Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials -- April 23, 2014



It’s All About May 25 -- Thomas Friedman, New York Times

KIEV, Ukraine — The word “maidan” means “square” in Ukrainian and in Arabic. And the “Independence Maidan” of Kiev, like the “Tahrir Maidan” of Cairo, has been the scene of an awe-inspiring burst of democratic aspirations. The barricades of piled cobblestones, tires, wood beams and burned cars erected by Ukrainian revolutionaries are still there — indeed, it looks as if it could be the set of “Les MisĂ©rables” — and people still lay fresh flowers at the makeshift shrines for the more than 100 people killed in the Maidan by the old and now deposed regime here. Walking through it, though, I tried to explain to my host that, while I was incredibly impressed, a lot of Americans today have “Maidan fatigue” — too many dashed hopes for democracy in too many squares — from Afghanistan to Iran, Iraq to Egypt, Syria to Libya.

Get over it, Ukrainians tell me. Our revolution is different. There are real democratic roots here, real civil society institutions and the magnet of the European Union next door. With a little help, we can do this.

Read more ....

Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials

West's options: Russia's Ukraine challenge -- BBC

Putin's strategy: Good cop, bad cop -- Alexander Motyl, CNN

Closer, But Still No Deal on Iran -- David Ignatius, Washington Post

Why Israel may need to rethink its assumptions on Palestinian unity -- Christa Case Bryant, CSM

Tilt towards military unbalances Egypt's ultra-conservative Salafists -- Louisa Loveluck, CSM

Amid the Atrocities: William Daniels Returns to Central African Republic -- Andrew Katz, Time

What Germany Left Behind: A Feeling of Abandonment in North Afghanistan -- Nicola Abé, Spiegel Online

What Afghanistan Finally Got Right -- David Francis, Fiscal Times

Welcome to North Korea's Game of Thrones -- Dennis P. Halpin, National Interest

Death and Anger on Everest -- Jon Krakauer, New Yorker

Negotiating Asia’s Troubled Waters -- Michael J. Green, New York Times

Would China fight for disputed islands? -- Celia Hatton, BBC

Asia's Two Very Different Futures -- Zachary Keck, National Interest

Obama: Going ‘all in’ for the Asian Century -- Josette Sheeran, Reuters

America: Choose Your Enemies Wisely -- Robert W. Merry, National Interest

Why Apple Can't Quit Steve Jobs -- Alyssa Newcomb, ABC News

6 comments:

James said...

WNU,
You certainly have some odd birds that fly through the comments here.

War News Updates Editor said...

I have had worse before James. I am now debating if I should put a stop to it by putting a moderation rule. I hate doing it .... I after-all grew up in a country that enforced censorship .... but even I have lines that should not be crossed.

Unknown said...

*waving arm* Hello James & Mr WNU - Guess I am one of those flappy birds!! Surely it's a lot better than when Creator | Destroyer was around dropping his nut job comments??

James said...

WNU,
I don't know, I think maybe you shouldn't. If you don't listen to those in opposition regardless of their veracity you can easily get trapped in your own world view (right or wrong) and be unable to make rational judgements re: Democrats.
And no Mattathias, I wasn't thinking of you when I typed that comment. Actually Mattathias I think you've reacted in a remarkably restrained way.

War News Updates Editor said...

I was not thinking of you Mattathias ben Johanan.

War News Updates Editor said...

Creator Destroyer .... he was unique. I do not mind people saying that 9/11 was a conspiracy hatch by some cabal in the U.S. intelligence community/political elite .... but he did it EVERY TIME. It degrades the entire blog and it takes attention away from what I am doing .... that is a big no-no that I will not permit.