Zosia Wanat, Politico EU
President Andrzej Duda on course to win Sunday’s first round, but still face a runoff.
Alexis Papachelas, Ekathimerini
Hagia Sophia is not part of the Greek-Turkish agenda. It is a world heritage site located in Turkish territory. However, its possible reconversion into a mosque would poison relations between the two countries and peoples for many years.
Candace Rondeaux, World Politics Review
If all goes as planned next week, Vladimir Putin will be on a glide path to serve as Russia’s perpetual president. On July 1, Russia will hold a national referendum on a proposed package of changes to its constitution that many predict will essentially pave the way for Putin to run for office again after his current six-year presidential term expires in 2024.
James Clad, TNI
In the new era unexpectedly ushered in by 2020, whether it’s minerals supply, computer chips or telecommunications hardware, the chance to rebuild critical domestic industry has arrived.
Aleksei Zakharov, The Diplomat
The latest border clash between China and India highlights that Russia’s dream for the trilateral grouping has always been doomed to failure.
P. Chakravarty, The Hindu
India faces a “guns, germs and steel” crisis, to borrow from the title of Jared Diamond’s classic book on the evolution of societies and nations, Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. There are Chinese “guns” on the borders. There are coronavirus...
Carey Baraka, Foreign Policy
The handover of municipal services to military officers makes clear how the president wants to wield power.
Amberin Zaman, Al Monitor
The apology is testament to the group's determination to see unity talks between the Kurdish National Council and the PYD through to a successful end.
Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/06/syria-kurdish-militia-sdf-apology-rivals-unit-talks-war.html#ixzz6QX0XdhqA
Merryn Somerset Webb, Financial Times
Ditch today’s bias to misery. Normal times will be back soon
Jonathan Panter, Anand Jantzen & Johnathan Falcone, War on the Rocks
Naval officers pray at the altar of “more ships.” We demand more of them, fantasize about new ways to use them, and assume that the fleet will only grow. In the navalist faith, the post-Cold War period — which saw the fleet fall to an all-time low of 279 ships in 2007 — was an aberration, but happily the “
