The EU is lacking in diplomatic unity and militaristic strength. If we set the threshold above those, we're left with the US and China.
The nice thing is we have two quick and easy litmus tests for diplomatic and military power: season tickets to the security council and nuclear weapons. Things do not get any better if you dig a little deeper. Russia easily doubles Brazilian military spending and has battle tested forces. Speaking of forces Russia has six times the number of active duty personnel. On the diplomatic front I am at a loss for anything that Brazil has been involved in that comes close to Russia's participation in talks with Iran and North Korea.