Ian Dudgeon, ASPI Strategist
Iran has agreed to recommence negotiations aimed at the US rejoining and fully restoring the Iran nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA) in Vienna on 29 November. But it hasn't discounted the possibility that the talks may fail, that if the US rejoins effective sanctions relief may not apply in practice, and that a future US administration might dishonour or withdraw from the agreement...
Roger Boyes, Times of London
If new candidates try to join the Five Eyes spy club they should expect to get a poke in the eye and may end up blinded. That was the crude warning from Beijing, which is worried that the West is working on new and more inventive ways of containing China.
Felicia Wong, Foreign Affairs
How the U.S. and Its Allies Are Rewriting the Rules on Spending and Trade
Ålander et al, LSE
After the Social Democrats (SPD) claimed a surprise victory in the 2021 German federal election, they have proceeded to start coalition negotiations with the Greens and the Free Democrats (FDP). The preliminary talks resulted in a consultation paper, which established the basis for the subsequent coalition negotiations. The pace of progress has been unexpectedly fast and the parties are now aiming for the new government to be formed well before Christmas, with Olaf Scholz... Читать дальше...
Susannah Patton, Lowy Interpreter
Neighbours in Southeast Asia may not be "forced to choose" but rather "left behind".
Amy Mackinnon, Foreign Policy
Breakthroughs remain elusive, but both sides agreed on need to manage tensions.
Bohdan Nahaylo, Atlantic Council
The migrant crisis that has been manufactured on the EU's eastern border by Belarus dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka and his patron, Russian leader Vladimir Putin, is a dangerous provocation with significant security ramifications for the wider region.
Bob Carr, Sydney Morning Herald
"Restraint." This should be the one-word diplomatic mantra for Australia about Taiwan. It should be the opening and closing of every statement an Australian prime minister utters because a descent into war between the world's superpowers over a neuralgic issue that diplomacy has constrained for 70 years - this is the last thing our battered and bruised planet wants.
J Grunstein, WPR
U.S. President Joe Biden will hold a video summit Monday with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, their first face-to-face encounter since Biden took office in January. The meeting, which is reportedly the culmination of background exploratory talks over the past month, follows several high-profile encounters between top-level officials that veered toward the explosive. Sparks flew in Anchorage, Alaska, when both sides' senior...
John Parachini & Ryan Bauer, RCWorld
Africa has not traditionally been a high-value market for arms exports, but Russia has been very active on the continent. Moscow is using arms sales there to influence political and military leaders.
Brian Saady, Resp. Statecraft
A flood of Washington funding has ensured that bad guys like Dario Antonio Usua have flourished. That won't end with his capture.
Gustav Gressel, Joanna Hosa & Pavel Slunkin, ECFR
The EU should show the Lukashenka regime that it will no longer tolerate the weaponisation of migration. As with any form of blackmail, it would be senseless and dangerous to make concessions - because the aggressor will only demand more.
Paul Mason, New Statesman
Devastating financial sanctions might be the only way of dissuading Putin and Lukashenko from further adventurism.
Ian Johnson, Council on Foreign Relations
Plenums are major annual meetings held by the CCP. They set the agenda and lay out policies for the coming year. This year's is especially important because 2022 is when the next party congress, which only happen every five years, takes place. During the congress, officials are almost sure to grant President Xi Jinping an unprecedented third term. (In recent decades, top leaders have held power for only two terms. Xi's term should be up next year.)
Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein, 38 North
A major crackdown is currently underway in North Korea to root out foreign culture, primarily from South Korea, as well as "capitalist tendencies," including corruption.[1] The roots of the campaign go back to early in Kim Jong Un's tenure, but it has become particularly intensive this year, with several new laws and ordinances enacted to strengthen social control. The country's dire economic situation and COVID-19 border lockdown,...
