Alex Massie, Daily Beast
The cost of Blair's folly, as measured in blood and treasure, was astonishing. This was a war of choice in which almost all the choices taken were made on the back of shoddy intelligence, wishful thinking, and a determined attempt to avoid looking reality in the face.
Erlanger & Castle, NYT
The inquiry, while revealing little that changes the understanding of the war, its preparation and aftermath, pulls no punches on a deeply flawed British governmental process.
Matthew King, The American Interest
Several former colonies in East Africa are marking their Independence Days this month. Not that there's much to celebrate.
Tony Badran, Tablet Magazine
That Netanyahu was now forced to petition Russia about the Golan highlighted that the United States under Obama was gone. America's absence means that Israel must now find an accommodation with Russia to ensure its interests.
Suzanne Nossel, Foreign Policy
There will be no bloc of '??emerging economies'?? rising up to challenge the Western order. But what comes next may be more chaotic and dangerous.
Andres Pertierra, The Nation
Summer is here in Cuba and with it tens of thousands more American visitors. More than 150,000 Americans visited in 2015, and this year seems on track to surpass even that figure.
Goldwyn & Gill, New Atlanticist
As the June 23 Brexit referendum demonstrates, governments can take irreversible, momentous, and damaging actions without anticipating the consequences. While reason suggests Venezuela should adjust its fiscal policies, ensure basic human needs, avoid sovereign default, and continue oil production for cash flow, it could easily fail to do all of the above. The ripples of a Venezuelan collapse could stretch from Caracas to Miami. The international community needs... Читать дальше...
Bruce Riedel, Al-Monitor
July 4 saw three consecutive attacks against Saudi Arabia, suggesting an infrastructure of terrorism has developed inside the kingdom that authorities must confront.
David Blair, Telegraph
The Anglo-American decision to invade Iraq in 2003 was not made on a whim.
Tony Blair
It is claimed that by removing Saddam we unleashed terrorism in the Middle East today. I profoundly disagree.Ã
IranWire, Daily Beast
Abbas Kiarostami, Iran's best-known filmmaker, died Monday,Ã July 4
David Ignatius, Washington Post
The U.S. and its allies have been handed an opportunity to broaden the anti-Islamist alliance, but they must be careful about a deeper alliance with Russia.
Tahmima Anam, New York Times
Reports are still emerging about what exactly transpired. By some accounts, the gunmen assured the Bangladeshi hostages that they would be spared. Hostages were told to recite verses from the Quran in order to save themselves. According to an Indian newspaper, an Italian businessman who had stepped into the garden to make a phone callà managedà to hide in bushes and then escape â not knowing until later that his wife, trapped inside, had been murdered.à Ã
Justin Fox, Bloomberg View
It may have to choose between coddling state-owned enterprises and productivity gains.
Adam Gopnik, New Yorker
How a scholar of the nation's Presidency swiftly became its Presidential front-runner.
Conn Halinan, Foreign Policy In Focus
The Village Green Preservation Society prevails in the UK.
Will Martin, Business Insider
All eyes are on the UK and the impact of Brexit, but look elsewhere and Italy's banking system should be a real worry for all of us.
Annabelle Timsit, Politico EU
Secessionist groups across the country see Brexit as an omen for success. They're even copying the name.
Jonathan Freedland, Guardian
But its impact on Britain's national life is huge and enduring too. First, whenever we talk about the lack of trust in our politicians, Iraq looms large. Of course, cynicism did not begin in 2003. But the experience of listening to Blair insist that the intelligenceà proved âÂÂbeyond doubtâ that Iraq had weapons of mass destructionà â only for the US and British invaders to find none â has left many unable to believe a single word any politician says about anything. Читать дальше...
George Friedman, Geo. Fut.
On June 20, 1789, toward the beginning of the of the French Revolution, a meeting of the emerging National Assembly was held at a tennis court in Versailles. Various factions sat together. The supporters of the monarchy sat on the right. Supporters of creating a democratic republic sat on the left. In between were a variety of factions of many shades of monarchy and republicanism. This was the origin of the terms left wing and right wing. And they have been used ever since to describe global politics. Читать дальше...
D. Majumdar, TNI
Improved, but not the mighty Soviet Navy.Ã