How Finland Became the Russian Bear Whisperer
Reid Standish, FP
Helsinki has figured out how to stand up to Russia without provoking Putins wrath. Its neighbors call that appeasement.
Reid Standish, FP
Helsinki has figured out how to stand up to Russia without provoking Putins wrath. Its neighbors call that appeasement.
Abdulrahman al-Rashed, Asharq Al-Awsat
Iran does not lack courage to get more involved in Yemen, but this will backfire on it militarily and politically. Perhaps this is what Riyadh needs to prove that Iran’s threat has increased after the nuclear deal - to besiege the Iranians in the mountains and plains of a country that is resistant to invaders.
Terry Glavin, National Post
Not to ruin the fun, but we might take time to notice that it’s gotten to the point where the big question is whether the state of democracy is in a gloomier twilight in the world today than at any point in the past half-century or whether democracy’s prospects haven’t been this grim since as far back as the 1930s.
Reid Standish, FP
Helsinki has figured out how to stand up to Russia without provoking Putin’s wrath. Its neighbors call that appeasement.
Max Fisher, Vox
The once-fringe neoconservative movement, in the space of a few short years, had seized first their party's intellectual power centers, then its legislative agenda, and now the commanding heights of American leadership itself. Against all odds, they had won. Today, less than two decades after seizing the Republican Party, they are on the verge of losing it. The party's two leading presidential candidates, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, are promising to break from neoconservatism — and voters seem to be responding.
Ananya Vajpeyi, New York Times
The gap between the high and the low castes, between so-called backward and forward communities, not only persists, it also manifests itself through ever-more subtle and complex forms of discrimination and violence. Being the beneficiary of reservations can itself be a stigma.
Nicholas Vinocur, Politico EU
After a long period of being in denial about the strange events across the pond, many European politicians and diplomats are finally confronting the mind-boggling prospect that they could soon be dealing with an American president even worse, as they see it, than George W. Bush. And the very real fear is that if Donald Trump does get elected, the West as we know it may not survive.
Saeid Jafari, Al-Monitor
It is possible that Ahmadinejad is now preparing to enter the 2017 presidential race himself, which could pit him against incumbent President Hassan Rouhani. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the foreign policy adviser to Ahmadinejad told Al-Monitor, “I once told Ahmadinejad that it was unlikely that he would get votes and that it is best that he forget about the presidency. He got upset and told me that I only saw Tehran and other big cities, while he enjoyed high popularity... Читать дальше...
Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry, Week
What's the new territory for? The obvious and explicit model should be Hong Kong. There because of accidents of history, Hong Kong provided millions of Chinese fleeing the horrors of Mao's regime with a shot at a better life and in the process turned into one of the most prosperous and freest places on Earth.
Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic
Obama has come to a number of dovetailing conclusions about the world, and about America’s role in it. The first is that the Middle East is no longer terribly important to American interests. The second is that even if the Middle East were surpassingly important, there would still be little an American president could do to make it a better place. The third is that the innate American desire to fix the sorts of problems that manifest themselves most drastically in the Middle East inevitably leads to warfare... Читать дальше...
Dan O'Brien, Irish Independent
As the 32nd Dáil meets today, there is a new order - or disorder - in Irish politics. The duopoly of the two Civil War parties is over. A kaleidoscope of small parties and dozens of Independents will take their seats in Leinster House's main chamber later today.
Shmuley Boteach, Jerusalem Post
The abuse Israel's leaders suffered at the hands of the Obama administration is becoming more and more evident. There have been dozens of emails revealed from Hillary Clinton's private servers that have countless numbers of her aides and advisers attacking Israel and its elected leadership. Clinton herself has admitted in the past that she was the "designated yeller" at Netanyahu. In this upcoming last batch of emails, there was still a hope that some positive emails towards Israel would have been found. Читать дальше...
Kaj Leers, RealClearWorld
While Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's police forces close newspaper after radio station after news website, and while Turkish armed forces pursue a veritable civil war with the Kurds, the European Union signals that it is ready to forever stain whatever reputation it once had.
S. Thomson, WEF
Cultural destruction has always been a part of warfare. Nazi Germany’s attempt to remodel Europe according to its own worldview was not limited to invasion and mass atrocities: hundreds and thousands of books, works of art and other cultural relics were destroyed or looted.
George Friedman, Geopolitical Futures
It is possible that the two leaders dislike each other. The leak may have been a deliberate insult by Netanyahu or just a typical leak, which is as common in Israel as it is in the U.S. But whichever it is, it is not driving U.S.-Israeli relations, and a new president and a new prime minister would be experiencing the same tensions even if they loved each other. The tension is not personal. It comes from fundamental shifts in U.S. and Israeli interests.
Iain Martin, CapX
Merkel’s proposed deal matters – potentially a lot – because the strongest card that the Remain campaign possesses in Britain’s EU referendum is stability and a measure of security. This undermines that offer, even if the migrant deal is quashed. It demonstrates that the most powerful EU leader is prepared to start remaking migration policy and the EU at high speed, in a highly questionable manner. What will they try next if the UK votes to Remain?
Sylvie Kauffmann, New York Times
Today, the Visegrad bloc is experiencing a resurgence of sorts. In a splintering familiar to Central Europe, the Visegrad Three became four: Czechoslovakia ceased to exist in 1993, giving way to the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Philip Stephens, Financial Times
Mr Trump’s trade in fear demands calculated equivocation about the white supremacists of the Ku Klux Klan, support for torture in dealing with America’s enemies and branding Mexican immigrants rapists and murderers. For his friends in Europe, it means blaming everything on outsiders and elites — whether Muslims, Roma, the eurocrats of Brussels or mainstream politicians. The name of the game is to substitute political argument with crude invective, facts with prejudice.
Daniel Gros, Project Syndicate
Tellingly, the so-called Baltic Dry Index, which measures the cost of chartering the large ships that carry most long-distance trade, has fallen to an all-time low. This indicates that markets do not expect a recovery, meaning that the data from 2015 could herald a new age of slowing trade. The obvious conclusion is that the once-irresistible forces of globalization are losing steam.
Dirk Kurbjuweit, Der Spiegel
Ahead of Sunday's state election in Baden-Wrttemberg, pundits are speculating about the creation of a "Germany Coalition," a coalition that would bring together the CDU, SPD and FPD, whose party colors are those of the German flag. It is reminiscent of the "Weimar Coalition" between the wars, that alliance of center-left parties that was forged to defend democracy, but which proved no match for the dark forces on the fringe. Things aren't nearly that bad yet, of course... Читать дальше...
Hilton Root & Hong Zhang, US News
U.S. presidential candidates Donald Trump and Sen. Bernie Sanders have shown how easy it is to win electoral support by championing the economic grievances of globalization's losers. Trump supporters resent opportunities lost to immigrants, while Sanders rallies workers victimized by global disparities in wealth. This backlash against globalization isn't new, although it has rarely been so influential in American electoral politics.
Adam Rawnsley, Daily Beast
As far back as 1986, the agency saw a future of proliferating drones that would be used for ‘attack missions’ by armies and terrorists alike, according to a now-declassified report.
Douglas Ollivant, War on the Rocks
None of these actors — ISIL, Hezbollah, or the Ukrainian separatists — can be classified as traditional insurgent groups, guerrillas, or terrorists. All three groups possess capabilities that take them beyond more familiar non-state actors without qualifying them as full-fledged armies. Whether the bulldozers and social media savvy of ISIL, the missiles and electronic warfare of Hezbollah, or the high-altitude air defense of the Ukrainian rebels, all these forces... Читать дальше...
N. Feldman, Bloomberg View
A federal judge in Puerto Rico ruled Tuesday that the Supreme Court’s decision in favor of gay marriage doesn't apply on the island, which is a commonwealth with a unique constitutional status. The ruling will eventually be reversed on appeal. But its effect is meaningful nonetheless, because it functions as a double protest: against the high court's support for gay marriage and against the unresolved constitutional status of the island.
Allister Heath, Telegraph
It would be far better if we, rather than a more socialist or nationalistic country, were the first to break the mould: Britain would have the opportunity to show that free trade, an open, self-governing society and a liberal approach could ensure the peace and prosperity at the heart of the European dream. Others would soon join us. If we vote to stay, we will lose the moral authority to speak out, and other, less benign, inward-looking, illiberal approaches may triumph instead.