Jillian Deutsch, Politico EU
When it comes to getting people vaccinated, the EU is trailing behind the U.K., the U.S. and Israel — and a growing number of critics blames the European Commission.
Howard French, World Politics Review
Nothing could be more normal than to regard the ceaseless spread of COVID-19 across the United States as a public health crisis. Indeed, as many commentators have called it, this pandemic is the preeminent public health crisis of the past century. As almost everyone knows by now, not since the 1918 flu pandemic have the lives and livelihoods of so many Americans—or people elsewhere, for that matter—been so gravely threatened by the uncontrolled spread of a single infectious disease. Читать дальше...
Aydintasbas & Shapiro, Foreign Policy
Why Washington and Ankara don't get each other at all—and need each other anyway.
Mark Galeotti, Moscow Times
In an increasingly unpredictable world, the Kremlin is choosing to go on the defensive.
Simon Ostrovsky, Newlines
Both Azerbaijan and Armenia are nestled in the strategically important Caucasus Mountains, a region where Russia, Turkey, and Iran meet. Nagorno-Karabakh is a province whose very name exemplifies the tangled interests that have long vied for influence there: it's an appellation that combines Slavic, Turkic, and Farsi words. And although Azerbaijan is surely the main beneficiary of its successful campaign to reclaim territory it lost during the first Karabakh war in the 1990s... Читать дальше...
Joseph Nye, Project Syndicate
Broadly defined, intervention refers to actions that influence the domestic affairs of another sovereign state, and they can range from broadcasts, economic aid, and support for opposition parties to blockades, cyber attacks, drone strikes, and military invasion. Which ones will the US president-elect favor?
Zuha Siddiqui, Foreign Policy
How the Pashtun Protection Movement became a release valve for women's anger.
Abbas Gallyamov, Moscow Times
The opposition has become more diverse and noticeably stronger.
Esther Chadwick, London Review of Books
Sinan Ciddi, World Politics Review
As President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take office later this month, many U.S. allies and partners are eyeing an opportunity for better relations with Washington. But Turkey, under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will face an uphill battle to settle its ongoing disputes with the United States, not to mention its other NATO allies.
Richard Whitman, Chatham House
The resolution of the process and terms of the UK's departure from the EU finally ends what has been an intense preoccupation for both sides since June 2016, characterized by considerable domestic political dislocation in the UK, paralysis in its parliamentary politics, and a shock to the political psyche of the European integration process.
Omar Encarnacion, Foreign Affairs
The Atlantic region is a huge and geopolitically complex area. From Greenland and Iceland in the north to Antarctica in the south, it covers approximately forty-six million square miles. It touches eighty littoral nation-states and dependent or autonomous territories—all pursuing a diverse set of interests and all confronting diverse geopolitical challenges.
Daniel Finkelstein, Times of London
he former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky tells a story of the superpower summit between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev in November 1985. The Soviet leader was pressing for better relations but in response Reagan pointed to a group of demonstrators outside the meeting.
Emma Anderson, Politico EU
Voters are set to cast their ballots across Europe in 2021 in elections that have the potential to shake up the Continent's political landscape as it emerges from a year marked by the coronavirus crisis.
D. Grossman, Diplomat
Despite seeking a balance between the superpowers, Vietnam desires more robust security ties with Washington.
Douglas Bulloch, 1945
To securocrats the world over NATO has a formidable reputation. Having faced down the Soviet menace in the Cold War, for a time it became a powerful instrument of U.S. and Western foreign policy objectives. Though the organization speaks of values and maintains a defensive posture, the reason East European countries rushed to join it was because NATO put the...
James Stavridis, Bloomberg
Tehran won't make it easy to renegotiate the 2015 nuclear deal.
George Friedman, Geopolitical Futures
When asking the question of where Britain is, the following answers arise. First, trade is important, but the North American markets are as large as the EU. Second, Europe is highly unpredictable and frequently volatile, while Britain's presence in NATO keeps it in Europe alongside the United States, and therefore with weight. Finally, the Five Eyes, descendants of Britain who evolved to their own satisfaction, focuses these nations on something that is frequently more important than anything... Читать дальше...
Erika Solomon & Guy Chazan, FT
Li Yuan, NYT
Surveillance and censorship bolster Beijing's uncompromising grip on power. But in the country's cities and streets, people have resumed normal lives.
Economist
he afaq khoja mausoleum in Kashgar is one of the holiest places in Xinjiang, a region in the far west of China. The site is politically charged, too. Several 19th-century uprisings against Chinese rule began with rebels making a pilgrimage to the shrine, and its tomb of Afaq Khoja, a divisive figure revered by some locals as a Sufi Muslim saint, and scorned by others as a traitor. It is beautiful, with stately domes and minarets rendered as exquisite as a jewel box by tiles of green... Читать дальше...
Andrew Michta, TNI
The West has largely bungled the coronavirus crisis.
