Anatole Kaletsky, Project Syndicate
The rise of protectionism and anti-immigrant sentiment in Britain, America, and Europe is widely believed to reflect stagnant incomes, widening inequality, structural unemployment, and even excessive monetary easing. But there are several reasons to question the link between populist politics and economic distress.
Economist
A battle is raging in the realm of historiography.
Jackson Diehl, Washington Post
The less committed a U.S. ally is to liberal democracy, the more likely its government is to favor the Republican presidential nominee.
John Herbst, RCW
Last year's military intervention in Syria appears to have paid off for Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has bolstered the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad, demonstrated his importance to Iran, and enhanced Russian prestige and relations with the other major powers of the region. In the process, Putin has made the United States seem ineffective, if not irrelevant. Yet Russia's new role as a power broker in the Middle East is far from assured.