Joshua Yaffa, New Yorker
How the television producer Konstantin Ernst went from discerning auteur to Putin's unofficial minister of propaganda.
A. Wess Mitchell, National Review
Its roots go back two centuries. Can we learn from this history in shaping the years ahead?
Chris Shays & George Hochbrueckner, RCWorld
Pakistan and India have jointly administered the Jammu and Kashmir region since 1948, when the United Nations negotiated a cease-fire between the two South Asian countries and decreed that the Kashmiri people would determine their own future. That there is a hotly disputed region adjoining two nuclear-armed adversaries should be momentous enough to engage the United States in resolving the matter.
Craig Whitlock, Washington Post
For nearly two decades of war in Afghanistan, U.S. leaders have sounded a constant refrain: We are making progress. They were not, documents show, and they knew it.
Sanam Vakil, CH
The latest wave of protests highlights a fracturing social contract in the Islamic Republic.
David Axe, National Interest
The U.S. Air Force is considering retiring older warplanes in order to save money for new technologies. The idea is that the flying branch eventually would buy new planes including the tech, ultimately restoring the near-term cuts. But there's a flaw in that plan.
Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald
The United Nations World Food Program is scaling up emergency food assistance in Haiti, where a protracted political and economic crises are fanning a humanitarian disaster.But the available food is only enough to last until the end of the month, WFP's regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Miguel Barreto, told the Miami Herald.
Simon Cartledge, Bloomberg View
An economy unchanged in nearly two generations needs accountability to stop losing ground.
Caroline Rose, Geopolitical Futures
W. Burns, The Atlantic
It's time to abandon the dogma that's driven our foreign policy and led to so much disaster in the region.
Y. Schwartz, NY Books
The problem of gun violence in Israel's Arab communities has become a national emergency. Even before the recent general election, a poll conducted among Arab Israelis found that their most important issue, far above every other, was the gun violence plaguing Arab society. This is our number one emergency issue, said Ayman Odeh, leader of the Joint List of Arab parties in the Knesset. This murder wave, Arab leaders say, would neither exist nor persist if the victims were Jewish. Читать дальше...
Keren Blankfeld, New York Times
Was she the reason he was alive today?
Frank Ching, Yale Global
China had two setbacks in November, reminders that centralized communist governance is not appreciated worldwide. First, Hong Kong reported record turnout for district council elections, widely regarded as a referendum on China's control. Pro-democratic forces won by a landslide, taking control over 17 of the 18 councils from establishment candidates supported by China. Then, US President Donald Trump signed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act into law despite... Читать дальше...
Gabriel Powe, The Week
Hundreds of people have died in widespread unrest following fuel price hikes
Huong Le Thu, Foreign Policy
Hanoi's new defense white paper reflects fears of Chinese encroachment.
Tom Rachman, Globe and Mail
No matter who wins Thursday's general election, Britain will lose
Melanie Sisson, War on the Rocks
President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron don't agree on much. During a tense joint press conference ahead of the NATO leaders meeting,
Timothy Garton Ash, Guardian
In Putney, Labour and the Lib Dems are canvassing hard. Without tactical voting, both will lose out, says Guardian columnist Timothy Garton Ash
Niall Ferguson, Times of London
In elections, we expect there to be a winner. At some point in the early hours of Friday 13th, we assume, either Boris Johnson or Jeremy Corbyn will hoarsely address a crowd of exhausted but...
