Mark Gilbert, Bloomberg View
Nancy Youssef, Daily Beast
After promising no boots on the ground vs. ISIS, President Obama is sending them into a war zone, one spoonful at a time.
D. Christensen, Nation
Later this year, the largest movable structure on earthessentially a colossal steel tomb shaped like an oversized airplane hangaris scheduled to begin its slow journey along a rail system, traveling at a glacial pace of 33 feet an hour. Its destination: the crumbling ruins of Chernobyls reactor number four, which, 30 years after the worst nuclear meltdown in history, continues to ooze radiation like a wound that refuses to heal.
Faisal Al Yafai, The National
As the US election continues its twists and turns, foreign policy only rarely rears it head. This week is an exception, for two reasons: one, the US president Barack Obama is bidding farewell to the Gulf and to Europe. And two, Hillary Clinton, hoping to succeed Mr Obama, has been burnishing her foreign policy credentials.
Kelley Vlahos, Amer. Cons.
If Lofgren sounds ticked off, it’s because he is. Living in the Fort Hunt area of Alexandria (close to the Potomac, near Mount Vernon and the Army’s Fort Belvoir) for more than three decades, he sees firsthand the razing of modest abodes once “good enough” for Washington’s commuter class. He worked on Capitol Hill before and after 9/11, and knows how the business of government changed along with national security and political trends. He has charted the disconnect with... Читать дальше...
David Klion, WPR
Earlier this month, in a nonbinding referendum, Dutch voters firmly rejected a treaty that would establish closer ties between the European Union and Ukraine. The Netherlands currently holds the EUs rotating presidency, and for Prime Minister Mark Rutte, a supporter of the treaty, the vote was a clear rebuke. The Netherlands, like many other countries across Europe, is in the midst of a populist backlash against European integration in general. Referendum voters also expressed... Читать дальше...
Stephen Walt, For. Policy
There’s no quick, cheap, or military-based way to bring peace to places like Afghanistan, Yemen, and Iraq. It’s time we changed our approach, and we can start at home.
W. Robert Pearson, ME Institute
President Barack Obama has turned over the table of orthodox foreign policy theory and practice in the Middle East. The United States may now have choices before it that are better grounded in fact, but has roiled the region in the process. It is the short-term consequences of the American shift that have attracted the most attention, but it is the long-term that will produce the most important outcomes. Four of America’s traditional allies—Israel, Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia—are now estranged partners. Читать дальше...
Ivan Vejvoda, German Marshall Fund
BELGRADE-The Serbian parliamentary snap elections held yesterday were always going to be about consolidating the incumbent Prime Minister's position and the strategic goal of taking the country forward toward full EU membership. The result was more than convincing with 48% of the votes won and a full parliamentary majority. With this, Serbia continues full steam ahead into the EU accession process and opening the next key negotiation chapters 23 and 24 on justice and home affairs. Читать дальше...
Manfred Dworschak, Der Spiegel
Thirty years after the Chernobyl disaster, it has become clear that radioactivity might be less harmful than originally thought. Some researchers even believe it may be beneficial in small doses.
Simms & Guibernau, New States.
Pierre Atlas, Indianapolis Star
As for foreign and national security policy, Trump is even less knowledgeable and more reckless. He has suggested that the United States pull out of South Korea and Japan and that both countries should obtain nuclear weapons to defend themselves. In other words, at the same time that Trump is advocating economic warfare against a rising China, he would have the United States abandon its Asian allies.
Mary Anastasia O'Grady, WSJ
A broke government wants to loot private pension accounts.
Anne Applebaum, WaPo
Some of Yanukovychs tactics might be harder to deploy, such as falsifying election results (though its not like that never happened in the U.S.) or abolishing the right to protest (though Trump at times sounds like he wouldnt mind passing such a law if he could). But others are already in use. Pro-Trump troll armies, for example fake Twitter accounts programmed to tweet the same message, a very popular tactic east of the Dnieper are already in the field:
Andrew Coyne, National Post
But while Trudeau, dimpled of smile and tousled of hair, seems the embodiment of eternal youth, his rapidly aging government is the portrait in the attic, on which all the lines and pockmarks of ethical decay are visited. The face on television may bespeak a commitment to idealism and honesty, transparency and fairness, but the government behind it has already amassed a record of cynicism, deception, secrecy and cronyism that for most governments would take years.
Peter Hartcher, SMH
The world's two greatest powers are competing for military dominance of the western Pacific Ocean and the contest is about to intensify. The US and China are each jockeying for advantage as they anticipate a quickening in a struggle that "has the potential to escalate into one of the deadliest conflicts of our time, if not history", according to Malaysia's Defence Minister, Hishammuddin Hussein.
George Friedman, Geopolitical Futures
For North Korea, this is a rational calculus of the behavior of its major potential enemy. And talking in ways Americans regard as crazy is simply a convincing way to freeze the Americans in place. Put simply, being a jerk doesn’t mean you’re crazy. It is not a bad negotiating posture in any market. But this is also not a nuclear program that is going to deploy a target for the United States. It is a way to manage the United States.
Svati Narula, Quartz
The earthquake in Nepal on April 25, 2015, destroyed thousands of lives and entire villages throughout the country. But it was the posh seasonal community full of foreigners at the base of Mount Everest whose travails attracted the most attention in the immediate aftermath.
Witold Waszczykowski, Foreign Policy
Poland is not in the business of causing political migraines. NATO remains the cornerstone of Polish and transatlantic security. Warsaw has demonstrated its credibility as a reliable, active member of NATO, having raised military spending to the benchmark of 2 percent of GDP. But it has earned the right to give its friends and allies a bit of a shake. What we are telling our friends is that the alliance does not in itself guarantee security. What Europe and the United States need is a more active... Читать дальше...
Robin Wright, New Yorker
Three months after Iran dismantled large parts of its nuclear program, in compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action—the international nuclear deal—the country’s Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, declared last week in New York that the United States is falling seriously short of its commitments. Iran’s Central Bank chief, Valiollah Seif, delivered a similar message during his first meeting with Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, on April 14th, and he told the Council on Foreign Relations... Читать дальше...
Alexander Clapp, National Interest
THE UKRAINIAN army was so pitiful when fighting broke out in the Donbas in April 2014 that President Petro Poroshenko had to outsource the nations defense to volunteers.
Grant Newsham & Kerry Gershaneck, TNI
The United States’ approach to dealing with China from the Nixon-Kissinger era onwards resembles a forty-five-year science experiment—an experiment that has failed.
