The U.S. lobbying industry raked in $ 3.42 billion in 2018. Among the rules laid by Trump in 2017, former lobbyists are barred from working on behalf of the U.S. government on the same specific issue for which they had previously lobbied for a period of two years; a lifetime lobbying ban is imposed on anyone from his administration lobbying the U.S. government on behalf of a foreign government; and  there is five-year “cooling off” period restricting those employees from lobbying the agency they worked for. 

The House of Representatives has launched an impeachment inquiry into President Trump’s latest and most egregious abuse of power: his request that the Ukrainian government investigate a rival candidate in the 2020 election. Free and fair elections are a core feature of U.S. constitutional democracy, and they are only possible if those who hold office do not use their powers to gain unfair advantages over those who seek their office.

Back channel diplomacy essentially means creating a channel of communication with another government or with representatives of another government, that is discreet, that doesn’t go through the official channels of diplomatic cables, of using ambassadors and more formal methods of communicating

The think tanks here below do represent the dominant mainstream of the Russian foreign policy expert community with relevance for both policy and public debate. Think tanks beyond this selection usually (still) lack political relevance and critical mass, study foreign policy only in passing, or focus on concrete world regions with a dominant domestic policy perspective. Finally, some think tanks that have been active in the past have either been shut down or reduced their activities to a minimum.

1. Austria: The rail freight market has opened up for competition to a bigger extent than the passenger sector, as the market share for all but the principal freight rail undertaking reached 26% in 2016, while on the passenger side it was 11%. For the freight sector, this degree of market opening is modest compared to other EU countries. However, market opening has improved in the Austrian rail sector. In 2010, the market shares of all but the principal railway undertaking were 15% for freight and 5% for passenger transport.

In recent decades, it has become increasingly common for countries to involve themselves in foreign elections. Often, this involvement aims to enhance democracy without favoring a particular candidate or party. Before elections, foreign governments and NGOs assist with electoral reforms, and during elections they monitor activities to detect and deter irregularities. In some cases, however, countries seek to tip the scales; they use rhetoric and/or resources to give specific parties or candidates an electoral advantage.

The European Union's cyber-diplomacy is focused on ensuring that governments, the private sector, civil society organizations around the globe understand the impact of an open, free and secure cyberspace on their lives and that they are capable of taking action to protect it.

The concept of cyber diplomacy is often associated with digital diplomacy, electronic diplomacy or computer diplomacy. Overlapping use of these concepts raises confusion over the relationship between diplomacy and the digital world.

Digital (Electronic or Computer) Diplomacy

The European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) has been working to make Europe cyber secure since 2004. The Agency is located in Athens, Greece and has a second office in Heraklion, Greece.

ENISA is actively contributing to European cybersecurity policy, supporting Member States and European Union stakeholders to support a response to large-scale cyber incidents that take place across borders in cases where two or more EU Member States have been affected. This work also contributes to the proper functioning of the Digital Single Market.

Source: Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ)

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