Before the U.S. can do that, it first needs to do two things: One, the U.S. government should assess the status of blockchain technology development by key U.S. adversaries like Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. Second, America should develop a National Digital Currency and Blockchain Strategic Plan that maps out ways to ensure that American firms, talent, and government agencies stay ahead of the potential cryptocurrency curve. Recently, U.S. Federal Reserve governor Lael Brainard expressed her confidence that the dollar will remain the world’s dominant reserve currency. Let’s hope such sentiments do not lead to complacency. If they do, the cat and mouse game could instead turn into the fable of the tortoise and the hare.
Last December, Reuters reported that multiple Russian vessels engaged in ship-based transfers of oil to North Korea on at least three occasions in 2017. In January 2018, President Trump condemned Russia specifically for helping North Korea evade sanctions.
The current crisis is the culmination of Erdoğan’s reckless stewardship. Fixing it will take years — a task that will require new leadership and an entirely different mentality.
The White House, along with a bipartisan group of legislators, are now on a path to not only increase Putin’s pain, but hopefully elicit a change in course.
While these state-to-state deals are certainly significant, they tend to overshadow a quieter, but equally important Russian campaign to “flip” Turkey’s influential business community. Akkuyu NPP, and the scandals of its board, shed light on Russian attempts to gain leverage over Erdogan and his advisors through the local private sector, in what appears to be a gradual building of hybrid warfare capacity against a key NATO ally.