Новости за 24.04.2016

Andrew Rawnsley, The Guardian
Brexit would not only trigger years of horribly complex and acrimonious renegotiation of the terms of trade with our former EU partners – it would also mean starting again with the rest of the world. The Brexiters don’t like to talk about this. When they are forced to address this consequence of self-ejection from the EU, they airily dismiss it, as Michael Gove did in the Panglossian speech he recently delivered on behalf of the Outers.

Sentaku Magazine
Senile dementia is causing serious social problems in Japan and much of the blame lies with the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry as it attaches importance to aiding those who have physical difficulties while neglecting those with low degrees of dementia.

Neef & Schepp, Spiegel
Moscow was long in the hands of criminals and the nouveau riche. Today, Europe's biggest metropolis is undergoing rapid change. It is becoming more open and more cosmopolitan, despite Putin's nationalism.

David Blair, Telegraph
There is no need to echo the “jingos” of Victorian Britain who sang: “We don’t want to fight, but by jingo if we do, we’ve got the ships, we’ve got the men, we’ve got the money too!” But possessing those ships, men and money is just as necessary as ever.

Yossi Klein Halevi, Los Angeles Times
Who are the Jews? A religion? A people? The question has taken on a special urgency in our time. At the heart of the anti-Zionist assault is the notion that the Jews aren't a people but only a faith. That premise is normative throughout the Arab world, and especially in the Palestinian statehood movement, all of whose factions deny the existence of a distinct Jewish people with a right to national sovereignty.

Andres Oppenheimer, Miami Hld
What’s especially troubling about Trump’s Mexico-bashing — and perhaps his entire foreign policy — is that it’s not be based on what’s good for the country, but may be shaped by his business experiences.

Clerici & Wall, Slate
If the government has its way, the mango trees will soon yield to golf courses, swimming pools, and other trappings of high-end resorts. Ile--Vache has been deemed the perfect place to become the next big thing in Caribbean tourism, revitalizing a crucial Haitian industry. It’s a 13-kilometer drop-shaped island with pastel-painted, straw-thatched houses, hills grazed by goats and cows, and more than 20 beaches. The lagoon is fringed by mangroves, and its shores are sprinkled with coral reefs... Читать дальше...

Suzanne Nossel, Foreign Pol.
Unavoidably, Washington’s gain is to some extent New York’s loss; no one is going to leave the Oval Office to attend a U.N. budget meeting. But that’s the job. Reforming the U.N. will require an ambassador for whom New York is the primary game they play. While of course the next U.S. ambassador needs the ability to get the president’s ear when necessary, to achieve reform Washington will need an ambassador who will give the world body his or her full attention and... Читать дальше...

Robert Fulford, NP
Baghdadi and the other Islamic State leaders are opportunists who capitalized on the power vacuum created by the weakening of governments. The Arab Spring, beginning in 2011, was a secular attempt to displace the dictators who traditionally controlled Arab countries. The Arab Spring shook the roots of the powerful and dissolved national institutions, from the military to the garbage collectors. With those elements hollowed out in the chaos that followed, ISIL moved in.

Clive Crook, BV
Britain has no good way out of this dilemma. Its best course is to stay in the union, but work tirelessly to obstruct political union and enlarge the exceptions and exemptions it's secured up to now. It must keep on aiming to be both a member and not a member. After all, it's had some success in proving that this can be done.

Crandall & Rhodes, American Int.
From the gritty streets of Ccuta to northern Bogota’s Milan-like chic districts, many critics fault President Santos for wanting peace more than the nation does, as well as for handing the country over to the FARC.

John Lyons & David Luhnow, Wall Street Journal
Corruption is just a symptom of Brazil’s deeper issue: a vast state apparatus that has tried to be the country’s engine of economic growth.

Janine di Giovanni, New York Times
Syria has now endured five years of war. We know the figures that illustrate that time passing: as many as 470,000 dead; nearly five million refugees; some six million displaced inside the battered country. The opposition walked out of peace talks in Geneva last week. No one seemed surprised. Those in Syria have little hope. When you live through war for that long, you become accustomed to the misery, the drudgery, to not having water, electricity or medical care. Читать дальше...

Laura Rozen, Al-Monitor
After three years of frequent and intense US-Iranian diplomatic contacts during the successful Iran nuclear deal negotiations, can the United States and Iran maintain their diplomatic opening after President Barack Obama leaves office and John Kerry is no longer secretary of state?

Alex Massie, The Spectator
There has always been a prickly, touchy, latent anti-Americanism on the British right and, gosh, haven’t we been reminded of that these past few days? The views of Wilson and Roosevelt have been cited (and it is true that the Americans viewed the British Empire with, shall we say, some scepticism. But you can’t really fight wars for ‘democracy’ and add the rider ‘except for the pink bits of the map’). Why, even the ghosts of Suez have been resurrected: Cameron’s acquiescence... Читать дальше...

James Stavridis, Foreign Policy
With two risky flyovers of U.S. military assets in a week, tensions with Moscow are high. We need to tone things down, before flyovers become bombing runs.

Jacob Shapiro, Geo. Futures
Today, the Czechs find themselves surrounded by familiar challenges. The most serious challenge is Germany. Economically, Germany is bound to stumble over its export dependence soon, and the Czechs’ exposure to the German economy is deep. But Prague cannot depend on Germany politically or for security either. The Czechs already have mixed feelings about the EU, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to open Germany’s borders to refugees has been roundly criticized in the Czech Republic. Читать дальше...