I highly doubt China will cooperate very much with them. They signed that they recognize the group but I think that's it. It is a very touchy group to involve yourself in.

It is true that all of these fall under Russia's sphere which is why this organization has come together. They're all already listening to the Russian government so making a formal international group just makes them look better on an international stage.

I think that the best part of today's document is article 4 which says "The Organization shall co-operate in its activity with the states which are not the members of the Organization, keep in touch with the international intergovernmental organizations operating in the sphere of security. The Organization shall promote formation of the fair, democratic world order based on conventional principles of international law." This is important because at this time in the world cooperation between nations is key. I like that they base their rules on current international law. This means that they will put a lot of emphasis on human rights. That is because it is a hot button topic right now between what is going on in the USA, Turkey, China, and more. We are becoming more globalized and I think that this article puts focus on the laws that should be in place.

I agree that it raises global interdependence. I feel like many countries are understanding that they can progress quicker if they work together. I think that this would help the east and west come together. If the west sees that the east is advancing and working together, they might want to take part in the initiatives.

I completely agree that this can bring the countries closer together. All of Europe would be more united if this worked because it would cause a lot of technological, transportation, and energy advancements in the area.

I think the coolest part of today's article is the digital highway that is going to use 5G, fiber optics, and an enhanced communication infrastructure. I think it is important to note that if countries are going to be sending more information between allies, cybersecurity needs to be a major priority. It is good to see the flow of information becoming easier between these European countries, but hacking is become a much bigger threat. These countries need to do their due diligence to make sure the information sent stays safe.

This is a very interesting take. I never really thought about the impact this could have on the arctic region. I would like to hear more about what security objectives are in the arctic region.

I like the fact that all of the western world is coming together to condemn the human rights atrocities that are taking place in China. Every country has their issues but I think that China denying it is a serious problem and it deserves to be brought to light.

I like that cyber security is highlighted in today's document. The threats that are appearing online are becoming more and more difficult to deal with. It is good that the countries are cooperating to better deal with the problem. They are also running exercises to find the issues in their systems so they can better protect their citizens. I think that this is extremely important to protect the cyber rights of citizens. So many people have their lives online and it is important that foreign governments are not able to hack into security systems and steal information or government secrets.

I agree that it is important to make a definition we can all agree upon. It is insane that terrorism is not classified as such in certain countries. The best way to combat these groups is to first properly identify them. Just like Canada recently named the Proud Boys as a terrorist group, other countries should follow suit. We need to categorize these groups as what they are before we are able to do something about them.

Many people fall for the right wing extremist craze. It is as though they find it easy to blame all of their issues on someone else and they look to minorities for their own misfortunes. If someone gets fired it's because immigrants are taking their jobs, etc. It is as if there is no one else to blame so the main way of avoiding the problem is blaming it on someone else.

Right wing terrorism is a major issue facing the world today. It is the suppression and rejection of minorities all around the world. I like that the article touches on how it is made up of several subcurrents that all come together to make up right-wing extremism. As a human rights advocate, I would like to stress the importance of our inalienable rights. These are rights that are the exact same for all citizens, no matter their background. No one minority is given less rights, or deserves less attention. We are all created equal, and these types of groups threaten the equality that we have been striving to achieve. These groups use fake theories such as the "Great Replacement" to justify their actions. They genuinely believe that Jews are trying to replace the general population. Being Jewish, this is not only extremely offensive, but extremely inaccurate.

I agree that it is very interesting the way that it links mental health to terrorism. I also highly doubt that the CCP will ever define extremism and actually work towards ending it. They are too focused on mislabeling groups in order to suppress them. I do think it would be useful for other countries to look more into the extremism that is linked to mental illness and see how we can fix this issue.

I agree with you that it is a very big step that Europol acknowledges the linkage between mental health and extremism. It is more than simply distinguishing between the two. They actually state that people that have mental health issues are more susceptible to extremist recruitment. I think this is something that requires more focus. It is important for us to determine how exactly they are doing this and how we can protect those with compromised mental health.

I like that today's article gave an entire side section that focused on mental health and terrorism. It highlighted the fact that sometimes individuals that have mental disorders can display signs of radicalization. This is not due to their ideology, but due to their illness. They give the example of the Hague stabbings that took place in the Netherlands in 2018. It was deduced that the attack had no terrorist motive and that the reason for the attack was actually due to the perpetrators paranoid psychosis. The Utrecht attack was also carried out by someone with a mental disorder. He had a personality disorder that played a large part in his reasoning for carrying out the attack. People who are mentally unstable will be swayed more easily online. I think that it is important for mental health experts to focus on a way to deter those with certain conditions from falling for these radicalizing traps online. There are extremists that are taking advantage of people with mental illnesses, this is not something that we can allow to take place.

I agree that if there were a way to economically cripple the terrorist organizations, it would greatly decrease the amount of attacks that we see. It would also cause the ones that do happen to be on a much smaller scale. I think one of the largest issues that we see today is state sponsored terrorism. The fact that there are nations that are paying both terrorists and their families makes it impossible to ever fully stop the funding of these groups. It is sad to see that there are nations that support the harming of innocent people due to their beliefs. I believe that on top of having FIUs countries should also take a much harder stance on nations that believe they can sponsor terrorism, I cannot imagine the threat disappearing without taking this step.

I feel like most continents come together to work on issues that affect all of them. It is very important to work on diplomacy and to work together with surrounding nations to promote peace. Especially now when tensions are rising around the world, I find it extremely important for nations to work together to protect their citizens.

I enjoyed how on page 20, the document touches on encrypted information. I feel like this is a very important part in securing our rights to privacy and data protection. It can also be used in a negative way. Many terrorist groups are able to message each other information that can be detrimental to many civilians through encrypted messaging. This causes an interesting dilemma. The European Union needs to respect the rights of its citizens while also stopping and intercepting potentially harmful messages from being sent. The encryption is obviously put in place for privacy reasons, so unencrypting them would be a violation of privacy rights. The EU is looking for a lawful way to counter terrorism plans that are sent using encryption. I think that this is an especially interesting topic that will require some serious thought. Many people look at major human rights atrocities and tend to overlook the smaller issues like privacy. It is important to protect every human's inalienable rights, no matter how small. People encrypt information because they don't want it to be easily accessible. Is it okay for the government to intercept messages they think could be harmful? I feel like this could very quickly lead to an abuse of power by government officials.

I read an article a week ago that dealt with the use of AI at borders, and your response reminds me of this. People had ethics concerns when it came to using AI at borders because people were afraid that they could be programmed to discriminate against certain groups. The AI also read both facial expressions and body language of the people at the borders to decide whether or not they should be allowed in the country. If the answer was inconclusive they would be sent to an actual officer to be further interviewed. China's facial software is used in a way that is detrimental to their society. It is used to suppress their people. There is a way that facial recognition could be used to help society.

I agree that it is important to focus on Digital Service. Especially in today's society, where this pandemic is keeping us all inside, it is important to stop the spread of extremism online. Terrorist content online is something that cannot be allowed. It is the duty of the EU to prevent this kind of false information and brainwashing to take place in their countries.