Commentary
Commentary: From Putin to Zuma to Trump, voters put personality over policy
Jacob Zuma, president of South Africa, survived a no-confidence motion in the country’s parliament earlier this week. It was the eighth since he took office eight years ago.
Commentary: Trump’s dysfunctional NSC a threat to national security
The White House National Security Council (NSC) has no shortage of crises at the moment. Nuclear and missile proliferation on the Korean Peninsula, Islamic State-inspired attacks in western countries, the political and economic crisis in Venezuela and Russian military intervention in Ukraine, Georgia and Syria, to name just a few.
Commentary: Signing a new Russia sanctions bill shouldn’t stop Trump trying to get closer to Putin
The U.S.-Russian relationship is in a downward spiral. President Donald Trump just grudgingly signed a bill imposing additional sanctions on Russia, while Russian President Vladimir Putin angrily ordered 755 U.S. diplomats to leave the country.
Commentary: Amid White House chaos, a rise of the generals
When White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney was asked why President Donald Trump had appointed former Marine officer John Kelly as chief of staff, Mulvaney had a simple explanation. “You know that he enjoys working with generals,” he said.
Commentary: Europe’s leaders struggle over a Trump strategy
“We have to understand, that we Europeans must fight for our own future and destiny,” said Angela Merkel. This was the German chancellor speaking to a crowd of supporters in May, after a testy few days of a G7 summit that included reports in German news media that Donald Trump had called her country “very bad” for selling so many cars to the United States - and saw the U.S. president emerge as the only G7 dissenter on combating climate change.
Commentary: Why Republicans will always struggle to repeal Obamacare
With John McCain’s dramatic “no” vote, the Health Care Freedom Act (HFCA) died early last Friday morning and with it any hope of repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for the foreseeable future. While conservatives might prefer to blame incompetent vote-whipping in the Senate, the ACA could prove resilient for the same reason Medicare and Social Security have: most voters prefer not to wonder if they will be able to eat when hungry or see a doctor when sick. Any program that gives more economic security to a broad, politically powerful group will be dangerous to meddle with, even in these polarized times.
Commentary: For Palestinians, a double win after al-Aqsa mosque protests
The Talmud, a canon of Jewish civil and ceremonial law, asserts that “Ten measures of beauty descended to the world, nine were taken by Jerusalem.”
Commentary: Let’s get real about the threat from Kim Jong Un
We need to put North Korea’s missile tests in perspective. Yes, they’re worrying. But the U.S. mainland is not in imminent danger.
Commentary: Trump’s risky gamble on Iran
Tensions between Iran and the United States are escalating rapidly. Over the weekend, Iranian and U.S. navy warships engaged in yet another round of shadow boxing in Persian Gulf. Last week Congress slapped additional sanctions on individuals and companies associated with Iran’s ballistic missile program and support for terrorism. Iran, in response, test-fired a rocket into space. Forces backed by Washington and Tehran continue to wage proxy wars across the Middle East from Syria to Yemen.
Commentary: The person - and the policy - that could ease Syria’s suffering
For the last five years, U.S. policy on the Syrian civil war has revolved around supporting the United Nations’ efforts to find a political accommodation between the main combatants in the war - and reminding anyone who will listen that only a political resolution will end the grinding conflict for good.
Commentary: It’s time for liberals to fight back
Poland is in an uproar. The decision of its ruling Law and Justice Party to bring the judiciary under political control has been partially blocked by President Andrezj Duda after large street demonstrations in most major cities.
Commentary: Want Congress to fast track health reform? Write bills to support business rather than people.
With John McCain’s support, and a tie-breaking vote by Vice-President Mike Pence, the Republican party managed to bring the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) to the Senate floor for debate. Originally proposed in March 2017, 488852623this bill made it out of committee in record time.
Commentary: Why it’s risky for the U.S. to label Iran’s IRGC a terror group
Once again, the U.S. Navy has opened fire on an Iranian vessel in the Gulf. U.S. sailors fired warning shots Tuesday after the Iranian patrol boat – apparently operated by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – came within 150 yards of the USS Thunderbolt.
Commentary: Don’t write off post-Brexit London just yet
The City of London, with New York one of the two greatest financial centers of the world, is under a greater threat to its primacy than at any time in its 20th and 21st-century history. How it manages that threat will be central not just to the British economy, but also to the island’s constitutional and social well being.
Commentary: Drinking rum until I understand the Cuban embargo
It was easier for me to enter Cuba than it was for me to come back to the United States. “Be sure to try our rum while you’re here!” said the Cuban immigration official. “You’ll need to pay duty on the rum you declared,” grumped the American customs officer a week later, after the retinal scan, facial recognition scan, photo, passport inspection, agricultural questioning, and bag check that welcomed me home.
Commentary: How Russia sparked a Western military renaissance
This month’s G20 meeting in Hamburg showed Western countries still struggling for a strategy to stop suspected Russian meddling in their politics and hacking their elections. Behind the scenes, however, the U.S. and European militaries have been more effective in adapting to the actions of President Vladimir Putin and Moscow’s aggressive new military doctrine.
Commentary: Justin Trudeau masters the Trump two-step
Speaking to the National Governors Association in Providence, Rhode Island, on Friday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered an implicit rebuke to U.S. President Donald Trump’s economic ideas. "Free trade has worked," Trudeau said. "It's working now." This was just the latest instance of Trudeau’s deft handling of relations with the United States and its prickly president. Subtly criticizing President Trump’s policies, while speaking respectfully of Trump personally, Trudeau has successfully met one of the primary challenges for any Canadian prime minister and vanquished what remained of his image as little more than a pretty face.
Commentary: Seven is the number that explains why Congressional Republicans won’t turn on Trump
It isn’t easy being a Republican member of Congress in the age of Donald Trump. Every time he tweets something dumb or offensive Republicans are asked to justify it. Scandal is swirling around the White House. Despite the GOP’s dreams of a conservative remake of the laws of the land, not a single significant piece of legislation has made it through Congress.
Commentary: Europe’s Brexit envy
Britain’s intention to leave the European Union - Brexit - will greatly affect the rest of the world. It’s not confined to the effect it will have on the British economy, even if that is likely to be major, nor on the adjustments the remaining 27 EU states must make.
Commentary: One year after failed coup, Turkey lurches toward dictatorship
There is no overstating the trauma of the attempted coup that shook Turkey a year ago this Saturday. Turkey, which had believed the age of military coups was behind it, once again witnessed tanks on the streets of Istanbul and Ankara. Before the night was through, nearly 300 were killed, more than a thousand were injured, Turkey’s parliament was bombed.
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