S. Bush, New Statesman
The 2019 parliament will begin being sworn in today, and Boris Johnson will welcome the new intake of Conservative MPs with a reception at parliament, while the papers are full of leaks about a looming Whitehall re-organisation. Also coming down the pipe in the government’s first 46 days: the Brexit withdrawal agreement bill and a health bill, which will enshrine the manifesto commitment to spend an extra £34bn on the NHS by 2024.
Michel Barnier, Project Syndicate
The United Kingdom's general election this month settled the matter of Brexit: the UK will leave the European Union on January 31, 2020. It will then be up to the two sides to lay the groundwork for a future relationship based on mutual trust and shared interests.
Steven Simon, Foreign Policy
The United States and Israel call themselves allies, but they don’t have a formal defense treaty governing their relationship. Here’s why.
Daniel Kennelly, The American Interest
“We survived Pharaoh—we’ll survive this too,” is a common adage in Israel. But the country’s political dysfunction may get worse before it gets better.
Gordon Adams, Conversation
The Washington Post has, after more than two years of investigation, revealed that senior foreign policy officials in the White House, State and Defense departments have known for some time that the U.S. intervention in Afghanistan was failing.
David Isenberg, Res. State.
On December 9 the Washington Post published an article entitled “At War With the Truth,” after obtaining a confidential trove of government documents revealing that “senior U.S. officials failed to tell the truth about the war in Afghanistan throughout the 18-year campaign, making rosy pronouncements they knew...
Matt Ridley, Spectator
Little of this made the news, because good news is no news
