Julien Barnes-Dacey et al, ECFR
The election of Joe Biden marks a new era in the transatlantic relationship – in upholding the liberal international order, America wants a Europe that is a sovereign partner, not a helpless dependent.
Salvatore Babones, 1945
Scotland is a drag on British politics and the treasury. Why not let Scotland go, and let its independent government learn to fend for itself?
James Holmes, National Interest
From the author: "It’s hard to amass combat power when it’s needed, where it’s needed, without robust auxiliaries. It’s also hard to regenerate combat power after taking a blow in action. Such a contestant is brittle."
Jason Marczak & María Fernanda Bozmoski, RCW
Central America was already struggling mightily under the weight of the pandemic. Back-to-back natural disasters may bring the region to the breaking point.
Zosia Wanat & Jan Cienski, Politico EU
The recent Polish threat to veto the EU’s budget has ignited a discussion about the country’s future in the bloc.
Anthony Cordesman, CSIS
Important as the assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh may be, it is only one part of the story. Like the killing of Qassem Soleimani, it has a major political impact and makes it even harder for the United States to negotiate with Iran. At the same time, both the assassination and Iran's nuclear program need to be kept in a broader strategic context. How Far Has Iran Gotten
Barbara Slavin, New York Times
The assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh isn’t about stopping a bomb — it’s about preventing diplomacy. Joe Biden doesn’t have to let it work.
Najmeh Bozorgmehr & Mehul Srivastava, FT
The hit squad behind last week’s deadly attack on the man long thought to be the mastermind of Iran’s alleged military nuclear programme left nothing to chance.
Aspen Institute
Christian Esch, Der Spiegel
Russian troops have arrived in Nagorno-Karabakh to keep the peace, but thousands of Armenians are having to flee the region. They are leaving nothing to the arriving Azerbaijanis – and it is unclear when normalcy might return.
Maleeha Lodhi, Dawn
WILL the peace process between Afghanistan’s warring parties be put at risk by the Pentagon’s recent announcementthat more US troops will be withdrawn ahead of schedule? Not really. Factors other than troop levels are more significant for the future of peace talks. In any case, troop levels have progressively been going down since the Doha agreement of February between the US and the Taliban. The drawdown of another 2,000 troops, planned by mid-January, will likely have... Читать дальше...
William Pesek, Nikkei Asian Review
Crown Property Bureau has become a national obsession
Mohammed Girma, African Arguments
Amid widespread hateful rhetoric, intercommunal mistrust and violence could spiral out of control.
Branko Brkic, Daily Maverick
These days, Malema, Floyd and co are downright dangerous for the future of SA: in a country that’s been brutalised by almost a year of pandemic disruption, they are reliable thugs pulling the country towards a greater conflict.
David Patrikarakos, Spectator
Yesterday afternoon someone assassinated yet another scientist working on Iran's nuclear programme. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh headed up the ministry of defence's research and innovation organisation, and he was ambushed and killed in his car just east of Tehran, by gunmen who opened fire on him and his bod...
Grigory Ioffe, Jamestown
The turbulent stalemate in Minsk continues, despite the fact that street protests have been subsiding and their full-scale resumption is not expected before March, as noted by, among others, Belarusian political commentator Artyom Shraibman (Current Time TV, November 20). By then, not only will the weather warm up but traditional dates marked by the opposition, like Liberty Day (March 25) and the Chernobyl Path (April 26), may themselves produce large protest crowds....
Minxin Pei, Project Syndicate
Given the current bipartisan US antipathy toward China, President-elect Joe Biden is unlikely to change the fundamental tenets of President Donald Trump’s hard-line policy. But if Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping each invest a modest amount of political capital, they may be able to de-escalate bilateral tensions.
M. Funaiole & J. Bermudez, Jr., CSIS
The first of China’s new Type 075 landing helicopter dock (LHD) appears to have recently embarked on a second round of sea trials—this time in the South China Sea. The amphibious assault vessel left Hudong–Zhonghua Shipyard in early October and remained in the Shanghai area for nearly three weeks before sailing south. Toward the end of October, the Type 075 arrived some 1,250 nautical miles away, near China’s southern coast. Satellite imagery captured... Читать дальше...
Economist
Can democracies compete with China without understanding it?
Sam Fleming et al, FT
The EU will call on the US to seize a “once-in-a-generation” opportunity to forge a new global alliance, in a detailed pitch to bury the tensions of the Trump era and meet the “strategic challenge” posed by China.
Thomas Friedman, New York Times
Biden wants to reinstate the nuclear deal, but first he must confront the new Middle East.
