Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- July 30, 2017

Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. (Reuters photo: Carlos Barria)

Paul Wood, Spectator: If Donald Trump is a Russian stooge, why is he sabre-rattling against Putin in Ukraine?

And does it mean he’s ceded control of Russia policy to the ‘grown-ups’?

There is no lavatory paper to be found in government buildings in Kiev. Plan ahead, locals advise, if you visit a tax office, the council or some other arm of the bureaucracy. This state of affairs is one small sign of the corruption that pervades Ukraine. Even the trifling sums spent on toilet roll are stolen by dishonest officials. Patients bribe doctors to get treatment; students bribe professors to pass exams; citizens bribe tax inspectors… actually, many people don’t bother with tax in the first place, working instead in a vast shadow economy.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- July 30, 2017

Transatlantic fallout over Russian sanctions is dangerous -- Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Financial Times

The Sweet Smell of Post-Soviet Dictatorship -- Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg

North Korea missile test: It’s all in the timing -- Morris Jones, The Interpreter

As Trump fumes, experts warn that an answer to the North Korea crisis won't come through China -- Jeff Daniels, CNBC

In North Korea, a generation gap grows behind the propaganda -- Tim Sullivan, AP

North Korea Tested an ICBM. Iran Is Next -- Matthew Kroenig, Tablet Magazine

A China Card for the Middle East -- Dominique Moisi, Project Syndicate

Trump’s Dangerous Game With Iran -- Heather Hurlburt, NYMag

Fresh fears as Boko Haram resurges -- The Guardian (Nigeria)

Mobile money is only just starting to transform some of Africa’s markets -- Moses K Gahigi, Quartz

Greek debt crisis: ‘People can’t see any light at the end of any tunnel’ -- Helena Smith, The Guardian

You're Not Getting Rid of Saakashvili That Easily -- Ian Bateson, Foreign Policy

Venezuela election for constituent assembly to rewrite constitution could be new phase in crisis -- ABC News Online

AP Explains: What’s behind Venezuela’s constituent assembly? -- Christine Amario, AP

Palantir: the ‘special ops’ tech giant that wields as much real-world power as Google -- Jacques Peretti, The Guardian