The global economy of today exists in two parallel realms: the surface economy that is circumscribed by international and domestic regulation and oversight; and the shadowy economy that is large, amorphous, and fast-growing. Money laundering feeds this shadow economy, and it creates many domestic and international security risks, including the financing of nefarious non-state actors, promoting corporate and individual tax evasion, worsening economic inequality, and sustaining organized criminal activity. Leaks in recent years such as the Panama Papers, Russian Laundromat, and FinCEN only give us a glimpse of the problem. Yet the main bodies in charge of oversight of this space, such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) have a very limited focus, and even a political agenda of their own. For example, the FATF ranked United Kingdom’s (UK) compliance as the best in the world, although it is still marred by inefficiencies and is a work-in-progress.
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Rebuttal of Operation Sindoor: Countering the India Centric Framing Bias
The recent account by the Center for Military History and Perspective Studies (CHPM), Switzerland, on the May 7th conflict between Pakistan and India reflects an over-simplification of a complex issue. The historical account suffers from selective framing and a lack of empirical verification, which skews the understanding of the Indo-Pak conflict.
CHPM Report: Misreading Operational Outcomes
In modern conflicts, the fog of war does not clear as ceasefires commence; it only gets thicker and becomes a fog of narratives.  It is in this post-conflict situation that military historians have the responsibility of undertaking impartial analysis as they scramble to find coherence in chaos. As a caution, they should avoid prematurely echoing any one side’s narrative and instead endeavour to interrogate all claims with balanced scepticism. The Centre for Military History and Perspective Studies’ (CHPM) exploratory note on Operation Sindoor falls short of this mark.
Conflicted Calculations: When Strategic Decisions Aren’t Strategic at All
Perhaps the most consequential aspect of any military campaign or national policy is strategic planning. Unfortunately, these decisions are often driven by ideological and political motives rather than reason
