Carin Zissis, WP Review
By the time AMLO met Joe Biden on the sidelines of the Three Amigos Summit, they were already capping off a period filled with renewed, high-level bilateral talks on economic and security issues. Despite some simmering disagreements, relations between the two countries are on firmer footing than they were a year ago.
Kevin Williamson, National Review
Eighty years ago today, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, drawing the U.S. into the war that would make it a global superpower. But no superpower lasts forever.
William Alan Reinsch, CSIS
There is a new term (for an old idea) making its way through trade circles these days: "weaponization" of trade. It means using trade as a tool of foreign policy rather than as an economic goal in and of itself.
Brandon J. Weichert, Asia Times
Eighty years ago, the world changed forever. In the early hours of December 7, 1941, Japanese warplanes launched from the decks of a fleet of Japanese Imperial Navy aircraft carriers that had surre…
Tony Badran, Hoover
In October, a few weeks after Lebanon's politicians had formed a new government, the Biden administration sent Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland to Lebanon to showcase U.S. support for the new Hezbollah-led government. In Beirut, Nuland announced $67 million in additional funds for the Lebanese Armed Forces, and briefed Lebanese leaders on other administration initiatives to bolster the Lebanese system.
Economist
But corruption and unequal development rankle even more.
Anders Aslund, Project Syndicate
Although US intelligence agencies are warning that Russia is mobilizing its ground forces for an attack on Ukraine, it is still tempting to think that Russian President Vladimir Putin would never actually follow through on such a risky move. Yet when a strongman has so few good options for retaining power, the risk calculus changes.
Henning Hoff, Internationale Politik Quarterly
As Germany's new chancellor prepares to be sworn in, the shape of his incoming government suggests that quite some change is in store for Germany's European and foreign policy.
A. Mackinnon, J. Detsch & R. Gramer, FP
Kyiv's pleas for more U.S. guns to hold off Moscow have prompted a political knife fight in Washington.
Chris Coons, Foreign Affairs
How to Avoid a Balkan-Style Catastrophe in the Horn of Africa
Edward Lucas, Times of London
One result is tomorrow's emergency video call with President Biden, giving the Russian leader the international prestige that he craves. Indeed, before a shot is fired Russia is shaping the argument and its outcome. The explicit wish list is a formal end to Nato expansion, limits to the military presence on its borders
Barbara Slavin, Atlantic Council
More than five months after multilateral nuclear talks with Iran were paused before the country's presidential elections in June, a new negotiating team arrived in Vienna in late November with additional demands and fewer concessions than its predecessors.
John Tamny, RCM
In the 1950s the top federal tax rate on individual earners in the U.S. exceeded 90%. The number is eye-catching to say the least, but it's also a bit misleading.
Bruce Klingner, Heritage
Despite North Korea's ongoing nuclear weapons buildup and provocations, South Korean President Moon Jae-in is trying to convince the United States to declare an end to the Korean War. While the 1950-53 war seems a relic of the past, North Korea today poses a very real security threat.
Mindy Kotler, TNI
Eighty years ago today, December 7, 1941, critical airfields and ports across Southeast Asia and the Pacific were ablaze and in ruin. In just seven hours, Imperial Japan's surprise attacks crippled British and American forces in the Far East, exposed the Dutch East Indies to invasion, and pushed Thailand into submission. The bombing of Pearl Harborwas but one of many that day. Casualties of the "Associated Powers," likely exceeded those in Hawaii. One...
William Hague, Times of London
hen brilliant individuals nearing their 100th birthdays write a book, it is a good idea to read it. Two years ago, the scientist James Lovelock celebrated his centenary with Novacene: The Coming Age of Hyperintelligence, in which he hailed a future dominated by artificial intelligence, while cautioning against its military uses. Now Henry Kissinger, at a stripling 98, has co-authored The Age of AI, bringing a brain steeped in great power strategy to the same topic. Читать дальше...
Claude Berube, War on the Rocks
Nearly two centuries ago, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in his seminal Democracy in America that America "was born to rule the seas." America achieved that, but nothing lasts forever. We hear a lot of talk about when China's military will overtake the U.S. military, but when looking at navies, this has already happened: China now floats the world's largest navy.
George Friedman, Geopolitical Futures
Two weeks ago, I wrote an analysis of Russian strategy titled "Russia's Move." Here's a brief recap: When the Soviet Union collapsed, it lost control of the western borderlands that had been the bedrock of its security for hundreds of years. Those borderlands created a strategic depth that forced invaders into an extended and exhausting campaign that Russia could resist. Russia had been attacked in the 18th century by the Swedes, in the 19th century by France... Читать дальше...
