Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times
When President Obama declared in 2011 that he wanted U.S. foreign policy to pivot to Asia, some derided the move as a clumsy attempt to flee the messy conflicts of the Middle East.
George Black, The New Yorker
Since the end of the Vietnam War, in 1975, more than forty thousand Vietnamese have been killed by unexploded ordnance left over from the war.
Ian Johnson, NY Times
The crosses have come down in waves, with at least 1,200 removed as of last summer, according to people working for government-run churches. Many local residents estimate the figure is now close to 1,700.
Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg View
Petr Aven, who made almost half of his fortune in oil, says petrostates are doomed unless they reform.
Simon Heffer, Telegraph
More shocking even than this banana-republic doling-out of sweeteners to useful idiots was a question asked of me in a Brexit debate in which I spoke in Hampstead last Tuesday. An entirely sane, rational and articulate man asked whether I thought the vote would be rigged. I was nonplussed, so he elaborated. Would ballot boxes be stuffed? Would they go missing? After all â as he correctly said â widespread electoral fraud, notably with postal votes, has polluted recent general elections... Читать дальше...
Carlotta Gall, NY Times
Extremist clerics and secretive associations funded by Saudis and others have transformed a once-tolerant Muslim society into a font of extremism.
Stewart Patrick & Megan Roberts, WPR
This noisy, negative narrative isn't all wrong. But the drumbeat of decay and despair has drowned out more positive developments. In fact, the international community has recorded impressive gains against some of the world's most difficult problems, from climate change to nuclear nonproliferation.
James Kirchick, Foreign Policy
With right-wing parties on the rise in Sweden and Germany, the restrictive immigration policies of cold-hearted Copenhagen are beginning to look awfully sensible.
Bethany Bell, BBC Magazine
How the cornflower has become the centre of a political controversy in Austria.
Deirdre McCloskey, Wall Street Journal
The Great Enrichment of the past two centuries has one primary source: the liberation of ordinary people to pursue their dreams of economic betterment
Conrad Black, National Post
The importance of this to Canadians is that if the British do, in the end, leave the EU, the issue of âÂÂWhither Britainâ could be of great potential interest to this country
Doug Saunders, Globe and Mail
Small-hold farmers in the developing world are increasingly savvy about the benefits of GMO crops. The backward beliefs come from the West.
Bruce Riedel, Al-Monitor
The Saudis still remember the Iranianà protests and demonstrations in 1987 during the Iran-Iraq War that led to anotherà bloody pilgrimage season.à Keeping Iran out of Mecca reduces the risk of protests over last year's tragedy.à The Saudis blameà Iranians pilgrims for last year's disaster.
Nick Cohen, Guardian
Lefty westerners who trawl the world for revolutions to praise are no better than sex tourists in search of 'exotic' thrills.
David Ignatius, Washington Post
America's military strength remains overwhelming, even after the tests of the past decade, and the emerging campaign almost surely will gradually disable the Islamic State. The problem, as nearly every commander here will acknowledge, is that U.S. military might cannot make a broken Iraq work as a nation.