Новости за 31.07.2016

Josh Gelernter, National Review
The Olympics are an orgy of corruption and dishonesty. For public officials, hosting the Olympics means being the center of attention and being able to throw themselves lavish parties at the taxpayers' expense. For the International Olympic Committee — which is a “not-for profit” organization — the Olympics mean huge revenues and enormous bribes. For locals they mean traffic, and for sports fans they mean wondering how many of the athletes are cheating.

Devjyot Ghoshal, Quartz
Assam's prized tea industry has turned into a veritable death trap for expectant mothers.

Xue Li & Zheng Yuwen, The Diplomat
Despite its rising power, China should resist the temptation to become militarily involved in the Middle East.

Beena Sarwar, Boston Globe
We need to compassionately support the struggle of Muslim queers is because it is not just a fight for LGBTQ rights but part of the larger war for inclusion.

Daniel Serwer, New York Post
The military situation in Syria has turned against the US-supported opposition over the past year, due mainly to Russian intervention. Without some rebalancing now in favor of the opposition to Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, the prospects for a satisfactory negotiated political transition are dim.

Mimi Whitefield, Miami Herald
The Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy meets in Miami as the island's economy faces many challenges.

Vladimir Hernandez, BBC Magazine

Travelling through the country this month I saw endless queues of people trying to buy food - any food - at supermarkets and other government-run shops.

Ruth Margalit, New York Times
Efforts to stifle freedom of the press can be seen as part of a broader attack by Mr. Netanyahu and his ministers on Israel's democratic institutions, including the Supreme Court and nongovernmental organizations. Dissent from the official government line is consistently called into suspicion. In this climate, the news media has become a personal battleground for Mr. Netanyahu. Nahum Barnea, a pre-eminent Israeli columnist, said last year that Mr. Netanyahu's “obsession”... Читать дальше...

Charles Clover, Foreign Policy
How an obscure academic and a marginalized philosopher captured the minds of the Kremlin and helped forge the new Russian nationalism.

Vladislav Inozemtsev, Project Syndicate
Western policymakers have struggled to categorize the Russian political system, often resorting to vague phrases such as “illiberal democracy” or “authoritarianism.” If anything, the Russian system should be characterized as proto-fascist – tamer than the interwar European fascist states, but featuring key elements of those regimes.

Andrew Hammond, Globe and Mail
Aside from the anti-Trump effect, many want Hillary Clinton as president, given the strong role she played as secretary of state.

Janet Daley, Telegraph
If peace cannot be made, what then? How far do we go in abrogating our own standards of legality to extinguish the threat? Even when all the sloppy haphazardness of the security operation has been eliminated, these questions will remain.

Conrad Black, National Post
If the parties want these appalling circuses and there is no better way to choose the candidates, I suppose they must continue.

David Graham, Atlantic
The Republican nominee doesn't just disagree with Democrats—his ideas represent a break with a long list of policies that have won bipartisan support for decades.

George Will, Washington Post
His tax returns could clarify the degree of his financial relationship with Moscow.