Julie Burchill, Spectator
On reading recently that Italian is the fastest disappearing language in America, my thoughts were mixed. I felt fleeting sorrow that such a beautiful lingo would be heard less. Between 2001 and 2017
Craig Nelson, WSJ
In a landmark concession to the U.S., the Taliban has agreed to bar from Afghanistan any militant group aiming to carry out terrorist attacks abroad, as talks between the insurgents and American diplomats to end the 17-year Afghan war entered a fourth day.
New York Times
Thomas Wright, Foreign Affairs
At the two-year mark, it is now clear that the president is dominating the struggle against the national security establishement to determine the administraion's foreign policy.
Simon Tisdall, Guardian
Trump's threats to the country's president, Nicols Maduro, could spiral out of control, says foreign affairs commentator Simon Tisdall
Markos Kounalakis, Miami Herald
If the Trump administration blows this opportunity for real and needed change in Caracas, it could create the conditions not only for a further failing Venezuela, but for wider instability throughout Latin America.
Claire Berlinski, The American Interest
At the heart of the unrest in France is a blackout of rational thinkingand it's driving the country to destruction.
John Lloyd, Irish Times
It's about being governed by a parliament we understand and not post-imperial nostalgia
Naomi O'Leary, Politico EU
The past 72 hours have seen one of the worst outbreaks of violence in two decades.
Henry Foy, Nastassia Astrasheuskaya & David Pilling, FT
As protests raged in Zimbabwe's cities last week, with police firing live ammunition at crowds who barricaded roads with burning tyres, the target of their anger was 8,000km away.President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who had sparked the unrest by raising fuel prices amid an economic crisis in the southern African country, was instead strolling through the Kremlin for talks with President Vladimir Putin, the first of what Moscow hopes will be many visits by African leaders this year.
Robert Kagan, Foreign Policy
The world's authoritarians are on the marchand the West helped pave the way.