Patrick Buchanan, The American Conservative
"April is the cruelest month," wrote T. S. Eliot in the opening line of what is regarded as his greatest poem, "The Waste Land." For President Joe Biden, the cruelest month is surely August of 2021, which has now mercifully ended.
Tridivesh Singh Maini, Notes on Liberty
While global attention is understandably focused on the turmoil in Afghanistan, another major challenge for US President Joe Biden is likely to be the restoration of the Iran Nuclear Deal/JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Program of Action). While to begin with the negotiations between Iran and other signatories (the US was part of these indirect talks) to the 2015 JCPOA offered a ray of hope, since June there has been no progress.
Economist
If Germany's election campaign has hardly been fizzing with ideas, the volatility of the polls has provided tremendous sport.
Ivan Krastev & Mark Leonard, ECFR
Neo Simutanyi, Afr. Arguments
President Hichilema came to power on a raft of big promises. None will be straightforward to fulfil.
Ted Galen Carpenter, 1945
With the withdrawal of the last U.S. ground troops from Afghanistan, America's longest war supposedly has come to an end. That assumption, however, is one of several falsehoods that characterized Washington's mission in Afghanistan. If the United States is to avoid repeating the Afghanistan debacle in some other locale a few years down the road, both U.S. policy makers and the American public must squarely face some painful truths.
Harry Kazianis, TNI
Now is not the time to apply academic antitrust theory to vertical mergers and acquisitions in the defense sector without deference to the deep expertise of the Defense Department in these matters.
David Pilling, Financial Times
As the world watches Afghanistan, groups such as al-Qaeda are eyeing the Sahel for expansion of its network
Frida Ghitis, WP Review
Brazil's next presidential election is 13 months away, but already President Jair Bolsonaro has set out on a path that puts him on a collision course with democracy. With every passing day and every new dismal opinion poll, Bolsonaro sounds more like a man who, in the mold of his idol, former U.S. President Donald Trump, is prepared to put his personal political fortune ahead of the country's democracy and stability.
Conor Friedersdorf, The Atlantic
How long can a democracy maintain emergency restrictions and still call itself a free country?
Sue Mi Terry, Foreign Affairs
How the Kims Got the Bomb and Why They Won't Give It Up
Keith Mines, Foreign Service Journal
Drawing from two tours, a decade apart, a veteran diplomat explores the competing visions for Afghanistan.
