[David Ignatius] The Comey debacle only magnifies the Russia mystery

President Trump’s abrupt firing of FBI Director James B. Comey will intensify focus on the issue Trump has been so eager to dismiss -- his knowledge of contacts between Michael Flynn and other associates and Russia.　White House arguments that Trump sacked Comey for mishandling the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s emails are implausible, but no more so than some of the arguments the Trump team has made about Flynn’s firing in February. Sources say the White House has been talking about firing C

May 12, 2017

[Other view] Macron takes power with serious problems to fix

On Sunday, French voters expressed both frustration with the current situation and good sense. They elected centrist Emmanuel Macron as president by a two-to-one margin over Marine Le Pen of the extreme right-wing National Front.Their frustration was shown in that the final two candidates were not from France’s two traditional parties, the Republicans and the Socialists. Some 11 percent of voters cast blank or deliberately spoiled ballots. Turnout among the 47 million eligible voters was lower t

May 12, 2017

[Mihir Sharma] China repeats West’s mistakes in Pakistan

When President Xi Jinping announced in 2015 that China would pump $46 billion worth of investments into Pakistan, the recipients of his largesse seemed less surprised than one might have expected. The military and political elites of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan have long extracted aid from outside powers in return for keeping a lid on things at home. As far back as April 1948, barely eight months after independence, Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan assured Pakistani military commanders that

May 11, 2017

[Los Angeles Times] Trump shuts door on refugees

In the first few days of the Trump administration, the Department of Homeland Security stopped sending investigators overseas to interview refugees seeking asylum in the United States. That was, in effect, a cold stop on processing new applications. The face-to-face interviews are a required part of the vetting process to ensure that potential immigrants pose no risk to American public safety or national security.　Freezing those resettlements -- most of which had already been vetted and approved

May 11, 2017

[Lee Jong-soo] Khrushchev, Trump, Cuba and North Korea

The nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula is headed into a confrontation reminiscent of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. What is the most important lesson for the current crisis from that most dangerous confrontation of the Cold War? The Cuban crisis did not lead to a nuclear war for two main reasons. First, the United States responded to the Soviet deployment of missiles in Cuba -- a provocation by Nikita Khrushchev, the then-Soviet leader, and Fidel Castro, the then-Cuban leader -- with the rig

May 11, 2017

[David O. Friedrichs] Let’s set a maximum wage for CEOs

The Wall Street Journal reported last month that the CEOs of the 100 largest US companies received average pay raises of 6.8 percent, more than offsetting cuts many corporate leaders took in 2015.　Donald Trump was elected president in part by promising that he would “drain the swamp” of establishment interests and look out for the millions of ordinary Americans who have lost jobs and futures due to the actions of Wall Street and corporate executives.　The Trump administration now wants to scrap O

May 11, 2017

[Other view] Indonesia slips: Blasphemy conviction for political figure bodes ill

An Indonesian court has sentenced Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, the loser in the governor’s race in Jakarta, to two years’ imprisonment for blasphemy against Islam. Known as Ahok, he is a Christian of Chinese ethnicity, a double minority in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority state. His sentence represents a setback for the country’s reputation and future as a moderate, secular democracy.Indonesia’s political contests are vigorous, but generally reasonable in nature. This is fortunate consi

May 11, 2017

[Chong Lip Teck] The negative impact of fake news in Malaysia

Fake news spread during the presidential election of the United States caught global attention last year. The fake news went viral and shocked the public. United States President Donald Trump’s victory has even been regarded by some as the outcome of fake news.If fake news or rumors had an impact on the US presidential election, similar cases have also occurred in Malaysia. Although the situation and magnitude of the cases are not comparable to the US, it is enough to show the abuse of fake news

May 10, 2017

Let Middle Eastern allies help win the drone war

Selling weapons is and should be a fraught enterprise, even for the world’s biggest arms supplier. Yet the US is making it needlessly difficult for its allies to purchase armed drones -- with potentially dangerous consequences for both.　A bipartisan group of 22 members of the House of Representatives is urging the State Department to approve a sale of armed drones worth up to $1 billion to Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. Given the vital support these nations give to the fight against terror

May 10, 2017

South Korea needs united front with US

His differences with US President Donald Trump may have helped win Moon Jae-in the presidency of South Korea. Now he and Trump need to focus on what unites them.During the campaign, Moon took issue with the US administration’s approach to North Korea. In the past, he has called for engaging economically with the North and restarting joint development projects, rather than seeking to isolate Kim Jong Un’s regime. He opposed what he portrayed as the rushed deployment of a US system designed to sho

May 10, 2017

[Mihir Sharma] The new strongman diplomacy

What happens when strongmen meet? We know that the world is slowly filling up with populist nationalists, from Manila to Washington. But how do they plan to deal with each other? Will they join forces against the sanctimonious, supra-national powers that dismay them all? Or will they compete, as erstwhile tough guys seem most comfortable doing?　Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised if they find an entirely different way to frame their international engagement, one sure to puzzle, infuriate and somet

May 9, 2017

[Trudy Rubin] West should be rooting for Macron

Yes, indeed, the solid victory of centrist Emanuel Macron over far-right populist Marine Le Pen in French presidential elections has precluded disaster from befalling Western democracy. This is no exaggeration.　She had sworn to lead France out of the euro, NATO and the European Union. This would have led to the demise of all three — to the delight of her ally, Vladimir Putin.　Macron’s victory has put paid to that nightmare. It has halted (for now) the rise of ultra-nationalist populism in Europe

May 9, 2017

[Other view] Same conflicts, new interests

In Donald Trump’s White House, the conflicts of interest are vivid, varied and globally expansive, and each day seems to bring more.Nicole Kushner Meyer, the sister of Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, has spent the past few days pitching her family’s latest real estate venture, a luxury complex in New Jersey, to potential Chinese investors -- and offering them a shot at a US visa in return. Although the White House wasn’t involved, promotional material made quite clear whose sister

May 9, 2017

[David Ignatius] How Democrats lost their way -- and how they can find it again

In his heroically doomed 48-year campaign to promote the Washington Monthly, Charles Peters hit upon one especially apt (if un-catchy) slogan: “If you’re not afraid of being right too soon.” 　Peters founded his little magazine in 1969. From the start, he needled mainstream liberals about issues that weren’t getting enough attention at the time: income inequality, entrepreneurship, Wall Street’s money culture, gay rights, the downside of meritocracy, the importance of reforming and supporting the

May 9, 2017