Monday, January 9, 2012

Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials -- January 8/9, 2012

Kim Jong-un, front row center, on Jan. 1 with soldiers in the Korean People's Army. Kcna/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Dynasty, North Korean-Style -- B.R. Myers, New York Times

KIM JONG-UN can count himself lucky that his first birthday in power falls today, on a Sunday, obviating the need for a new national holiday to be created at an awkward time. But the ease with which the new “supreme leader” has taken over North Korea has little to do with luck. For one thing, the propaganda apparatus did its job well. We now know why Kim Jong-un was such a peripheral figure on the evening news until his father’s death: so that North Koreans’ first long look at the pampered young man would be at the rarest of times — a time when he was suffering more than anyone.

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Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials

How America Painted Itself Into A Corner on North Korean Succession -- Thomas P. M. Barnett, Time

The Dog That Didn't Bark: Algeria looked ripe for revolution. What happened? -- James Traub, Foreign Policy

A Pakistani Spring? -- Huma Yusuf, International Herald Tribune

Maliki's strength grows with the help of a politicised army -- Maria Fantappie, The National

Chaos on the Shores of Tripoli?
-- Walter Russell Mead, American Interest

Ahmadinejad's Latin America trip kicks sand in US eyes, but is it threatening? -- Howard LaFranchi, Christian Science Monitor

Daniel Ortega to Host Ahmadinejad -- Joel D. Hirst, Huffington Post

Why Islamism Is Winning
-- John M. Owen IV, New York Times

On the matter of Israel's bomb and Iran -- Bennett Ramberg, Politico

A ‘test’ of democracy Malaysia might fail -- Washington Post editorial

Inside Turkmenistan's Surreal Presidential Election
-- Joshua Foust, The Atlantic

China has seen the enemy and it’s us
-- Troy Parfitt, Toronto Star

The Myth of Japan’s Failure -- Eamonn Fingleton, New York Times

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