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To: POL 245: American Foreign Policy From: Kelsea Albertson, Dan Curran, Talia Guglietta, Samantha Landry, and Kennedy Muise Date: March 24, 2019  RE: China and The Belt and Road Initiative Executive Summary Whether it is known as the “New Silk Road”, the “Belt and Road Initiative” or the “One Belt One Road Project,” the World Bank describes the The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as “an ambitious effort to improve regional cooperation and connectivity on a trans-continental scale”. The origins of the BRI derives from the “The Silk Road” project which started during the westward expansion of China’s Han Dynasty from 206 BC–220 AD. The current Chinese government announced its idea to expand this vast trade network in 2013 and started regional projects as early as 2015. While the BRI stretches across many global regions, it has important implications in Asia and Africa. In Asian countries, the BRI is working to build infrastructure and ports to have a greater influen...

To: POL245: American Foreign Policy From: Kelsea Albertson, Dan Curran, Talia Guglietta, Samantha Landry, and Kennedy Muise Date: March 17, 2019  RE: Russian Hacking in 2016 US Elections Executive Summary Russian hacks conducted in the US throughout 2016 has caused much concern about cybersecurity issues for the US and other Western democracies. Similarly, it has sparked increased cybersecurity protection mechanisms created by the Department of Homeland Security. According to a report by CNN, US Intelligence Agencies have detected that Russian hackers meddled in the 2016 US presidential election by releasing private DNC documents, infiltrating GOP computers, adding to fake news sources and Pro-Trump propaganda ads on social media platforms, and targeting voting systems in up to 21 states. While the intent of Russian meddling differs amongst sources, the fact that Russia is interfering at all generates a great deal of concern for US security and has prompted b...