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Yale's Mira Rapp-Hooper on what China wants
Italian police have seized 50 million euros worth of tablets of a synthetic opiate destined to be sold by the Islamic State (IS) group in Libya to raise funds for attacks, a court said Friday. The painkiller has been described as the "fighter drug" as it is known to be popular among jihadists for its ability to dull pain and suppress fatigue. - Agence France-Presse
Russian Far East: As part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, China Development Bank has offered to finance construction of two key transport corridors to make exports quicker and easier, Olesya Kuvatova writes. The state lender proposed financing development of the Primorye-1 and Primorye-2 routes, which connect China’s northwest provinces with Far East Russian ports, during negotiations between China Railway Group Ltd and the first vice-governor of Russia’s Primorsky Krai territory in late October. The routes already support a growing volume of cargo but the infrastructure needs to be significantly upgraded in order to handle high volumes of exports. Primorye-1 connects northern provinces of China with the ports of Nakhodka and Vladivostok, from where cargo is sent by sea to the south of China, and to South Korea and Japan. Primorye-2 connects the province of Jilin with the Russian ports of Slavyanka, Zarubino and Posiet. READ THE STORY HERE
Lebanese PM resigns: Many expected the marriage of convenience between Saad al-Hariri and President Michel Aoun to snap – but not as abruptly as it did on Saturday, Sami Moubayed writes. The prime minister announced his resignation in a televised address delivered from Riyadh. Aoun was neither consulted nor informed beforehand, which sent shockwaves throughout Lebanon. It may well be that al-Hariri was asked to resign by Saudi Arabia, a country that has long backed him and indeed bankrolled both his own career and that of his father and predecessor, Rafik al-Hariri. He blamed his resignation on Iran and Hezbollah, which he accused of being behind his father’s 2005 murder. His resignation came weeks after Saudi Arabia called for the toppling of Hezbollah, promising “astonishing developments” in the upcoming days. Hariri has been highly critical of Hezbollah’s military involvement in the Syrian conflict, claiming that it attracted ISIS and other jihadi groups into Lebanese territory. READ THE STORY HERE
US foreign policy: Listen to President Donald Trump’s critics and you’d think the Asia-Pacific region had been idyllic until January 20, 2017, the day he was inaugurated, Grant Newsham writes. A recent speech in Australia by David Shear, a former senior US State and Defense Department official, included typical criticism of the Trump administration. He warned of the “slippage of American authority, the decline of US economic salience, the constriction of US military operations in the Western Pacific, and the gradual diminution of our alliances” ending “with Beijing’s establishment of a Sino-centric economic and security order in Asia in which America plays a minimal role.” True enough, but this was happening in the region long before Trump came into office. And many of Trump’s critics in America’s foreign policy class – both civilian and military – helped bring about the current state of affairs through “de-escalation” and accommodation of Beijing during the Obama administration. READ THE STORY HERE Elevating Deterrence on the Korean Peninsula
By Patrick Cronin & David Asher, RealClearDefense: “As scripted, President Donald Trump’s five-nation Asian tour underscores the longstanding U.S. commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific region. Yet North Korea’s Kim Jong Un may seek to insinuate his way into the program through fresh provocations. Alliance unity and peace itself could come under fire via a Pyongyang-manufactured crisis.” Asia’s New Entente By Brahma Chellaney, The Strategist (ASPI): “President Donald Trump is arriving in Asia at a moment when the region’s security situation is practically white-hot. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, recognising that the world’s ‘center of gravity is shifting to the heart of the Indo-Pacific’, called on the region’s democratic powers to pursue ‘greater engagement and cooperation.’” The Pentagon's Vital African Mission
By James Inhofe, The Wall Street Journal: “It will take many weeks to resolve the unanswered questions about the loss of four American soldiers in Niger. But having studied U.S.-Africa policy, I think one thing is abundantly clear: Our military engagements in Africa, while dangerous, are critical to national security.” THE FRAGILITY OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE; LENIN WRECKED RUSSIA, WILL IT WRECK CHINA? HOW CHINA CHEATS11/2/2017
The Polar Silk Road. Fraser Howie, co-author of Red Capitalism: The Fragile Financial Foundation of China's Extraordinary Rise. @gordongchang
https://www.forbes.com/sites/wadeshepard/2017/10/26/why-china-doesnt-care-that-most-of-its-overseas-investments-are-junk/?utm_source=TWITTER&utm_medium=social&utm_content=1128261479&utm_campaign=sprinklrForbesMainTwitter#762433e70cf8 USS Reagan Scrambles Hornets to Escort Russian Bombers
By Hope Hodge Seck, Military.com: “Multiple Navy F/A-18 Hornets were dispatched from the carrier Ronald Reagan Sunday to escort Russian aircraft approaching the ship, Navy officials told Military.com Wednesday.” A driver plowed a pickup truck down a crowded bike path along the Hudson River in Manhattan on Tuesday, killing eight people and injuring 11 before being shot by a police officer in what officials are calling the deadliest terrorist attack on New York City since Sept. 11, 2001. - New York Times
Mr. Saipov, the suspect in the terrorist attack in Lower Manhattan that killed eight people on Tuesday, arrived from Tashkent — the Uzbek capital and its largest city — knowing little English, Mr. Abdusamatov said. - New York Times |
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