Despite Majority Of Americans In Favor Of Trump Immigration Policy, 900 State Department Staff Dissent
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-31/despite-majority-americans-favor-trump-immigratiuon-policy-900-state-department-staf
Reflections from news and commentary of the day
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Despite Majority Of Americans In Favor Of Trump Immigration Policy, 900 State Department Staff Dissent
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-31/despite-majority-americans-favor-trump-immigratiuon-policy-900-state-department-staf
Meet America's Newest Supreme Court Justice: Judge Neil Gorsuch
Meet America's Newest Supreme Court Justice: Judge Neil Gorsuch
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-31/meet-americas-newest-supreme-court-justice-judge-neil-gorsuch
How to Keep a Spiritual Journal like the Saints Did
26
How to Keep a Spiritual Journal like the Saints Did
http://pauline.org/Pauline-Books-Media-Blog/ArticleID/2960/How-to-Keep-a-Spiritual-Journal-like-the-Saints-Did
Famous Spiritual Journals
Football Is Trumpball Lite Can Kaepernick Save Us?
Football Is Trumpball Lite
Can Kaepernick Save Us?
By Robert Lipsyte
The Super Bowl is superfluous this year. Who needs a reality show about violence, domination, and sexism, not to mention brain damage, now that we have Trumpball, actual reality that not only authenticates football’s authoritarianism but transforms us from bystanders into victims? Before this game is over, the players may swarm the grandstands and beat the hell out of us.
Pro football actually helped prepare us for the new president’s upset victory by normalizing a basic tenet of jock culture: anyone not on the team is an enemy, the Other. And it’s open season on opponents, the fans of opponents, critics, and women (unless they’re cheerleaders or moms). Trash talking is the lingua franca of this Trumpian moment, bullying the default tactic.
Yet pro football has also provided us with the single most vivid image of current American resistance to racism. Last summer, before a pre-season game, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick sat during the playing of the national anthem as a symbol of his refusal “to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” As the season progressed, he started going down on his right knee when the anthem began, revealing that he was wearing black socks decorated with pigs in police hats. These, he said, represented “rogue cops that are allowed to hold positions in police departments.” He would eventually stop wearing them, convinced that the socks were a tactical mistake.
Kaepernick’s non-violent gestures, done initially without fanfare, were the most powerful message from SportsWorld since that other hard year of despair and determination, 1968, when two American Olympic medalists, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, raised their black-gloved fists in Mexico City.
Click here to read more of this dispatch.
What every member of Congress from California said — or hasn’t said — about Trump’s immigration order
What every member of Congress from California said — or hasn’t said — about Trump’s immigration order
http://spreadsheets.latimes.com/where-california-congressmembers-stand-trump-order/
GOP House chair: Maybe we should cut off part of D.C. and send it back to Md.
GOP House chair: Maybe we should cut off part of D.C. and send it back to Md.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/gop-house-chair-maybe-we-should-cut-off-part-of-dc-and-send-it-back-to-md/2017/01/31/40d288a6-e7d9-11e6-b82f-687d6e6a3e7c_story.html?utm_term=.8670129e00dc
Steve Bannon on Trump's NSC Should Concern US Allies and Partners in Asia
Steve Bannon on Trump's NSC Should Concern US Allies and Partners in Asia
http://thediplomat.com/2017/01/steve-bannon-on-trumps-nsc-should-concern-us-allies-and-partners-in-asia/
Trump has fired the acting attorney general who ordered Justice Dept. not to defend president’s travel ban
Trump has fired the acting attorney general who ordered Justice Dept. not to defend president’s travel ban
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/acting-attorney-general-an-obama-administration-holdover-wont-defend-trump-immigration-order/2017/01/30/a9846f02-e727-11e6-b82f-687d6e6a3e7c_story.html?utm_term=.1ca256be8eea&wpisrc=nl_heads-draw6&wpmm=1
Bishop Barron's Daily Gospel Reflection January 31, 2017
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Weapons, Warriors, and Fear as the New Order in America
http://lobelog.com/weapons-
I came of age during America’s Cold War with the Soviet Union, witnessing its denouement while serving in the U.S. military. In those days, the USSR led the world’s weapons trade, providing arms to the Warsaw Pact (the military alliance it dominated) as well as to client states like Cuba, Egypt, and Syria. The United States usually came in second in arms dealing, a dubious silver medal that could, at least, be rationalized as a justifiable response to Soviet aggression, part of the necessary price for a longstanding policy of “containment.” In 1983, President Ronald Reagan had dubbed the Soviet Union an “evil empire” in part because of its militarism and aggressive push to sell weaponry around the globe, often accompanied by Soviet troops, ostensibly as trainers and advisers.
After the USSR imploded in 1991, dominating the world’s arms trade somehow came to seem so much less evil. In fact, faced with large trade deficits, a powerful military-industrial complex looking for markets, and ever more global military commitments, Washington actively sought to promote and sell American-made weaponry on a remarkable scale. And in that it succeeded admirably.
Today, when it comes to building and exporting murderous weaponry, no other country, not even that evil-empire-substitute, Vladimir Putin’s Russia, comes faintly close. The U.S. doth bestride the world of arms production and dealing like a colossus. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, U.S. arms contractors sold $209.7 billion in weaponry in 2015, representing 56% of the world’s production. Of that, $40 billion was exported to an array of countries, representing “half of all agreements in the worldwide arms bazaar,” as the New York Times put it. France ($15 billion) was a distant second, with Putin’s Russia ($11 billion) earning a weak third. Judged by the sheer amount of weapons it produces for itself, as well as for others, the U.S., notes Forbes, is “still comfortably the world’s superpower — or warmonger, depending on how you look at it.” Indeed, under President Obama, in the five-year period beginning in 2010, American arms exports outpaced the figures for the previous Bush-Cheney years by 23%. http://lobelog.com/weapons-warriors-and-fear-as-the-new-order-in-america/#more-37758
Weapons, Warriors, and Fear as the New Order in America
by William AstoreI came of age during America’s Cold War with the Soviet Union, witnessing its denouement while serving in the U.S. military. In those days, the USSR led the world’s weapons trade, providing arms to the Warsaw Pact (the military alliance it dominated) as well as to client states like Cuba, Egypt, and Syria. The United States usually came in second in arms dealing, a dubious silver medal that could, at least, be rationalized as a justifiable response to Soviet aggression, part of the necessary price for a longstanding policy of “containment.” In 1983, President Ronald Reagan had dubbed the Soviet Union an “evil empire” in part because of its militarism and aggressive push to sell weaponry around the globe, often accompanied by Soviet troops, ostensibly as trainers and advisers.
After the USSR imploded in 1991, dominating the world’s arms trade somehow came to seem so much less evil. In fact, faced with large trade deficits, a powerful military-industrial complex looking for markets, and ever more global military commitments, Washington actively sought to promote and sell American-made weaponry on a remarkable scale. And in that it succeeded admirably.
Today, when it comes to building and exporting murderous weaponry, no other country, not even that evil-empire-substitute, Vladimir Putin’s Russia, comes faintly close. The U.S. doth bestride the world of arms production and dealing like a colossus. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, U.S. arms contractors sold $209.7 billion in weaponry in 2015, representing 56% of the world’s production. Of that, $40 billion was exported to an array of countries, representing “half of all agreements in the worldwide arms bazaar,” as the New York Times put it. France ($15 billion) was a distant second, with Putin’s Russia ($11 billion) earning a weak third. Judged by the sheer amount of weapons it produces for itself, as well as for others, the U.S., notes Forbes, is “still comfortably the world’s superpower — or warmonger, depending on how you look at it.” Indeed, under President Obama, in the five-year period beginning in 2010, American arms exports outpaced the figures for the previous Bush-Cheney years by 23%. http://lobelog.com/weapons-warriors-and-fear-as-the-new-order-in-america/#more-37758
Welcome to the Jewish American Dissonance
http://lobelog.com/welcome-to-
In early December, just a month after the election of Donald Trump, American alt-right leader Richard Spencer sat down for an interview with Al Jazeera. Speaking to Kristen Saloomey, Spencer, who brought his white supremacist views along as he was catapulted into spotlight over the past year, railed against the “great erasure” of the “white world,” diversity, and the underrepresentation of American whites in corporate America, among other things.
Spencer has made a career out of adroitly tapping into the teeming rage of a white America after eight years of President Obama. He has successfully suffused public discourse with anti-Muslim, anti-black, anti-immigrant, and anti-Semitic sentiments that at least felt like they were in check under Obama. For years Spencer has been promoting a view of the world undergirded by the belief in both white, European supremacy and its negative: that people of color are not only inferior, they are dependent on the greatness of the master race for any success they may have found. And all this under the cloak of a genteel smile, an affable personality, and a hipster haircut.
The most interesting part of Spencer’s interview, however, focuses on his ideas regarding immigration. While he unsurprisingly opposes illegal immigration and supports Trump’s plan to build a wall on the Mexican border, Spencer is actually far more interested in how “legal immigration” shapes the demographic makeup of the United States. http://lobelog.com/welcome-to-the-jewish-american-dissonance/#more-37752
Welcome to the Jewish American Dissonance
by Edo KonradIn early December, just a month after the election of Donald Trump, American alt-right leader Richard Spencer sat down for an interview with Al Jazeera. Speaking to Kristen Saloomey, Spencer, who brought his white supremacist views along as he was catapulted into spotlight over the past year, railed against the “great erasure” of the “white world,” diversity, and the underrepresentation of American whites in corporate America, among other things.
Spencer has made a career out of adroitly tapping into the teeming rage of a white America after eight years of President Obama. He has successfully suffused public discourse with anti-Muslim, anti-black, anti-immigrant, and anti-Semitic sentiments that at least felt like they were in check under Obama. For years Spencer has been promoting a view of the world undergirded by the belief in both white, European supremacy and its negative: that people of color are not only inferior, they are dependent on the greatness of the master race for any success they may have found. And all this under the cloak of a genteel smile, an affable personality, and a hipster haircut.
The most interesting part of Spencer’s interview, however, focuses on his ideas regarding immigration. While he unsurprisingly opposes illegal immigration and supports Trump’s plan to build a wall on the Mexican border, Spencer is actually far more interested in how “legal immigration” shapes the demographic makeup of the United States. http://lobelog.com/welcome-to-the-jewish-american-dissonance/#more-37752
Monday, January 30, 2017
Belief, Faith, and the Church Sex Scandal (Bishop Barron Interview Pt. 1)
Belief, Faith, and the Church Sex Scandal (Bishop Barron Interview Pt. 1)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bphyucResSY
Watch part 2 on abortion, gay marriage, and porn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYWBN...
The Jacksonian Revolt
The Jacksonian Revolt
American Populism and the Liberal Order
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2017-01-20/jacksonian-revolt?cid=%3Fcid%3Demc-paywall_free-the_jacksonian_revolt-013017&sp_mid=53313799&sp_rid=bWljaGVsZXRrZWFybmV5QGdtYWlsLmNvbQS2&spMailingID=53313799&spUserID=MjEwNDg3NjAxODc2S0&spJobID=1085849983&spReportId=MTA4NTg0OTk4MwS2&t=1485812178
NOAA Technical Report NOS CO -OPS 083 noaa National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration U . S . DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Ocean Service Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services GLOBAL AND REGIONAL SEA LEVEL RISE SCENARIOS FOR THE UNITED STATES
NOAA
Technical Report NOS CO
-OPS 083
noaa
GLOBAL AND REGIONAL
SEA
LEVEL RISE SCENARIOS
FOR THE
UNITED STATES
https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/publications/techrpt83_Global_and_Regional_SLR_Scenarios_for_the_US_final.pdf
Outrage About Trump Exposes "Librul" Hypocrisy
Outrage About Trump Exposes "Librul" Hypocrisy
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2017/01/outrage-about-trump-exposes-librul-hypocrisy.html#more
Spare Us the Theatrics Trump’s Fortress America is rooted in the Obama years
Spare Us the Theatrics
Trump’s Fortress America is rooted in the Obama years
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2017/01/29/spare-us-the-theatrics/
Those ‘Resignations’: What Really Happened at the State Department
Those ‘Resignations’: What Really Happened at the State Department
https://www.antiwar.com/blog/2017/01/27/those-resignations-what-really-happened-at-the-state-department/
3-D-Printed Skin Leads the Way Toward Artificial Organs
3-D-Printed Skin Leads the Way Toward Artificial Organs
Researchers claim that additive
manufacturing can now produce functional skin, and the first internal
organs may be ready within six years.
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/603511/3-d-printed-skin-leads-the-way-toward-artificial-organs/?set=603514
Malevolence Tempered by Incompetence: Trump’s Horrifying Executive Order on Refugees and Visas
Malevolence Tempered by Incompetence: Trump’s Horrifying Executive Order on Refugees and Visas
https://www.lawfareblog.com/malevolence-tempered-incompetence-trumps-horrifying-executive-order-refugees-and-visas
Scholars: Many more legal challenges likely for Trump’s executive order on immigration
Scholars: Many more legal challenges likely for Trump’s executive order on immigration
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/scholars-many-more-legal-challenges-likely-for-trumps-executive-order-on-immigration/2017/01/29/2801ffee-e64b-11e6-bf6f-301b6b443624_story.html?utm_term=.fb7f789c7737&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1
Sunday, January 29, 2017
Global backlash grows against Donald Trump's immigration order
-
Maher Chmaytelli and Lin Noueihed
Global backlash grows against Donald Trump's immigration order
Trump Needs a Strong NSC. It Doesn’t Look Like He Wants One.
Trump Needs a Strong NSC. It Doesn’t Look Like He Wants One.
This weekend’s least-noted presidential directive may be the most consequential … in a bad way.
Whip Count: Here’s where Republicans stand on Trump’s controversial travel ban
Whip Count: Here’s where Republicans stand on Trump’s controversial travel ban
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/01/29/heres-where-republicans-stand-on-president-trumps-controversial-travel-ban/?utm_term=.3f182da7bf65
Military Brass Fill Donald Trump’s National Security Council
Military Brass Fill Donald Trump’s National Security Council
President’s appointments reflect his campaign pledge to target Islamic militants
http://www.wsj.com/articles/military-brass-fill-national-security-council-1485478127
In face of Donald Trump's Muslim ban, Canada's Trudeau welcomes refugees
In face of Donald Trump's Muslim ban, Canada's Trudeau welcomes refugees
http://www.smh.com.au/world/in-face-of-donald-trumps-muslim-ban-canadas-trudeau-welcomes-refugees-20170128-gu0q04.html
Congress Addresses Israel, Iran, and Nikki Haley
Published on January 29th, 2017 |
by Lara Friedman
0
Congress Addresses Israel, Iran, and Nikki Haley
http://lobelog.com/congress-addresses-israel-iran-and-nikki-haley/#more-37737
National Security Presidential Memorandum 2—President Trump's NSC and HSC
National Security Presidential Memorandum 2—President Trump's NSC and HSC
https://www.lawfareblog.com/national-security-presidential-memorandum-2%E2%80%94president-trumps-nsc-and-hscWill The Campaign For California To Secede From The U.S. Succeed?
Will The Campaign For California To Secede From The U.S. Succeed?
https://warnewsupdates.blogspot.com/2017/01/will-campaign-for-california-to-secede.htmlRecently Released CIA Documents Claim China Did Not Only Give A Nuclear Weapon Design To Pakistan, But Also Gave Them Enriched Uranium
Recently Released CIA Documents Claim China Did Not Only Give A Nuclear Weapon Design To Pakistan, But Also Gave Them Enriched Uranium
https://warnewsupdates.blogspot.com/2017/01/recently-released-cia-documents-claim.html
Al Qaeda Funded by Royal Sauds, U.S. Gov’t. Documents
Al Qaeda Funded by Royal Sauds, U.S. Gov’t. Documents
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2017/01/al-qaeda-funded-royal-sauds-u-s-govt-documents.html
Mikhail Gorbachev: It Appears ‘the World Is Preparing for War’
Mikhail Gorbachev: It Appears ‘the World Is Preparing for War’
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/mikhail_gorbachev_it_appears_the_world_is_preparing_for_war_20170128Why Iran, but not Saudi Arabia? - TTG
Why Iran, but not Saudi Arabia? - TTG
http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2017/01/why-iran-but-not-saudi-arabia-ttg.html
The Lawyers Showed Up
The Lawyers Showed Up
And because we still live in a country where the law matters, they won.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2017/01/lawyers_take_on_donald_trump_s_muslim_ban.html
Trump Justifies Executive Orders with Exaggerations Grounded in Bias
Trump Justifies Executive Orders with Exaggerations Grounded in Bias
by James J. ZogbyBy now, Donald Trump’s penchant for exaggeration and self-promotion has become well-established. Whether born of a form of pathological narcissism or just plain hucksterism, his need to claim that everything he does is the biggest and best is unsettling and, at times, embarrassing.
Most troubling is the concern that Mr. Trump may actually believe his non-factual boasts –that because his ego is so needy he cannot accept reality. This is clearly not a comforting quality for a Commander-in- Chief. http://lobelog.com/trump-justifies-executive-orders-with-exaggerations-grounded-in-bias/#more-37728
Read: Full text of the new stay halting deportations under Trump’s immigration order
Read: Full text of the new stay halting deportations under Trump’s immigration order
http://www.vox.com/2017/1/28/14427846/trump-muslim-ban-order
Judge halts deportations as refugee ban causes worldwide furor
Judge halts deportations as refugee ban causes worldwide furor
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/refugees-detained-at-us-airports-challenge-trumps-executive-order/2017/01/28/e69501a2-e562-11e6-a547-5fb9411d332c_story.html?utm_term=.82bd59389e54&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1
Saturday, January 28, 2017
Trump Administration Releases Map Of Proposed Border Wall
Trump Administration Releases Map Of Proposed Border Wall
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-27/trump-administration-releases-map-proposed-border-wall
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-27/trump-administration-releases-map-proposed-border-wall
Trump's Islamophobic 'Extreme Vetting' Could Strand Hundreds of Thousands of U.S. Residents
Trump's Islamophobic 'Extreme Vetting' Could Strand Hundreds of Thousands of U.S. Residents
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/trumps-islamophobic-extreme-vetting-could-strand-hundreds-thousands-us-residents
Amazon Enters Trillion Dollar Ocean Freight Business: How Many Jobs Will Vanish?
Amazon Enters Trillion Dollar Ocean Freight Business: How Many Jobs Will Vanish?
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-28/amazon-enters-trillion-dollar-ocean-freight-business-how-many-jobs-will-vanishSoon There Could Be Only 49 States In America
Soon There Could Be Only 49 States In America
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-28/soon-there-could-be-only-49-states-america
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-28/soon-there-could-be-only-49-states-america
'We Weren't Looking For A Better Life, We Were Just Looking For Life'
'We Weren't Looking For A Better Life, We Were Just Looking For Life'
http://www.npr.org/2017/01/28/512005140/we-werent-looking-for-a-better-life-we-were-just-looking-for-lifeWhat If Muslim Immigrants Don't Want to Be "Like Us"?
What If Muslim Immigrants Don't Want to Be "Like Us"?
http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-skeptics/what-if-muslim-immigrants-dont-want-be-us-17824March for Life in the Trump era: A collection of photos from the day
March for Life in the Trump era: A collection of photos from the day
http://www.politico.com/gallery/2017/01/2017-march-for-life-washington-photos-002400?slide=0
Who supplies the news?
Patrick Cockburn writes for the Independent. His latest book, published last year, is The Age of Jihad.
Who supplies the news?
Patrick Cockburn on misreporting in Syria and Iraq
The nadir of
Western media coverage of the wars in Iraq and Syria has been the
reporting of the siege of East Aleppo, which began in earnest in July
and ended in December, when Syrian government forces took control of the
last rebel-held areas and more than 100,000 civilians were evacuated.
During the bombardment, TV networks and many newspapers appeared to lose
interest in whether any given report was true or false and instead
competed with one another to publicise the most eye-catching atrocity
story even when there was little evidence that it had taken place. NBC
news reported that more than forty civilians had been burned alive by
government troops, vaguely sourcing the story to ‘the Arab media’.
Another widely publicised story – it made headlines everywhere from the Daily Express to the New York Times
– was that twenty women had committed suicide on the same morning to
avoid being raped by the arriving soldiers, the source in this case
being a well-known insurgent, Abdullah Othman, in a one-sentence quote
given to the Daily Beast.
Printed human body parts could be available for human transplants within a few years
Printed human body parts could be available for human transplants within a few years
http://www.nextbigfuture.com/2017/01/printed-human-body-parts-could-be.html
Arrivals To U.S. Blocked And Detained As Trump's Immigration Freeze Sets In
Arrivals To U.S. Blocked And Detained As Trump's Immigration Freeze Sets In
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/01/28/512158238/arrivals-to-u-s-blocked-and-detained-as-trumps-immigration-freeze-sets-in
From Neocon to Realist
From Neocon to Realist
Why I became a lapsed neoconservative and joined The American Conservative
Editor’s Note: Pratik Chougule has been recruited by TAC, effective February 6, as one of our two executive editors. He comes to us from The National Interest,
where he was managing editor. Knowing of Pratik’s former commitment to
the neoconservative creed, we asked him to share with us, and our
readers, a bit about his intellectual journey from neocon to
foreign-policy realist. This is what he sent.
An
explanation is probably in order. I was, until recently, a
neoconservative—a true-believing one at that. Now I’m about to join The American Conservative, a magazine founded in defiance of my erstwhile colleagues.
Google Recalls Staff to U.S. After Trump Immigration Order
Google Recalls Staff to U.S. After Trump Immigration Order
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-28/google-recalls-some-staff-to-u-s-after-trump-immigration-orderPro-Life Feminists' Broader Message Is Nonviolence
Pro-Life Feminists' Broader Message Is Nonviolence
Poll Finds Most Women Back Abortion Restrictions
Poll Finds Most Women Back Abortion Restrictions
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2017/01/27/poll_finds_most_women_back_abortion_restrictions_132913.html
Illegal Aliens Really Do Vote – a Lot
Illegal Aliens Really Do Vote – a Lot
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2017/01/illegal_aliens_really_do_vote_a_lot.html
Bishop Barron's Daily Gospel Reflection January 28, 2017
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Friday, January 27, 2017
Climate Policy in the Age of Trump
A Plausible Path Forward
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/north-america/2017-01-24/climate-policy-age-trump?cid=nlc-twofa-20170126&sp_mid=53289520&sp_rid=bWljaGVsZXRrZWFybmV5QGdtYWlsLmNvbQS2&spMailingID=53289520&spUserID=MjEwNDg3NjAxODc2S0&spJobID=1085086710&spReportId=MTA4NTA4NjcxMAS2Trump and U.S. Alliances
Trump and U.S. Alliances
From Burden-Sharing to Burden-Shedding
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2017-01-25/trump-and-us-alliances?cid=nlc-twofa-20170126&sp_mid=53289520&sp_rid=bWljaGVsZXRrZWFybmV5QGdtYWlsLmNvbQS2&spMailingID=53289520&spUserID=MjEwNDg3NjAxODc2S0&spJobID=1085086710&spReportId=MTA4NTA4NjcxMAS2
Trump Takes Washington in a Storm, but Why the Hurry?
Trump Takes Washington in a Storm, but Why the Hurry?
https://whchronicle.com/trump-takes-washington-in-a-storm-but-why-the-hurry/
WPR Articles Jan. 20 — Jan. 27
WPR Articles Jan. 20 — Jan. 27
India’s Unique Brand of Populism Does Little to Tackle Inequality
By: The Editors | Trend Lines
A
study by Oxfam found that inequality is on the rise in India, and that
the richest 1 percent of Indians control 58 percent of the country’s
total wealth. In an email interview, Vamsi Vakulabharanam, an associate
professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, discusses income
inequality in India.
Why Poland’s Authoritarian Drift Puts the EU Between a Rock and a Hard Place
By: Andrew MacDowall | Briefing
The
Polish opposition’s month-long occupation of parliament may have ended
earlier this month, but the deep political divisions behind Poland’s
latest political crisis remain. Critics fear that Poland could plunge
deeper into authoritarian nationalism or even worse, undermining the EU
at a crucial time.
With an Eye on China—and Trump—Japan Enhances Security Ties With Southeast Asia
By: J. Berkshire Miller | Briefing
Japanese
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s weeklong tour of Southeast Asia and
Australia earlier this month was an opportunity to stress the importance
of defending international norms and laws, especially in the South
China Sea. The trip was planned in relative haste after Donald Trump’s
election as U.S. president.
Was ECOWAS’ Intervention in Gambia a Sign of Things to Come in West Africa?
By: Alex Thurston | Briefing
Gambia’s
new president, Adama Barrow, finally returned to the country yesterday,
his arrival formally marking the end of a six-week political crisis. Do
ECOWAS’ actions to intervene in Gambia show a growing willingness by
the West African bloc to use force against leaders who overstay their
welcome?
Brazil Needs to Pay More Than Just Lip Service to Women’s Rights
By: The Editors | Trend Lines
On
New Year’s Eve, a man in southeastern Brazil shot and killed his
ex-wife, their son and 10 other people, before taking his own life. The
incident was the latest example of the rampant violence against women in
Brazil. In an email interview, Sueann Caulfield discusses women’s
rights in Brazil.
Despite a Robust Women’s Movement, Turkey Sees Gender Equality Lag
By: The Editors | Trend Lines
Last
year, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called women who work “half
persons,” sparking outrage among many liberal Turks, though his
statement resonated with the country’s conservative majority. In an
email interview, Melinda Negrón-Gonzales discusses women’s rights and
gender equality in Turkey.
In Life and Death, Rafsanjani Will Leave a Lasting Imprint on Iran’s Politics
By: The Editors | Trend Lines
In
this week’s Trend Lines podcast, WPR’s editor-in-chief, Judah Grunstein,
and senior editor, Frederick Deknatel, discuss U.S. President Donald
Trump’s foreign policy agenda. For the Report, Mohsen Milani talks about
former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani’s lasting influence on
Iranian politics.
Is Sudan Coming In From the Cold?
By: Andrew Green | Briefing
One
of the more unexpected decisions to emerge in the waning days of Barack
Obama’s presidency was his move last week to ease U.S. sanctions against
Sudan that have been in place for nearly two decades. The move to open
up Sudan’s economy might encourage the reforms that 20 years of
sanctions have not.
Under Hollande, Old Ills Plague French Policy in Africa
By: Karina Piser | Trend Lines
Security
has defined France’s Africa policy under President Francois Hollande,
who was in Mali last week for the final Africa-France Summit of his
presidency. But critics argue that Hollande’s militaristic approach
distracted from the institution-building necessary for long-term African
stability.
Which of America’s Adversaries Will Test Trump First?
By: Steven Metz | Column
America’s
adversaries are almost certain to challenge President Donald Trump
early on to test his inexperience in national security affairs. How he
and his team respond will determine whether other adversaries mount
challenges of their own. What is unclear is which of America’s
adversaries will move first.
How a Conflict Economy Limits the Prospects for Peace in Central African Republic
By: The Editors | Trend Lines
According
to Human Rights Watch, a new rebel group in the Central African
Republic—known as Return, Reclamation, Rehabilitation—has killed at
least 50 people and displaced over 17,000 in the northwest of the
country since late 2015. In an email interview, Igor Acko discusses the
security situation in CAR.
Temer Has Few Easy Choices to Solve Brazil’s Prison Crisis
By: Christopher Looft | Briefing
Brazil’s
president is having a kind of homecoming, but not the one he wanted.
Michel Temer served in the 1980s as the top security official for the
state of Sao Paulo, overseeing its prison system. He is now struggling
to contain an unprecedented nationwide crisis in Brazil’s jails.
Will International Peacemaking Be the First Casualty of the Trump Era?
By: Richard Gowan | Column
What
will international peacemaking look like in the Trump era? Five
tentative but credible predictions paint a bleak picture. Though the
U.S. has been edging back from its global peacemaker role for years,
Donald Trump’s agenda will further damage institutions the U.S. built
after 1945, starting with the U.N.
Globalization Was Already on the Ropes. It’s Only Going to Get Worse
By: Daniel McDowell | Feature
Since
2008, the world economy has been caught in a vicious cycle that it
can’t seem to break. With Trump’s election and China’s economic
slowdown, global economic interconnectedness continues to unravel. A
trade war now looks more likely than ever, with disastrous implications
for the world economy.
The Bureaucracy and the Trump Administration Are Already Off to a Rough Start
By: Ellen Laipson | Column
Presidential
transitions are always a time of apprehension and uncertainty for the
career civil servants who keep the big machine of government running.
President Donald Trump’s plans make this particular transition scarier
than most. His performance at the CIA on Saturday, in particular, is an ominous sign.
‘America First’ Might Not Be Dangerous. Trump’s Version of It Is
By: Judah Grunstein | Column
With
his inauguration address last Friday, President Donald Trump announced
to Americans and the world that the “America First” era had arrived. But
is this iconoclastic challenge to the U.S. foreign policy orthodoxy as
alarming as it seems? How much does global stability still depend on the
United States?
China’s Complicated Relationship With Workers’ Rights
By: The Editors | Trend Lines
Labor
organizations in China expect worker protests to spike in the coming
weeks, in large part because workers from the “new economy,” which
includes e-commerce, are experiencing problems with overdue payments for
the first time. In an email interview, Cynthia Estlund discusses labor
rights in China.
How the Israel Defense Forces Got Dragged Into Israel’s Culture Wars
By: Chuck Freilich | Briefing
Public
support for the Israel Defense Forces has not prevented it from
becoming an important locus of Israel’s domestic culture wars. The
contending forces in Israeli society—right, left, religious and
secular—seek to make use of the IDF’s unique role and prestige to
promote their respective agendas.
Could Trump’s Hard-Line Support End Up Backfiring for Israel’s Far Right?
By: Frida Ghitis | Column
Most
Middle East observers believe that Donald Trump’s presidency will boost
the Israeli right, dealing a blow to the center and left, and worsening
relations with Palestinians. While that consensus scenario remains
highly probable, a sharply different possible turn of events should not
be discounted.
A Strategic Surprise for the Trump Administration Is a Question of When, Not If
By: Steven Metz | Column
If
history holds, the U.S. will be drawn into conflict somewhere that was
never mentioned during the 2016 presidential campaign. In strategy,
unexpected threats are the norm, and there is no reason to believe this
will not continue to be the case. Looking ahead, two types of security
challenges stand out.
For Better Civil-Military Ties, Indonesia Needs to Prioritize Defense Reform
By: The Editors | Trend Lines
Earlier
this month, Indonesia’s military chief unilaterally suspended defense
ties with Australia, forcing President Joko Widodo to quickly walk back
the move and raising questions about the amount of power the military
has. In an interview, Fabio Scarpello discusses civil-military relations
in Indonesia.
The Slow and Steady Decline of Globalism
By: The Editors | Trend Lines
In
this week’s Trend Lines podcast, WPR’s editor-in-chief, Judah Grunstein,
and senior editor, Frederick Deknatel, discuss the global reactions to
U.S. President Donald Trump’s first week in office. For the Report,
Daniel McDowell talks with Peter Dörrie about the growing problems
facing globalism.
Why India and the United Arab Emirates Are Moving Closer Together
By: Saurav Jha | Briefing
Afghan
authorities blamed a bombing this month in Kandahar that killed five
Emirati diplomats on the Haqqani network, which many suspect of having
ties to Pakistani intelligence. That triggered speculation that the
attack was a message to the UAE about its growing counterterrorism ties
with India.