Новости за 22.12.2020

Antonia Colibasanu, Geopolitical Futures

For the European Union, two events were supposed to define 2020: Brexit and the looming 2021-27 budget, which includes the so-called Green Deal. As the new leadership in Brussels announced at the beginning of the year, these developments would set the course for a new "geopolitical" European Union. They would make the bloc stronger, removing uncertainty over losing a member and transitioning the economy to face 21st-century challenges. After a decade of instability... Читать дальше...

Victor Davis Hanson, National Review

China is anxious for Trump to leave — so it can return to a global status quo tolerating its myriad abuses that harm the U.S.

Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, Axios

A person on LinkedIn claiming to work for a think tank run by a high-ranking Chinese Communist Party department recently offered financial compensation for the names of my sources and for reports about the incoming Biden's administration's views on China.

Eric Brewer, War on the Rocks

The brazen assassination of the head of Iran's former nuclear weapons program last month and Iran's threats of retaliation have — once again — highlighted how quickly tensions can escalate in the Middle East.

Lionel Laurent, Japan Times

A similar challenge faces French President Emmanuel Macron, who's holed up in the Elysee Palace after testing positive for COVID-19, triggering knock-on quarantines for several European leaders. He's scrambling to prepare his country, exhausted by repeated lockdowns, for vaccines against SARS-CoV-2. Getting it right in France, where vaccine hesitancy is high and faith in institutions bruised, will be a critical test case for Europe.

Frederick Deknatel, World Politics Review

Ten years ago this week, the protests were spreading across Tunisia. The young fruit seller whose name would soon reverberate across the Arab world—Mohamed Bouazizi—had set himself on fire days earlier, to protest against the police who kept harassing him for bribes. He was fed up with the kind of daily abuse by authorities at all levels of government that Egyptians, Libyans, Syrians and so many others knew all too well.

Tom Rogan, Washington Examiner

Lost amid the news of the coronavirus relief deal, Britain's variant strain of the coronavirus, and President Trump's election disputes, military tensions between the United States and Iran are rising rapidly.

Chicago Council

The United States' strategy towards Iran must include more than just returning to the Iran nuclear agreement, our Deep Dish guests argue.

Laura Rozen

Consensus appears to be emerging between Europe, incoming US administration on saving Iran nuclear deal before trying to expand on it

Jill Stephenson, Spectator

No school subject lends itself more readily to political manipulation and propaganda than history. This is especially the case in Scotland, where the purpose of history education has changed beyond recognition since the SNP came to power.

Bill Zeiser, RealClearPolicy

Even casual viewers of cable news are familiar with commercials featuring actor William Devane - usually golfing or horseback riding - exhorting them to invest in precious metals. Lately, Devane has been joined in this pursuit by financial educator Robert Kiyosaki, creator of the "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" series. The prevalence of these ads should not be surprising. In these volatile times, the Trump administration has spent big and printed money. (The United States... Читать дальше...

Zach Dorfman, Foreign Policy

Jessica Batke & Mareike Ohlberg, ChinaFile

Li Wenliang's death had only been announced a few hours earlier, but Warming High-Tech was already on the case. The company had been monitoring online mentions of the COVID-whistleblower's name in the several days since police had detained and punished him for "spreading rumors." Now, news of his deteriorating condition, and eventual passing, had

Scott Adamson, FDD

The Defense Department's coming near-total withdrawal of troops from Somalia follows its 2019 re-assessment of its force posture in Africa, aimed at shifting finite resources to great power competition. While it is appropriate to conduct such reviews and execute...