Clifford May, Washington Times
Let's play Jeopardy! The answer: "All were great empires in the past, and all now have rulers determined to establish great empires in the future." And the question is: "What are China, Russia and Iran?"
Ido Vock, New Statesman
Even if war between the two countries is avoided, this round of heightened tensions at the border may not be the last.
Ben Caspit, Al Monitor
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's successful visit to the UAE Dec. 13 completes a series of foreign policy moves since he took office in mid-June.
Mohamed El-Erian, B-berg
The central bank needs to reverse its rate cuts, for starters, if the country is to avoid a full-blown economic tailspin.
Nathan Law Kwun Chung, NYT
The signs and messages are everywhere: "Cast a vote for Hong Kong and yourself." Candidates' faces cover the pavement and walls from the city center to stalls in the wet markets on its outskirts. Government-sponsored billboards calling to "improve electoral system, ensure...
James Timbie & James Ellis, TNSR
As China's rhetoric about "reunification" with Taiwan and the military's gray-zone activities intensify, Taiwan should adopt a strategy that includes a large number of small things in order to leverage Taiwan's geographic and technological advantages, exploit the People's Liberation Army's vulnerabilities, and help to deter an attempt to take the island by force.
Fred Kaplan, Slate
It is now widely conceded that America's 20-year war in Afghanistan, the longest in our history, was a tragic bungle of monumental proportions. However, we are just beginning to learn that the final phase of the war—not so much the frantic evacuation but the entire last three years, as we tiptoed toward the exits—was disgraceful in its own appalling way.
Elisabeth Braw, Foreign Policy
In December 1939, a small country with a small military held off the vastly superior Soviet Red Army and avoided occupation by its larger neighbor.
Jason Killmeyer, 1945
In American movies set in Europe in the 1970s, it's usually grey outside. The clothing is drab, almost sepia-toned, the kind popular then. Bohemians wear black, the rest rust orange or similarly shaded. Political tension permeates as cosmopolitans mix, and affiliations range from Marxist to ultranationalist to anti-colonialist.
