Linda Pappas Funsch, Foreign Policy
Thanks to Qaboos’s legacy, Oman is better placed than many of its neighbors to confront the challenges that will continue to bedevil the Middle East.
Piedad Bonnett, Worldcrunch
Authoritarianism seems to be gaining ground in many parts of the planet. But from Hong Kong to Chile — and many places in between — people are also pushing back.
Christian Oliver, Politico EU
Fury over mismanagement spreads across Iran’s political spectrum.
Joseph Bosco, The Hill
Trump will be warned against calling Tsai while the U.S.-China trade talks are still ongoing. But the U.S. side has always held the stronger hand in those negotiations, and that will not change as long as Trump remains firm in his basic demands for transparency and reciprocity.
Tom Rogan, Washington Examiner
It's not just President Trump's tweets in Farsi.
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Joshua Mcdonald, The Diplomat
PM Morrison has two options: confront the far-right elements within his government or forever be linked to Australia’s climate decline.
John Bradley, Spectator
The democracy junkies are at it again — craving another fantasy revolution in a country they don’t understand.
Megan Greene, Chatham House
Ozlem Kayhan Pusane, WOTR
Turkey’s ability to explain itself to the world has rarely been more difficult — and it’s never been more important. Since 2015, when Turkey’s peace process with Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê — PKK) collapsed, the country has felt increasingly under threat. From the perspective of Ankara, the groups that pose the greatest danger to Turkish security are the PKK, its Syrian affiliate the Democratic... Читать дальше...
Sujan Chinoy, Indian Express
India cannot afford to take sides. Energy supplies and the safety and security of its vast diaspora in the Gulf are of utmost importance. India has a substantial Shia population too, with sympathy for Iran.
Judd Devermont et al, CSIS
2020 will be another pivotal year for sub-Saharan Africa. The region will hold presidential or general elections in as many as 11 countries. It will be a make-or-break moment for key transitions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, and Sudan. Conflicts will fester in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Mozambique, Nigeria, the Sahel, Somalia, and South Sudan. The region’s governments, opposition, and private sector will continue to
Eli Lake, Bloomberg View
After Iran downed the drone, Wurmser advised Bolton that the U.S. response should be overt and designed to send a message that the U.S. holds the Iranian regime, not the Iranian people, responsible. “This could even involve something as a targeted strike on someone like Soleimani or his top deputies,” Wurmser wrote in a June 22 memo.
Andrew Small, ECFR
The US-China trade deal could make life tougher for Europe. But there are risks for China too in provoking greater coalition-building against it.
Rich Lowry, New York Post
President Trump isn’t George W. Bush. That should be obvious to everyone by now, but his critics and even some of his supporters immediately acted as if it were 2003 on the cusp of the Iraq War when Trump took out Iranian Quds Force commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike in Iraq.
Metin Gurcan, Al Monitor
As Russia and Turkey broker negotiations in Moscow to convince Libya’s warring parties to sign a permanent truce, Turkey has already set out its Libyan road map with an important red line.
