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looking beyond borders

foreign policy and global economy

18 May 2018

A Brief Global History Of A Tactic That’s Back In Style: Toppling Other Countries’ Governments

More sensible strategists might have first considered whether this goal even makes sense. What does history teach us? Did previous efforts at regime change (by the United States and by others) produce the expected benefits, or did they end up making things worse? Does regime change produce real benefits at relatively low cost, or is the price tag usually much higher than expected, while the benefits tend to be disappointing?

Read Here – Foreign Policy

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Posted in Foreign Policy Trends and tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment
18 May 2018

The Man Who Could Shape Iraq’s Future

Moqtada al-Sadr won’t be Iraq’s next prime minister, but he may very well decide who is. It’s a striking outcome for the Shia cleric who forged a reputation as a radical in the insurgency he led against the U.S. after the invasion of 2003, and who then defined himself as an Iraqi nationalist through his defiance of Iran.

Read Here – The Atlantic

Posted in Middle East and tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment
18 May 2018

Why Trump Can’t Run The North Korea Summit Like A Real-Estate Deal

It’s often hard for outside analysts to determine what’s driving North Korea’s tactical decisions, but it’s fun to imagine that someone in Pyongyang has been reading The Art of the Deal ahead of a planned summit with the U.S. in Singapore.

Read Here – The Atlantic

Posted in United States and tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment
11 May 2018

How Xi Jinping Views The World

Much has been written on Chinese President Xi Jinping’s remarkable consolidation of political power since he took office five years ago. But an equally important question for the international community to consider is how Xi views the world—and what that means for how China will approach it. Because of the opacity of the Chinese political system, this is hard to answer with real certainty. But clear patterns are beginning to emerge.

Read Here – Foreign Affairs

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11 May 2018

Breaking A Big Deal

We are left with a region where the Iranians and Saudis will have no more opportunities to cooperate to resolve regional crises, starting with those in Syria and Yemen. Which means, that in the near future, the US, the Europeans and other parties involved in the geo-political game of the Middle East will be left with a difficult choice: Military action against Iran and its proxies, or living with a nuclear-armed hegemonic Iran.

Read Here – The Indian Express

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11 May 2018

Malaysia’s Mahathir Pulls Off Second Political Act Just Like Churchill, Abe, Berlusconi And BiBi

With his shock victory in Malaysia’s election, Mahathir Mohamad has pulled off a political second act that few expected, joining the select ranks of politicians who have revived their careers. The 92-year-old former strongman ruled Malaysia with an iron fist for more than two decades before stepping down, but returned to political life to challenge his own former party, snatching a surprise win in Wednesday’s poll.

Read Here – AFP

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11 May 2018

Trump Says He’ll Meet With Kim Jong Un June 12 In Singapore

U.S. President Donald Trump said he will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on June 12 in Singapore, locking in a historic summit between the two leaders amid their confrontation over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program. “We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!” Trump said in a Twitter message announcing the date and place of the long-anticipated talks.

Read Here – Bloomberg

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09 May 2018

Trump Says U.S. Pulling Out Of ‘Rotten’ Nuclear Deal

President Donald Trump said he will impose “the highest level” of economic sanctions on Iran, dealing a potentially fatal blow to the Iran nuclear deal and once again spurning mainstream foreign policy opinion. He insisted that what he called a “decaying and rotten” deal is deeply flawed because it does not permanently cap Iran’s nuclear program or address topics such as Tehran’s ballistic missile program and support of terrorist groups.

Read Here – Politico

Read White House Statement Here

Also Read: The Iran Deal Will Limp Along Without America—For Now

Posted in Middle East and tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment
08 May 2018

Kim Jong-Un Confirmed As Xi Jinping’s ‘Mystery Guest’ In Surprise Northern China Summit

Kim Jong-un has made a second surprise visit to China, in another sign of warming ties between the two communist states just weeks ahead of Kim’s planned meeting with the US President Donald Trump. The visit, the first time he is known to have travelled by plane as leader, was his second visit to China in the space of just over a month.

Read Here – South China Morning Post

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08 May 2018

Malaysia’s Unappetising Choice

That Malaysia is in a funk is hardly in doubt. Najib’s rule has been marred by accusations of cronyism, most obviously the farrago over sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad, in which $4.5 billion is alleged to have been siphoned off by managers and associates, according to a U.S. Justice Department probe. The prime minister denies wrongdoing.

Read Here – Nikkei Asian Review

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