Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg View
Russia’s real constitution is in Putin’s head. That’s where the missing details will come from, too.
Victor Davis Hanson, New York Post
Despite its cool green parties and ambitious wind and solar agendas, Europe remains by far the world’s largest importer of oil and natural gas. Oil output in the North Sea and off the coast of Norway is declining, and the European Union is quietly looking for fossil-fuel energy anywhere it can find it.
Protess & Vogel, NYT
WASHINGTON — Lev Parnas, the Soviet-born businessman who played a central role in the campaign to pressure Ukraine to investigate political rivals of President Trump, completed his break with the White House on Wednesday, asserting for the first time in public that the president was fully aware of the efforts to dig up damaging information on his behalf.
Rajiv Sikri, South China Morning Post
A widespread and
unseemly controversy
has broken out in India over the
Simon Saradzhyan, Russia Matters
Vladimir Putin appeared to have caught much of Russia’s ruling elite off guard when he fired the entire government on Jan. 15. With implementation of Putin’s much-prized national projects by the government introuble and
Roger Noriega, RealClearWorld
Transnational organized crime is dissolving borders and disrupting the institutions essential to peace and prosperity. It is urgent that the Western Hemisphere’s heavyweights, Brazil and the United States, launch a regional alliance to confront global criminal networks and regimes that profit from disorder.
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Douglas London, Just Security
When it comes to intelligence, like with so much else, President Donald Trump likes big names. It’s this focus on celebrity, headlines, and immediate gratification — versus substance, impact, and consequences — that so often motivates him. Partly because of this, as a senior CIA counterterrorist manager, my team and I often struggled in persuading the president to recognize the most important threats. Now, with the killing of Qassem Soleimani, I worry that while Trump got a big name and lots of headlines... Читать дальше...
H. French, WPR
Matthew Goodman, CSIS
On January 15, President Donald Trump and China’s Vice Premier Liu He held a long-anticipated ceremony in the East Room of the White House to sign a “Phase One” U.S.-China trade deal. The document, entitled “Economic and Trade Agreement Between the United States of America and the People’s Republic of China,” runs to 96 pages with eight chapters, covering...
Thomas Wright, The Atlantic
Walker, Ludwig & Kalathil, Jour. of Dem.
When it comes to the impact of authoritarian sharp power on the future of democracy, perhaps no other domain is as pivotal as that of technology. Technological interdependence has enabled modernizing authoritarians to reach across borders to censor and manipulate public discourse, sharpen polarization, and undermine democracy. From "safe-city" surveillance projects to state-linked disinformation campaigns on social-media platforms, authoritarians'... Читать дальше...
Tony Blair, The National
The former UK prime minister shares his memories of a leader who ruled Oman for almost 50 years
James Kirkup, Spectator
Boris Johnson is to ‘take personal charge’ of a new crackdown on crime and gangs. So reports Steve Swinford of the Times, one of the Lobby’s best reporters.
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Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday formally put forward Mikhail Mishustin, the little-known head of Russia's Federal Tax Service, to be Russia's new prime minister, the Kremlin said.
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Patrick Cockburn, London Review of Books
For Trump, one advantage of Soleimani’s assassination is that the Iranians will be more cautious about launching limited attacks on the US and its allies, though this isn’t to say that they will cease altogether. Iran cannot permanently de-escalate as long as sanctions continue. The intensity and length of the crisis means that accidents are likely to happen, as demonstrated by what appears to have been the unintentional shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger plane. Читать дальше...
C. Landow, FP
Northern Ireland’s leaders have reached a deal to restore power-sharing, but several problems remain unsolved.
KP
Associates of Rudy Giuliani, the personal lawyer of U.S. President Donald J. Trump, conducted an extended campaign of surveillance against the former American ambassador to Ukraine, according to new evidence released on Jan. 14 as part of Trump’s impeachment.
