Aaron David Miller & Richard Sokolsky, CNN
(CNN)Is Israel beating the war drums again for a military strike against Iran as the Biden administration tries to reengage Tehran on its nuclear program?
Ehud Eilam, Jerusalem Post
One of Donald Trump's last decisions as president was to transfer Israel from the US European command to the US Middle East command. As much as Israel sees itself as part of Europe, obviously Israel is located in another region. Israel has to be more integrated in the Middle East. Israel can't avoid the reality of the Arab-Israeli conflict, but this long struggle has changed. Israel and Arab states have common interests, including security ones, mostly handling Iran.
Douglas Bulloch, 1945
The European Union was established, so its defenders claim, to establish peace in Europe and turn away from the violence and destruction of the past. There may be a strong current of idealism in that claim, and a lack of acknowledgment that the laurels of peace might more properly be worn by
Hill, Campanale and Gunter, BBC
Women in China's "re-education" camps for Uighurs have been systematically raped, sexually abused, and tortured, according to detailed new accounts obtained by the BBC.
Mike Abramowitz & Nate Schenkkan, Washington Post
In October 2019, Iran kidnapped journalist Ruhollah Zam in Iraq. Zam had lived as a recognized refugee in France, but after traveling to Iraq for unknown reasons, the Revolutionary Guard Corps abducted and then smuggled him across the border to Iran. After a hasty trial last summer, he was executed in December for "corruption on earth."
Toshi Yoshihara, Jamestown
As the People's Liberation Army (PLA) goes global, it will increasingly need reliable access to overseas bases and dual-use facilities to sustain operations in faraway theaters. Recent U.S. defense and intelligence reports indicate that the People's Republic of China (PRC) is prospecting for locations where the PLA could obtain access and logistical support. According to the Department of Defense, Beijing has "likely considered" a dozen candidate countries that... Читать дальше...
R. Joyce & B. Blankenship, WOTR
In November 2020, the U.S. secretary of the Navy publicly expressed interest in establishing a 1st Fleetin the Indian Ocean. While the Navy currently patrols in the Pacific Ocean with the 7th Fleet, based in Yokosuka, Japan, it hoped that another fleet farther southwest would better enable it to cover
Adm. Charles Richard, Proceedings
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Department of Defense (DoD) has not had to consider the possibility of great power competition, crisis, or direct armed conflict with a nuclear-capable peer. Unfortunately, the current environment no longer affords us that luxury. The implications of today's competition and the associated risk of great power crisis or direct armed conflict are profound; they affect nearly every fundamental assumption we make about... Читать дальше...
Robert Rapier, Oil Price
When I made my 2020 predictions a year ago, the world was on the cusp of a pandemic that would upend the oil markets. In the process, it upended two of my energy sector predictions, but three others ended up being correct. The Covid-19...
Gwen Robinson et al, Nikkei Asian Review
Ending civilian rule is a test for Washington -- and a chance for Beijing
Joshua Kurlantzick, Council on Foreign Relations
On Monday morning Myanmar time, the Myanmar military staged a coup, its first coup since 1988, but hardly unique in Myanmar's modern history. This coup bore all the hallmarks of previous military takeovers, even in an era in which telecommunications technology is far different from 1988, and information about Myanmar cannot be hermetically sealed off from the world. The armed forces detained most senior civilian politicians, and went beyond... Читать дальше...
Vladimir Shopov, ECFR
China has become the most prominent third actor in the Western Balkans.
Engin Yüksel, Clingendael
This report assesses the impact of Turkish-Qatari cooperation between 2002 and 2020 on conflict and geopolitical competition across the Middle East, North Africa, and the Horn of Africa based on close examination of its drivers. The report notes that neither ideological nor economic drivers adequately explain the recent blossoming of Turkish-Qatari relations. Converging political interests and pragmatism offer a more compelling explanation. On the one hand, Turkey... Читать дальше...
Robert Zaretsky, RealClearWorld
Few phrases were invoked as often as "history will judge" during Donald Trump's presidency. The frequency of the invocation surely quickened after Trump, voted out of office, sought to remain at any cost. Professional pundits and pollsters, politicians and historians have riffed on this phrase with abandon over the past four years, making it a commonplace of our uncommon times.
A. Figueredo Thomson, Reason
Venezuela has the world's largest proven oil reserves and yet the country has run out of gasoline. The socialist government has lost the capacity to extract oil from the ground or refine it into a usable form. The industry's gradual deterioration was 18 years in the making, tracing back to then-President Hugo Chávez's 2003 decision to fire the oil industry's most experienced engineers in an act of petty political...
Shaun Carney, Sydney Morning Herald
There was genuine pathos in Anthony Albanese's parting remark at the press conference in which he announced his frontbench reshuffle.
Economist
The pandemic caused an unprecedented rollback of democratic freedoms in 2020
Japan Times
On Jan. 6, the U.S. Capitol came under siege from a mob of Trump supporters, incited by the former President. The attack was condemned around the world and shone a spotlight onto the dangerous misinformation and conspiracies that fueled the riots.
Alasdair Lane, Politico EU
The sector is losing £1M a day, industry groups estimate.
BBC
The 100-year-old, who raised almost £33m for NHS charities, was taken to Bedford Hospital after requiring help with his breathing on Sunday.
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Mikael Gravers, East Asia Forum
Early in the morning on 1 February 2021, the Myanmar armed forces (Tatmadaw) arrested President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, along with other high-ranking National League for Democracy (NLD) members. As the military staged the coup, armoured cars and soldiers guarded radio and television stations and the parliament. The Tatamadaw closed the NLD office in Mandalay and searched for activists known to oppose military rule, such as the 1988 leader Min Ko Naing and The Irrawaddy's editor... Читать дальше...
Timothy Mclaughlin, The Atlantic
Aung San Suu Kyi and the country's military are back in familiar positions.
Lyubov Glazunova, Riddle
2020 marked 20 years since the signing of the Declaration on Strategic Partnership between Russia and India and 10 years since the relationship was upgraded to a "special and privileged strategic partnership." However, such formulations remain for the most part declarative. Of late, Moscow and New Delhi have not been able to radically solve existing problems, but they have managed to accumulate a new set of disagreements.
Global Dispatches
The security and humanitarian situation in the Central African Republic has rapidly deteriorated over the last several weeks. Rebel group control a key road from which goods, food and humanitarian supplies is imported to CAR from neighboring Cameroon. The capitol city, Bangui is under an effective siege.
