Thanassis Cambanis, Foreign Affairs
Neglected prison camps are incubating a new extremist threat.
Douglas Macgregor, American Greatness
President Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Northern Syria is a brilliant strategic move that simultaneously achieves all of our major objectives in the region. Perhaps because it has b
Curtis Chin & Jose Collazo, Japan Times
At the ASEAN summit, the path forward should be to double down on and recommit to the principles that have brought Southeast Asia success in recent decades.
Gary Anderson, Wash. Times
When you have an enemy that can't be destroyed by conventional means, you employ economy of force to wear him down.
Con Coughlin, The National
Concerns from Gulf leaders over mixed signals coming out of Washington were in evidence at this week's BIDEC defence conference in Bahrain
Jacek Bartosiak, Geopolitical Futures
The frequently cited Suwalki Gap is the only communication route connecting Poland the operational base of NATO and the U.S. to the Baltic states, which abut Russia and thus are vulnerable to Moscow's military advances. This narrow area is essential to sustaining NATO cohesion and guaranteeing the collective security afforded by NATO. In military terms, NATO's Line of Communication, or LOC, through the gap is extremely difficult to establish and maintain;... Читать дальше...
John Merrill, Nikkei Asian Review
Japan cannot afford to stand by as Pyongyang raises the military stakes
Jess Auerbach, African Arguments
In some elections, people vote for the soul of their nation. In Mauritius, they vote for their neighbours.
Edward Luce, Financial Times
There are disquieting similarities between the US today and the medieval Catholic church.
Andrew Bacevich, TomDispatch
Let us stipulate at the outset that Donald Trump is a vulgar and dishonest fraud without a principled bone in his corpulent frame. Yet history is nothing if not a tale overflowing with irony. Despite his massive shortcomings, President Trump appears intent on recalibrating America's role in the world. Initiating a long-overdue process of aligning U.S. policy with actually existing global conditions just may prove to be his providentially anointed function. Go figure.
Bobby Ghosh, Bloomberg
Remember that Bashar al-Assad has killed more Syrians than Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ever did.
Brandon Weichert, RCW
From the perspective of most American policymakers, the most interesting aspect of Massicot's piece is her claim that, while the new Russian doctrine will make coded barbs against the United States, Moscow will stop just shy of officially announcing the United States as a military threat. This underscores the fact that, no matter what differences Moscow and Washington may have, the Russians continue to seek a diplomatic solution to tensions with the United States. However... Читать дальше...
Jasen Castillo, National Interest
Gen. James Mattis reads history as a proponent of primacy, that the United States can and should sustain its place as the world's preeminent power and global policeman. This is a primitive perspective that should be left in the graveyard of failed strategies past.
Florian Bieber, Politico EU
With accession talks gridlocked, Europe needs a new approach in the region.
Laurie Clarke, Wired
Bad weather, flu and Christmas pantos not policy or Brexit might decide who leads the UK.
John Hannah, Foreign Policy
The withdrawal from Syria is part of a broader pattern of weakness, especially in response to Iran.
Steven Pifer, National Interest
The rationale for maintaining nuclear weapons at Incirlik becomes more dubious by the day. It is time for the U.S. Air Force to bring them home.
Bone & Nkwain, AA
The government's Grand National Dialogue and apparent change of approach was supposed to resolve, not intensify, the Anglophone crisis.
Dmytro Kuleba, EU Observer
Enlargement has always propelled the EU's growth. On the contrary, every time the European Union closes its doors to potential new members, it chooses a path of decline, warns Ukraine's deputy PM, Dmytro Kuleba.
Franco Ordoez, NPR
Tim Morrison, a White House official asked to testify Thursday in the impeachment inquiry into President Trump, is expected to leave the National Security Council imminently, three sources told NPR.
David Pilling, Financial Times
Disputes over power, resources, identity and territory have resurfaced under Abiy Ahmed.
Jon Alterman, CSIS
On October 29, Prime Minister Saad Hariri of Lebanon resigned in the face of weeks of protests. Q1: What is the significance of the collapse of Lebanese government? A1: The Lebanese government's collapse is another example of public disgust in the Middle East with governments that have failed to perform. There is a rising consensus that politicians are not meeting public needs. Protests broke out in Jordan over the summer and in Egypt in September, and they are ongoing in Iraq and Algeria.
Fred Lucas, DS
The military needs to be bigger, it needs to have something other than 30- or 40-year-old platforms, and it needs to be able to train sufficiently so that it's competent, index editor Dakota Wood says.
Yasmeen Serhan, The Atlantic
Protesters in Iraq and Lebanon are transcending societal divides to oppose political systems that are rooted in division. But can the unity last?
Carmen Paun & Anca Gurzu, Politico EU
Ursula von der Leyen needs Bucharest to nominate a commissioner but there's no government to do it.
