She was one of the most revered academics from the Uighur ethnic minority in far western China. She had written extensively and lectured across China and the world to explain and celebrate Uighurs’ varied traditions. Her research was funded by Chinese government ministries and praised by other scholars. Then she disappeared. - New York Times
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China, Russia prepare for security talks as pressure from US grows
(South China Morning Post) A senior Chinese diplomat will visit Moscow next week amid rising tensions on the global stage, after the United States announced fresh sanctions against Russia, and Beijing and Washington remain locked in a trade war. Covert Action, Military Operations and the DoD–CIA Debate By J. Robert Kane, RealClearDefense: “Covert action is making its name again. Back on the strategic foreign policy stage, covert action is a way to achieve diplomacy without direct military confrontation. Kinetic operations by way of targeted killing have become a hot (and disputed) topic.” Low Density Logistics
By Katherine Graef, Small Wars Journal: “Sustainment of SOF is inherently more complex than sustainment of conventional forces, especially outside of major contingency operations.” Russia eyes refugee return as centerpiece of next policy move in Syria
Moscow claims it's making progress in talks with Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey over the return of Syrian refugees; yet getting international organizations and the United States to cooperate on the refugee return and the reconstruction of Syria proves more challenging. Zimbabwe’s first election in four decades without former strongman Robert Mugabe on the ballot was meant to be the country’s ticket back into the fold of the international community. - Wall Street Journal When the leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea embraced in Asmara last month, promising to end the two-decade-old state of war between their two countries, it looked like a sudden breakthrough. [...]More surprising was the role played by a much smaller nation: the United Arab Emirates. - Reuters
The United States’ top diplomat for Africa says he is “deeply troubled by credible reports that opposition supporters are being targeted by members of the Zimbabwean security forces” and that senior opposition official Tendai Biti has fled the country. - Associated Press Color Revolution in the Caucasus rattles Russian leaders BY M.K. BHADRAKUMAR Armenia's new Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has targeted Moscow’s confidantes in a corruption crackdown and angered the Kremlin by making overtures to NATO Looking Back on the Russian-Georgian War, 10 Years Later By Eugene Chausovsky, Stratfor Worldview: “...the message was clear to Saakashvili's government, and to its supporters in Europe and the United States: After nearly two decades of political and economic turmoil, Russia was back.”
Cracks appear in 'invincible' Xi Jinping's authority over China (The Guardian) Intellectuals voice criticism as analysts point to disharmony in the Communist party. China’s president looks like he may have overreached. An economic slowdown, a tanking stock market, and an infant-vaccine scandal are all feeding domestic discontent, while abroad, in Western capitals and financial centers, there’s a growing wariness of Chinese ambitions. - Bloomberg
David Von Drehle writes: In this age of uncertainty, few things are as sure as the inevitable rise of China. We hear about it everywhere we turn. How orderly and efficient China’s government is compared with the Washington clown show. How its airports gleam and its bullet trains whoosh. How its hundreds of millions of rising consumers promise a future of perpetual growth. - Washington Post Is Israel's Mossad expanding scope of secret assassinations?
The killing of a Syrian missile-engineer, widely attributed to the Mossad, is likely meant to serve as a message that the lives of those developing weapons against Israel are in danger.
As ringmaster, Russia runs Israel-Iran balancing act in Syria
A deal brokered by Russia has something for everyone involved — Syria, Israel, Iran and, of course, Russia itself — and has defused at least temporarily what could have become a deadly showdown between Israel and Iran. The New Sultan And The Crisis Of Modern Turkey
by Soner Cagaptay via Strategika The failed coup of July 15, 2016 has irreversibly transformed Turkish politics. Although the coup attempt was thankfully thwarted, the path that Erdogan chose to take after the coup—using the state of emergency powers he was given to go specifically after coup plotters, to embark instead on a much broader campaign against all dissidents, many of whom possessed no ties to the coup in any form—highlights an unfortunate truth about the country: Turkey is in a deep crisis. Russia And The World of Islam: Within And Without
by Robert Service via Analysis Of all the world's great powers, Russia has the longest and most tangled experience of Islam at home and abroad. Muslims have led or taken part in revolts. Chechnya is only the latest such rebellion against Russian rule. Tsars, commissars, and now presidents have had to contend with internal difficulties that are aggravated by external Islamic interference. They have also intervened actively in Muslim countries in the "near abroad" and in the Middle East. This makes for danger in world politics.
Russianism
by Victor Davis Hanson via National Review Trump’s critics need a scapegoat to explain why they haven’t managed to vanquish him. US debt 'double whammy' unsettles emerging markets
James C. Capretta | RealClearPolicy India's central bank governor Urjit Patel has urged the Fed to make a course correction to prevent a further diversion of significant amounts of available global capital away from emerging market economies. James Capretta argues that Patel may have a point, noting that India's rupee has fallen more than 6 percent relative to the dollar since October last year. Additionally, the currencies of Argentina, Brazil, and Turkey have each fallen by more than 20 percent relative to the dollar over the past six months. However, the Trump administration seems unaware and unconcerned about the risks its fiscal policy might create for the global economy. Consequently, Capretta believes the pleas coming in from around the world are not likely to have much effect in Washington. Ignore emerging market economics at your peril Desmond Lachman | InsideSources According to the International Monetary Fund, the emerging market economies now account for over half of the world economy. At the same time, their governments and their corporations are hugely indebted to the global financial system as they have never been before. Desmond Lachman argues that the administration and the Federal Reserve are ignoring, at their peril, the adverse effect of monetary, fiscal, and trade policies on the emerging market economies, including Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, and Turkey. Should those economies falter because of US policies, given their combined size, they could materially affect both the US and the world’s economic and financial systems. However, in light of the latest America First trade measures and of Chairman Jerome Powell’s recent pronouncements that the emerging market economies are not a factor in the Fed’s monetary policy decisions, Lachman fears it is unlikely the emerging market economies will get any relief from US economic policy decisions. ![]()
British Politics Is Degraded And Divisive
mentioning Peter M. Robinson via Merion West British politics is in a state of degradation not seen for decades, with both main political parties divided among themselves, engaging in solipsistic infighting while the country burns. Britain has identified Russians suspected of Skripal nerve attack
(Reuters) British police have identified several Russians who they believe were behind the nerve agent attack on former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, the Press Association reported on Thursday, citing a source close to the investigation. |
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