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Sep 27, 2023

What Ukraine Needs to Win the War Against Russia

If Western allies fail to send Ukraine the weapons it needs, the odds increase of the war dragging on indefinitely, at a terrible cost to both Ukraine and Russia and a growing risk to the wider world.

What Ukraine Needs to Win the War Against Russia
Council on Foreign Relations

Sep 25, 2023

If you want to save democracy in 2024, Biden is the only viable choice

I fear for America’s future and hence the world’s — more so now than ever. I had relaxed a bit after the last two national elections, which had seemed to signal a return to normalcy. Donald Trump was decisively defeated in 2020 and, in 2022, most of his fellow election deniers also lost in their bids to take over the election machinery of swing states.

If you want to save democracy in 2024, Biden is the only viable choice
Washington Post

Sep 18, 2023

The Ukraine war is revolutionizing military technology. Whoever masters it wins.

The war in Ukraine — Europe’s biggest conflict since 1945 — features a bewildering combination of old and new technologies and tactics. The artillery duels, minefields and trench warfare are straight out of World War I, and yet much of the Ukrainian artillery fire is now being spotted by drones and adjusted on tablet computers linked via satellite to the internet. It sometimes feels like a mash-up of “All Quiet on the Western Front” and “Blade Runner.”

The Ukraine war is revolutionizing military technology. Whoever masters it wins.
Washington Post

Sep 10, 2023

In Vietnam, Biden discovers the limits of democracy promotion

President Biden’s first visit to Vietnam on Sunday will mark another significant advance for U.S. national security interests in the Indo-Pacific region. Already, the administration has signed a deal to help Australia produce nuclear submarines, expanded U.S. military access in the Philippines, deepened U.S. relations with India, and brought South Korea and Japan together in a new trilateral relationship. Now, following his attendance at the Group of 20 summit in New Delhi, Biden is unveiling a “comprehensive strategic partnership” that will expand economic and security cooperation with Hanoi. That’s a remarkable achievement given Vietnam’s long-standing ties to Moscow and Beijing, and one that will help counter China’s worrisome influence in the region.

In Vietnam, Biden discovers the limits of democracy promotion
Washington Post

Sep 4, 2023

Ukraine may have a better chance to win in 2024, a retired U.S. general says

Some U.S. military officials appear astonished that the Ukrainian counteroffensive has not made a rapid breakthrough — and, through anonymous quotes to the news media, they are laying the blame on the Ukrainian military. Retired U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Mark Arnold, by contrast, isn’t the least bit surprised at the slow pace of the advance — and he’s blaming the Americans, not the Ukrainians.

Ukraine may have a better chance to win in 2024, a retired U.S. general says
Washington Post

Aug 28, 2023

The myth of Russian ‘red lines’ is keeping Biden from doing more for Ukraine

Ukrainian drone strikes on Moscow, once unthinkable, have now become routine. The Russian capital region was targeted for six straight days recently, and while the drones haven’t caused much damage, they disrupted flight operations at airports and have helped to bring the war home. Also this month, other suspected Ukrainian drones destroyed a Russian bomber at an air base south of St. Petersburg and struck a railway station in the Kursk region of western Russia. The Kremlin’s response appeared to be limited to expressions of outrage.

The myth of Russian ‘red lines’ is keeping Biden from doing more for Ukraine

Aug 23, 2023

Prigozhin appears to be dead — and Putin’s grip on power is stronger than ever

The most fitting epitaph for Wagner Group founder Yevgeniy Prigozhin was delivered by the shotgun-wielding hit man Omar Little on “The Wire”: “You come at the king, you best not miss.” There’s still much we don’t know for certain (and might never know), but that pearl of wisdom was confirmed by Prigozhin’s apparent death Wednesday after a private plane he was on reportedly crashed north of Moscow.

Prigozhin appears to be dead — and Putin’s grip on power is stronger than ever
Washington Post

Aug 18, 2023

What just happened: Storm clouds loom for China’s economy

For the past decade, Americans have been transfixed by the specter of a rising China. We’ve worried that the Chinese economy would destroy American jobs and that the Chinese military would draw the United States into a war over Taiwan. Now comes evidence that China’s economy is stagnating — and those problems are unlikely to go away, because China’s population is rapidly aging and declining. The “Chinese century” might be over before it has begun.

What just happened: Storm clouds loom for China’s economy
Washington Post

Aug 17, 2023

Camp David summit with Japan and South Korea is a major Biden achievement

It is hard to exaggerate the significance of Friday’s summit at Camp David among President Biden, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. This represents another major step toward the establishment of a new trilateral alliance that could help all three nations cope with the growing threats from North Korea and China in a world destabilized by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Camp David summit with Japan and South Korea is a major Biden achievement
Washington Post

Aug 7, 2023

Why a federal judge is pushing for an international anti-corruption court

There is something thrilling about seeing former president Donald Trump arraigned in court: It shows that no one is above the law. There are many countries where such a spectacle would be unthinkable — where heads of state can never be removed from office, much less prosecuted, no matter how many laws they break.

Why a federal judge is pushing for an international anti-corruption court
Washington Post

Jul 31, 2023

I don’t recognize the intolerant, illiberal country Israel is becoming

I came of age on stories of hard-working kibbutzim turning desert soil green and heroic Israeli soldiers rescuing hostages at Entebbe....Yet, while I retain affection for Israel, I often feel as if I do not recognize what it has become. This is a familiar feeling for me, since I am similarly befuddled by modern America: How did we turn into a land of book banners and covid deniers? Both Israel and the United States have been disfigured by the rise of populist rabble-rousers who have tapped into ugly and unsavory prejudices.

I don’t recognize the intolerant, illiberal country Israel is becoming
Washington Post

Jul 23, 2023

Israel’s biggest security threat is Benjamin Netanyahu

Even before Donald Trump was elected president, I wrote that he was America’s No. 1 security threat. Today, I am convinced that Israel’s No. 1 security threat comes from its Trump-like prime minister: Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israel’s biggest security threat is Benjamin Netanyahu
Washington Post

Jul 14, 2023

Trump came to Helsinki to kowtow to Putin. Biden came to stand up to him.

If you want to know the differences on national security between Democrats and MAGA Republicans, it all boils down to one word: Helsinki.

Trump came to Helsinki to kowtow to Putin. Biden came to stand up to him.
Washington Post

Jul 13, 2023

Was the NATO summit a diplomatic train wreck? Post writers discuss.

If you admit Ukraine to NATO anytime soon, you’re making NATO a direct party to a conflict with a nuclear armed state. The focus right now should be on providing as many weapons as possible to Ukraine for the success of their counteroffensive and to roll back the Russian aggression.

Was the NATO summit a diplomatic train wreck? Post writers discuss.
Washington Post

Jul 11, 2023

Sending cluster munitions to Ukraine is the moral thing to do

American liberals have generally been more stalwart in support of Ukraine than American conservatives. (In a recent Pew Research Center poll, 44 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said the United States is sending too much aid to Ukraine compared with only 14 percent of Democrats and Democratic leaners.) Yet now progressives are balking at the Biden administration’s decision last week to provide Ukraine with cluster munitions. Liberal hesitancy is understandable but misguided — and inimical to the goal of protecting human rights in Ukraine.

Sending cluster munitions to Ukraine is the moral thing to do
Washington Post

Jul 9, 2023

Ukraine in NATO? My heart says yes. But my head says no.

The NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Tuesday and Wednesday will focus on the difficult question of whether Ukraine should be given an invitation to join the transatlantic alliance. My heart says yes, but my head says no.

Ukraine in NATO? My heart says yes. But my head says no.
Washington Post

Jun 26, 2023

What happened in Russia — and what happens next? Our columnists weigh in.

The past few days have been the most tumultuous in Russia’s history since the constitutional crisis in October 1993 when Boris Yeltsin ordered the army to shell the parliament to stop an attempt to oust him. Yeltsin held on to power, but he could never quite claim the same degree of legitimacy again, and within six years, he was gone from office. His handpicked successor, Putin, has now had his own legitimacy undermined by the revolt of Prigozhin and his Wagner Group mercenaries. Whether the damage is fatal remains to be determined.

What happened in Russia — and what happens next? Our columnists weigh in.
Washington Post

Jun 24, 2023

Putin finally learns the lesson all tyrants learn

Russian President Vladimir Putin is learning what so many tyrants have learned before him: When you unleash the dogs of war, they can come back to bite you. When the Russian strongman sent his troops marching to take Kyiv, he never imagined that 16 months later, mutinous Wagner mercenary group troops would march on Moscow.

Putin finally learns the lesson all tyrants learn
Washington Post

Jun 19, 2023

The GOP claims to be strong on defense. Tommy Tuberville shows otherwise.

Republicans love to posture as the “strong on defense” party, and many GOP members of Congress can genuinely claim that label. But there is also a substantial minority of MAGA extremists whose devotion to fighting culture wars imperils America’s ability to fight actual wars.

The GOP claims to be strong on defense. Tommy Tuberville shows otherwise.
Washington Post

Jun 12, 2023

If the United States can spy on China, why can’t China spy on the U.S.?

Washington’s badly frayed relations with China were just starting to recover from the Chinese spy balloon that traversed the United States in early February before being shot down over the Atlantic Ocean. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who had been forced to postpone his trip to Beijing because of all the hot air about the balloon flight, had finally rescheduled his visit for June 18. Then, last week, came word of a Chinese spy station in Cuba. In truth, there is nothing particularly scandalous about the latest revelations.

If the United States can spy on China, why can’t China spy on the U.S.?
Washington Post
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