Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- March 5, 2018

Matthew Carney, ABC News Online: China's National People's Congress will open the way to a dictatorship for President Xi Jinping: Analysis

Today in a carefully orchestrated show of unity and strength at the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China's 13th National People's Congress (NPC) will convene.

Three thousand delegates will arrive from all over China and in theory spend the next two weeks thrashing out policy and direction for the nation in 2018.

The NPC is meant to be the body that ensures the Government and the Communist party adheres to rule of law and the will of the people through elected delegates, much like a parliament in a Western democracy.

The reality is vastly different.

Delegates are handpicked by the Party to enforce decisions taken months ago.

Read more ....

Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- March 5, 2018

Xi May Scare Asia Back Into Washington's Orbit -- Hal Brands, Bloomberg

How to Know When China Is Pulling Even With the U.S. -- Steven Metz, World Politics Review

India and Pakistan's Psychological Rivalry -- Jawad Kadir, The Conversation

Is North Korea Preparing to Attack U.S. Power Plants? -- Anthony Cuthbertson, Newsweek

The 'enforced disappearance' of Egypt’s secular youth -- Al-Monitor

Zimbabwe: President Emmerson Mnangagwa's 100 days in office -- Tendai Marima, Al Jazeera

Is Vladimir Putin bluffing or should we be worried about his new 'miracle weapons'? -- Matthew Sussex, ABC News Online

Shattered hopes: Workers in Putin’s stronghold speak -- Nataliya Vasilyeva, AP

Italy’s election is the latest rebuke for Europe’s flailing center-left -- Eshe Nelson, Quartz

Italy Takes a Step Back From Europe -- Ferdinando Giugliano, Bloomberg

Expect the Eurozone to go bananas over Italy’s election -- Nicholas Farrell, Spectator

Emmanuel Macron Wants YOU for the French Army -- Robert Zaretsky, Foreign Policy

Germany's New Milquetoast Government -- Florian Gathmann, Spiegel Online

Trump Unleashes the Dogs of a Trade War
 -- Michael Fumento, American Conservative

Meet Canada's marijuana moguls -- Terry Reith, CBC