Robert Evans, Bellingcat
The city of Portland, Oregon is currently in the national spotlight after video evidence of federal agents driving rented vans and abducting activists went viral. This footage was taken in the early morning hours of July 15, and an Oregon Public Broadcasting articlepublished on the 16th brought the matter out of the local social networks of Portland activists and on to the national stage.
Fehim Tastekin, Al Monitor
Ankara’s harsh outbursts in favor of Baku in Azerbaijan’s rekindled conflict with Armenia might be aimed at domestic consumption as well as pressuring Russia into concessions in Libya and Syria.
Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/07/turkey-russia-armenia-azerbaijan-clashes-erdogan-adventure.html#ixzz6SlBviaqb
M. Bociurkiw, CNN
(CNN)First there was the secretive trip to the Bahamas in 2016 when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family rode in a helicopter owned by the Aga Khan, the billionaire and Ismaili Muslim spiritual leader whose organization has received hundreds of millions of dollars in Canadian federal grants to advance its work overseas.
Michael Klare, TomDispatch
On March 26th, the coronavirus accomplished what no foreign adversary has been able to do since the end of World War II: it forced an American aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, to suspend patrol operations and shelter in port. By the time that ship reached dock in Guam, hundreds of sailors had been infected with the disease and nearly the entire crew had to be evacuated. As news of the crisis aboard the TR (as the vessel is known) became public, word... Читать дальше...
K. McKinney & S. Sagan, The Bulletin
The archival record makes clear that killing large numbers of civilians was the primary purpose of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima; destruction of military targets and war industry was a secondary goal and one that “legitimized” the intentional destruction of a city in the minds of some participants. The atomic bomb was detonated over the center of Hiroshima. More than 70,000 men, women, and children were killed immediately; the munitions factories... Читать дальше...
Kirkpatrick, Apuzzo & Gebrekidan, NYT
The coronavirus exposed European countries’ misplaced confidence in faulty models, bureaucratic busywork and their own wealth.
Kurt Volker, Center for European Policy Analysis
American policymakers dealing with China’s hostile takeover of Hong Kong face a dilemma. Do too little, and the regime in Beijing gets away with erasing the former British territory’s autonomy with impunity. But restricting Hong Kong’s privileged status in U.S. relations — as the United States is now doing — will hurt the people of Hong Kong and indeed give China no reason not to proceed with its complete absorption. Neither scenario will change Chinese behavior... Читать дальше...
Robert Shrimsley, FT
UK prime minister will have to fight to save the Union from himself.
Garen Smyth, Responsible Statecraft
It is over 70 years since the sun set on the British Raj. A century has elapsed since U.S. president Wood Wilson proclaimed the triumph of “national self-determination” on the ruins of the Romanov and Hapsburg dynasties.
Christopher Snowdon, Spectator
These children are the forgotten demographic
J. Johnson, USNI
The concept of improving race relations through individual conversations misses the structurally systemic nature of the problem.
Stephen Bartholomeusz, SMH
Donald Trump’s coronavirus fuelled trade wars have started the process of remaking global supply chains with the express purpose of reducing the West's over-reliance on China’s low-cost but highly-skilled manufacturing bas
J. Blanchette, CSIS
On Wednesday, the New York Times reported the Trump administration is weighing a ban on all members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and their families from traveling to the United States. We do not know the full details of the proposal, and we do not need to. The move, however it might eventually be worded or implemented, would be a mistake. Several flaws with the plan are immediately obvious:
Ido Vock, New Statesman
The US deciding to quit the World Trade Organisation is far from a remote possibility.
C. Rondeaux, WPR
With Egypt reportedly on the brink of invading Libya, and troops from Chad said to be heading north to support Gen. Khalifa Haftar, what was already a complicated proxy war could soon become Africa's first full-on intracontinental war in decades. That may not be all that is at risk, however.
Puglierin & Franke, ECFR
Sigmar Gabriel, Project Syndicate
European leaders who speak of a need for "fundamental" change in the transatlantic alliance are missing the point. The relationship with the United States has already been irreversibly altered, and what most needs to be updated is Europe's conception of itself.
N. Ferguson, Bloomberg
Stephen Walt, Foreign Policy
Two cheers for a classic idea that’s been out of fashion for too long: state sovereignty.
