Новости за 21.02.2016

Ken Pollack, Foreign Affairs
Grasping the real choices that the United States faces in the Middle East requires an honest understanding of what is going on there. Although it is fashionable to blame the region’s travails on ancient hatreds or the poor cartography of Mr. Sykes and Monsieur Picot, the real problems began with the modern Arab state system. After World War II, the Arab states came into their own. Most shed their European colonial masters, and all adopted more modern political systems... Читать дальше...

Andrew Rawnsley, The Guardian
So the phoney war is over. The real battle is engaged. After decades of tortured agonising about this country’s relationship with its continent, three years of manoeuvring by David Cameron, 30 hours of sweaty haggling in Brussels and an extraordinary 140-minute cabinet meeting yesterday morning, the referendum finally begins. The United Kingdom’s complicated and often contradictory feelings about itself and its role in the world will now be compressed into four months of intense argument. Читать дальше...

Julian Pecquet, Al-Monitor
The pre-dawn bombing that killed some 40 suspected terrorists near the border with Tunisia appears to be better understood as a one-off operation aimed at protecting that fledgling democracy from militants who would plunge it into chaos. Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said the strike aimed to take out Tunisian national Noureddine Chouchane, a prime suspect in the 2015 attacks that killed 60 people in Tunis and Sousse, along with a camp where foreign fighters were training... Читать дальше...

Hussein Ibish, The National
The Saudi-American relationship ought to be an important asset for both sides in working together to address these imperative and profoundly troubling concerns. But it can’t be done in the context of what amounts to schoolyard name-calling.

Parul Abrol, Narratively
Pushed to the brink by the insanity of life in a land on military lockdown, one mysterious resident embarks on a decidedly bizarre piece of performance art.

Jonathan Dove, The Diplomat
As China’s trade and economic influence continues to grow, a clearer understanding of its initiatives is needed. Indeed, the West has good reason to accommodate, rather than fear or limit China’s role in Africa or other developing regions.

Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg
One could argue -- and some, like UKIP leader Nigel Farage, already do -- that the concessions British Prime Minister David Cameron obtained late Friday from other European Union leaders in order to stay in the bloc are meaningless. Or one could rejoice in a victory as Cameron does. That won't change a fundamental fact: The U.K. is not really part of the EU anyway.

Richard Nephew, Chatham House
As supporters and detractors argue over the merits of the agreement to resolve the Iranian nuclear crisis, the one area where both sides find common ground is in their praise for the sanctions effort that preceded it. What is quickly forgotten is how difficult the sanctions effort was, and how it seemed perpetually at risk of collapse.

C. Groskopf, QZ
The security of the world’s poor is inseparable from the price they pay for food, especially the grains that constitute most of their diet. Oil prices are a significant factor in determining the price of other commodities, including food. Tractors and other farm machinery require fuel, as does the manufacture of fertilizer. Once crops are harvested, oil prices dictate the transportation costs to get them to market, whether that’s down a highway or over an ocean.

Joel Weickgenant, RealClearWorld
It's not an urgent drama unfolding in Spain -- at least not one with enough theatrical immediacy to lead Continent-wide headlines amid the circus of crises daily parading before European eyes. But while the process is slow in the quotidian, the weeks since Spain's election have confirmed that the country has left its former political landscape -- and neither its leaders nor its populace yet understand the nature of the ground on which they now stand. Spaniards... Читать дальше...

J. Matthew McInnis, TNI
Behind this confidence likely lay some serious worries. The Iranian leadership has been alarmed this past year by new Saudi King Salman’s regional policies. The Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen is seen as surprisingly reckless. The King’s son, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman who oversees the Yemen operations, is viewed as rash and immature by the Iranians. As a consequence, Tehran is increasingly unsure how to predict Riyadh’s more aggressive behavior.

Michael Hanson, New York Times
The sport is stitched into life’s fabric in the Dominican Republic, where youths dream of a better future through baseball.

Stephen Kinzer, Globe
Under intense financial pressure, most American newspapers, magazines, and broadcast networks have drastically reduced their corps of foreign correspondents. Much important news about the world now comes from reporters based in Washington. In that environment, access and credibility depend on acceptance of official paradigms. Reporters who cover Syria check with the Pentagon, the State Department, the White House, and think tank “experts.” After a spin on that soiled carousel... Читать дальше...

Walter Russell Mead & Damir Marusic, American Int.
Ukraine’s government was on the verge of collapse earlier today after two smaller parties quit the governing coalition in disgust following Tuesday’s failed vote to oust the unpopular Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk from office. Both Ukrainian reformers and journalists denounced Tuesday’s flubbed no-confidence vote as a crooked ploy by oligarchs to keep their grip on the levers of power. The departure of 26 MPs of the pro-Western Samopomisch (Self-Reliance) party today... Читать дальше...