Malte Lehming, TNI
The nation and its politics are being violently divided by the influx.
Matthew Taylor, Council on Foreign Relations
Brazil is in the midst of the longest recession of the democratic era that began in 1985. Between 2015 and 2016, the economy will shrink by 7 percent, more than in any other two-year period in the past century. The Economist’s dire cover story this week summarized the sad state of affairs: a downgrade in the country’s debt to junk status, a massive corruption scandal, rising public debt, two-digit inflation, and a rudderless political system, all contributing... Читать дальше...
Timothy Garton Ash, Guardian
PiS represents a whole conservative, religious side of Polish society and a solid third of the Polish electorate. Skilfully picking up other votes, benefiting from disillusionment with the centrist Civic Platform and pathetic chaos on the Polish left, it won a resounding victory in a free and fair election – like David Cameron’s Conservatives in Britain. So it’s not the policies, the politics or even the ideology that requires all friends of Poland to sound the alarm;... Читать дальше...
Max Fisher, Vox
"Having been ushered by the Japanese into the world's purest race, the Koreans in 1945 simply kicked the Japanese out of it," Myers writes. "Much of the Japanese [fascist-era] version of Korean history — from its blanket condemnation of Chinese influence to its canards about murderous Yankee missionaries — was carried over whole."
Jason Markusoff, Maclean's
MacKay’s ordeal is just one example of the upheaval many Albertans, new and old, have suffered since oil prices began their long, hard crash. It’s affected everyone from steel-toed rig hands to French-cuffed executives, with layoffs hitting Calgary and Fort Mac, not to mention the many small towns across Alberta that rely heavily on the energy sector.
Fred Kaplan, Slate
Hard as it was to do diplomacy with the elder Kims, Western diplomats came to discern patterns, a distinct negotiating style, and figured out ways to play the game. The most nerve-racking thing about the young Kim is that the elders’ rules no longer apply. “He doesn’t seem to be following any rulebook,” says Scott Snyder of the Council on Foreign Relations, whose 1999 book, Negotiating on the Edge, laid out the rules for talking with North Korea. “My book was relevant up to 2011. Читать дальше...
M. Nawaz, DB
It took several days for the news of hundreds of sexual assaults in Cologne to make headlines. As progressives dither over what to say, the far right has already seized the opportunity.
Valerie Hudson, Politico EU
The recent surge of migration into Europe has been unprecedented in scope, with an estimated 1 million migrants from the Middle East and North Africa this past year alone, making for a massive humanitarian crisis, as well as a political and moral dilemma for European governments. But one crucial dimension of this crisis has gone little-noticed: sex or, more technically, sex ratios.
Kenneth Pollack, Foreign Policy
Saudi royals are scared about everything from the rise of Iran to the drop in oil prices. And Washington telling them to calm down only makes them angrier.
M. Cohen, World Politics Review
In the grand sweep of history, 2015 was a year of vitally important progress.
M. Inganamort, RealClearWorld
In March 2014 elections, El Salvador's ruling left-wing party, the Farabundo Mart National Liberation Front, or FMLN, fought the ascendant right-wing ARENA party to a draw, effectively maintaining their control in the Legislative Assembly but capturing the symbolically important mayor's seat in the capital and largest city, San Salvador.
