Ryan Smith, Daily Maverick
According to an article published in BusinessTech this week, economists have stated that Ramaphoria is now well and truly dead. One would find it hard to believe that it ever really existed, but what baffles me is why South Africans continue to believe and place their hopes in individuals as opposed to parties, and policies to place the country back on the right track.
Helen Thompson, New Statesman
For at least seven decades, energy security has made the Persian Gulf a geopolitical minefield.
Amy Myers Jaffe, Foreign Affairs
Poor Countries Find Fossil Fuels Just As the Rich World Swears Them Off.
Penny Junor, Spectator
A tight-knit team would be easier to keep in check — but downsizing has its downsides
Tridivesh Singh Maini, Notes on Liberty
The past few days have been witness to some important statements made in the context of the Joint Comprehensive Program for Action (JCPOA) — also referred to as the Iran Nuclear deal. US allies, including the UK and some EU member states, do not seem to be in agreement with the US President’s Iran policy in general, and especially his inclination towards scrapping entirely the JCPOA.
Jackson Diehl, Washington Post
When the postmortems are written about President Trump’s foreign policy — sooner, we have to hope, rather than later — one phrase will stand out as a hallmark of failure: “maximum pressure.”
Anas El Gomati, Foreign Policy
A recent joint Russian-Turkish summit in Moscow aimed at forging a cease-fire in Libya broke down after the Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar left without signing the proposed truce agreement. One of Haftar’s main backers is Russia, and his unwillingness to sign on to the deal raises important questions about not only the degree of influence Russia actually has in Libya, but also how serious it is about bringing an...
Dimitri Simes, National Interest
Once bitter rivals, Russia and Turkey have seen their relationship rebound over the past few years. Turkey concluded a deal to acquire Russia’s elite S-400 air defense system, with the first shipment arriving this past summer. In October, Putin and Erdogan signed an agreement to clear northeastern Syria of Kurdish militias and establish a joint patrol zone.
Tom Rogan, Washington Examiner
For a leader who seeks to present himself as the new Mao Zedong, a leader of almost ordained wisdom and virtue, this submission will have been hard to swallow. They'll never say it, but Xi's inner circle in the Central Committee must be increasingly nervous with his rule.
Andrew Michta, The American Interest
The belief in the automatic triumph of the liberal world order has not only left the West unprepared to fight a long and grinding civilizational struggle. It has also actively harmed it.
