“Information should once again be weaponized as it was during the Cold War.” That’s the view from Michael Weiss of the Interpreter (the one in the US) discussing how to deal with Russia as relations between Moscow and the West go backwards.

If this idea of weaponized information gains support, we could see a return to a East-West Cold War a la the 1980s. If nothing else, Weiss’ comments point to the breakdown of the period of economics-led globalization.

In fact, increasingly politics seem to be driving economics – and that might not be a bad thing six years after Western economies were pushed to the brink by the excesses of deregulation, and the middle-classes have struggled with the damaging effects of free trade.