Thomas Joscelyn, The Dispatch
In The Atlantic, the president-elect touts his nominee's handling of the Iraq withdrawal and is notably silent on China.
Bilal Saab, Middle East Institute
For someone who's on the record strongly supporting Michèle Flournoy, the former under secretary of defense for policy in the Obama administration, to serve as President-elect Joe Biden's secretary of defense, I don't believe the choice of Lloyd Austin is as troubling as many portray it to be. He's an impeccable and loyal public servant who will bring a wealth of relevant experience to the job. He is more than qualified. And he enjoys the full trust of Biden, which is indispensable.
James Stavridis, Time
rom 2009 to 2013, as Supreme Allied Commander at NATO, I was the strategic commander for Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. We had over 50 nations in the coalition, including the 28 NATO members, and over 150,000 troops at the mission's peak. We were spending billions of dollars a week, and over my four years I had superb generals working for me in tactical command in country: Stanley McChrystal, David Petraeus, John Allen, and Joe Dunford. With all that money... Читать дальше...
Kali Robinson, Council on Foreign Relations
In December 2010, Tunisian street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in protest outside a government office in the little-known town of Sidi Bouzid. In a matter of days, his act of defiance set off a revolutionary movement that rippled across the Middle East and North Africa, toppling some long-standing authoritarian regimes.
Vladimir Slivyak, Moscow Times
The proposed new law on 'foreign agents' gives carte blanche to law enforcement officials who subscribe to conspiracy theories.
George Friedman, Geopolitical Futures
It's now clear that Joe Biden will become the 46th president of the United States. There are many who believe he stole the election, but then post-election allegations of corruption are commonplace. There are those who believe George W. Bush stole the 2000 election, which was decided by a Supreme Court whose majority was selected by Republican presidents. Some Democrats called it a Republican coup. John F. Kennedy won his election against Richard Nixon... Читать дальше...
Jen Kirby, Vox
This week, the EU got a powerful new tool — one that could give a boost to Biden.
Dimitar Bechev & Damir Marusic, AC
Shortly after blocking North Macedonia from starting accession talks with the European Union (EU) in October 2019, France's Emmanuel Macron sat down with The Economist to give an interview which is best remembered for him saying NATO was experiencing "brain death."1 For Balkans-watchers, however, his comments on EU enlargement were, if anything, more significant.
Frida Ghitis, WPR
Venezuelan opposition leaders and the governments that back them just saw their strategy for dislodging the increasingly tyrannical regime of President Nicolas Maduro culminate in failure. Last Sunday, in farcical elections for a new legislature, Maduro's supporters took control of the last remaining bastion of the opposition, the National Assembly....
Paul Taylor, Politico EU
Europe needs to work with Washington to set clear red lines and offer incentives for better cooperation.
Odd Arne Westad, Foreign Affairs
What the State Department Gets Wrong About Beijing.
Salvatore Babones, 1945
China this week banned imports of some Australian lamb products due to the threat of — what else? — coronavirus. Despite allowing in meat...
