Anne Krueger, Project Syndicate
Former US President Donald Trump's bombastic, go-it-alone strategy toward China, particularly on trade, was fundamentally flawed. Because an open multilateral trading system benefits the entire global economy, the Biden administration's surest route to lessening bilateral tensions runs through the World Trade Organization.
CSIS
This week on Babel, Jon Alterman talks with Ambassador James Jeffrey, who recently finished serving as the Secretary of State's special representative for Syria engagement and as the special envoy to defeat ISIS. Ambassador Jeffrey talked about Turkey's Middle East policy, how to think about Turkey's versus Erdogan's views, and if Turkey has any allies in the Middle East. Then, Jon, Natasha Hall, and McKinley Knoop discussed the durability of Turkey's presence in the Middle East.
Christian Esch, Der Spiegel
Lanfranco Cirillo designed the ostentatious palace that Alexei Navalny claims belongs to Russia's president. "We used fantastic materials, I was proud of my work," the architect says when contacted by DER SPIEGEL.
David Axe, Forbes
The U.S. Air Force's top officer wants the service to develop an affordable, lightweight fighter to replace hundreds of Cold War-vintage F-16s and complement a small fleet of sophisticated—but costly and unreliable—
Autumn Spanne, The Atlantic
On a golden day last September, I visited the ruins of the first Greek city on the Iberian Peninsula, a settlement from the sixth century B.C. called Empúries. Traders venturing down present-day Spain's Costa Brava, a rugged stretch of coastline in northeastern Catalonia, had recognized the advantages of the location: a natural port, some protection from the fierce tramontana winds blowing off the Pyrenees, and access to local trade networks established by native Iberians. Читать дальше...
Terry Glavin, National Post
Now that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has finally come up against the House of Commons in a long-postponed 266-0 revolt against his signature "golden decade" entente with the Chinese Communist Party, the prime minister's diehard fan base should take no consolation in the procedural classification of the vote as "non-binding."
Fred Kaplan, Slate
The world came much closer to nuclear war than we realized in 1983.
Barak Mendelsohn & Colin Clarke, WOTR
Last year was a bad year for the world. Not even al-Qaeda was spared. To start, in January al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula leader Qassim al-Rimi was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Yemen, inflicting a serious blow to the group's most operationally capable branch. Other al-Qaeda branches were attenuated over the course of 2020. Abdelmalek Droukdel, who led al-Qaeda's branch in North Africa,
Arthur Swan Ye Tun, The Diplomat
To understand what motivated this month's coup in Myanmar, you need to understand the army's history and cloistered worldview.
Yvette To, East Asia Forum
A priority in the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) is to strengthen China's autonomy in semiconductor production. This is in response to US sanctions restricting the supply of chips containing US technology to China. The trade war is a reminder for...
Therese Raphael, Bloomberg
Trade deals, like peace agreements, aren't worth the paper they're printed on without good faith vested in their implementation.
Seth Frantzman, 1945
In mid-February, U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke for the first time since Biden entered the Oval Office. The phone-call was long-anticipated amid concerns in Israel about what...
Paul Smith, National Interest
Engagement, far from being a naïve or hopeless endeavor, can be a useful pathway that builds confidence and helps maintain peace.
