Félix Seijas Rodríguez, AQ
The government’s blockade of the National Assembly on Jan. 5 seems to have run counter to its own 2020 election strategy. Can the opposition capitalize?
Gary Schmitt, The American Interest
If current projections hold, Beijing will be the big loser in Taiwan’s presidential election this Saturday—and the United States will have a golden opportunity.
Maggie Tennis & Strobe Talbott, Slate
A crisis tailor-made for Vladimir Putin.
Sumantra Maitra, The Federalist
The length, scope, and operational duration of the attack suggests it is a targeted towards regime stability and an internal audience. Whether it leads to further escalation is a political call.
Stratfor
The dust is beginning to settle in the aftermath of the Jan. 8 Iranian ballistic missile attacks on two U.S. military bases in Iraq. With no reported casualties among U.S. personnel and Iran's indication that it has now concluded its military response to the death of Gen. Qassem Soleimani in a U.S. strike, the door is open for the short-term de-escalation of the brewing confrontation between the two countries. The United States could yet decide to...
James Jay Carafano, National Interest
Now that the dust has settled from last night’s fireworks display, one thing is clear: Tehran has a lot of unpleasant short-term choices.
Christopher Mott, RealClearWorld
The recent assassination of Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani shows the dangers of assuming that Washington is exempt from the calculations that make or break sound strategy. Might and self-righteousness do not immunize the United States from consequences. While U.S. President Donald Trump's speech today signaled no further retaliation, it does not guarantee that tensions will cease to escalate.
Jonah Goldberg, National Review
Consistency is in the eye of the beholder, not the man.
Shashi Tharoor, Project Syndicate
The India the world once celebrated – the world’s fastest-growing free-market liberal democracy – seems to be giving way to a violent, intolerant, illiberal autocracy. It is a turn that was long in the making, reflecting the impact of eight major factors on the country's society and politics.
Roger Boyes, Times of London
The assassination of Iran’s military chief must leave North Korea nervous about making a deal.
Anders Aslund, Atlantic Council
Ukraine’s considerable achievements in 2019 are poorly understood, both in Ukraine and abroad. This is perhaps not surprising. Ukrainians usually suspect their government of the worst, while the foreign media rarely reports accurately about Ukrainian reforms. Since September 2019, US media coverage in particular has been distorted by negative impeachment-related headlines. Nevertheless, the progress made by Ukraine over the past twelve months should not be underestimated. Читать дальше...
Jacquelyn Schneider, New York Times
It is very difficult for Iran to launch cyberattacks that would affect a significant portion of the American population.
Sergiy Fotiev, Worldcrunch
Martin Sandbu, Financial Times
Luckily, policymakers have believed their eyes rather than their theories.
Sam Denney, RealClearWorld
On Nov. 9, Germany celebrated the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Combined with the reunification of Germany a year later, that event marked a turning point in German history. Reunification was messy, but it provided a new political beginning for Germany, and an opportunity to slowly heal the divides between East and West. Thirty years later, the success of the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, in regional elections in Germany’s East reveals a renewed turmoil in German society. Читать дальше...
Curtis Ryan, WP Review
The 25th anniversary of the landmark peace treaty between Jordan and Israel came and went without celebration among Jordanians last fall. They did cheer, however, when the Jordanian government refused to renew annexes to the treaty that allowed Israel to lease and farm fertile lands in the Jordan Valley. While Israelis were disappointed by the move, which followed through on a previous...
Spencer Ackerman, Daily Beast
Trump says he hates endless wars, but the Soleimani hit writ large shows why he hasn’t ended them. He’s the ultimate expression of impulses that have consumed the U.S. since 9/11.
Simon Waldman, CapX
Soleimani's assassination is a sign the US has restored its deterrence.
Economist
IT WAS, ACCORDING to David Petraeus, a former American army general and director of the CIA, “more consequential” than the killing of Osama bin Laden or of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Few bemoaned the demise of the jihadist leaders of al-Qaeda and Islamic State. But the killing on January 3rd by drone strike of Qassem Suleimani, head of Iran’s Quds Force, the foreign-operations branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has sparked a furore over the legality and the impact of his assassination. Читать дальше...
Jim Banks, Fox News
Thomas Wright, Brookings
interviewed by Rona Barrett, one of America’s most famous gossip columnists, on NBC. It was several weeks before Ronald Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter in the presidential election and near the end of the Iran hostage crisis in which the Iranian regime took 52 American diplomats and citizens prisoner after the embassy was stormed and then held them for 444...
Owen Cameron, Sydney Morning Herald
It is December, 2049.
Australia is commemorating the 30th anniversary of the 2019-2020 bushfires. For many years now there has been a national day of remembrance, occurring each summer solstice to remember all citizens who’ve perished in the many fires, floods, cyclones, droughts and extreme weather events that have plagued the continent in the 21st century. On the cusp of 2050, casualties linked to natural disasters in Australia sadly number in the thousands. Читать дальше...
S. McCarthy, SCMP
Official outlets such as People’s Daily and Xinhua have focused on the global wave of criticism of the US following the drone strike that killed Qassem Soleimani last week.
Victor D. Hanson, Amer. Greatness
The United States is trying to square a circle, remaining strong and deterring dangerous elements, but to do so for U.S. interests—interests that increasingly seem to be fewer and fewer in the Middle East.
