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Germany's Merz is bringing historic change to Germany that it has not seen since reunification in 1990. Understated and underestimated Merz is different from the career politician chancellors of the past. Merz is a businessperson who headed the German branch of the investment fund Black Rock and from this experience has a keen understanding of the economy, of American and European business, and a direct commonsense approach to issues from defense to modernization. In short he is direct, speaks clearly, and action oriented. Within 5 months DJT has acted on tariffs and a level playing field in world trade and on a new budget with priorities for defense and tax cuts. Merz has in 2 months removed the constitutional debt brake of Merkel, corrected policy errors on illegal migration, passed 5% of GDP on defense and gained approval of added borrowing for 129 billion dollars in 2030, 4 times the 33 billion in 2024 to invest in modernization of Germany's failing infrastructure. Together Merz and DJT have stood up for the principle of no nuclear weapons in Iran, and the refocus of South and Southwest Asia on economic development from tragic and senseless wars. ...

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A journalist embedded with American forces in Anbar province in 2007, describes the situation in 2015 after the many sacrifices of Iraqis and American soldiers. He tells the story of one Iraqi police captain he calls Ismail, who helped the U.S. forces turn the tide in Anbar province, and now finds himself a refugee in Baghdad.

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Pictures of Sheikh Sabah of Kuwait in peacekeeping roles as a diplomat for the Gulf region including Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Gulf states. He passed away at the age of 91. The pictures include one with British prime minister Alec Douglas of Britain in 1964 three years after gaining independence from Britain in 1961. With the renewed effort for peace in the Gulf region his role is better appreciated not only as an ally of the U.S. but also as a diplomat keeping good relations for the Gulf states and neighbors. He was foreign minister since the sixties and ruler since 2006. He was one of an older group of leaders in the region who operated with a slow ruling style but sought consensus. During the divisions in the Gulf Cooperation Council with Qatar splitting from the rest in 2016, Sabah was active in keeping the Gulf states together. When he was born in 1929 oil had not been discovered in Kuwait and the area the size of New Jersey was run by his father as part of a dynasty that ruled for 3 centuries. Kuwait has 6% of the world's oil reserves. ...

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Scientific American says 8-11% impact larger emissions under the One Big Beautiful Act than the 61%-66% emissions cut under Biden IRA in 2035 over 2005. What is the reasoning behind DJT Republicans approach? 

Remember that the wealthiest House districts are now in the Democratic party and the working class, rural and poorer districts are now in the Republican party as shown in the recent WSJ analysis.  In this situation after  30-40 increase in the price of groceries, new and used cars, and housing costs 2019-2024 the argument is that American working families need relief. Another factor was the grasp of the fact that for climate change action to work China could not be allowed to build one coal plant a week (95GW of coal electricity capacity in 2024). In 2024 US represented only 12% of global emissions and EU only 6%, China, Russia, India, Brazil etc emitting the rest of 82%. 

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Saudis are now prepared to increase oil production after weeks of US diplomacy in exchange for security guarantees against attacks by Yemeni rebels and Iran. Russian oil output has declined by about 1 million barrels a day since the start of the war says WSJ. Drops in production lead to a rise in oil prices more than making up for the decline in revenues for Russia. This makes oil sanctions a weak deterrent for Russia in its invasion of Ukraine unless Saudis and UAE step in with increased oil production to make the EU embargo on Russian oil work effectively to cut Russian oil revenues financing the Ukraine invasion. Europe has stepped up with its embargo on about 90% of Russian oil- all except pipeline supplies to Hungary and Czech Republic, Slovakia as an exception. This will reduce oil production in Russia as EU is the biggest importer of Russian oil, bigger after previous German chancellor Merkel's failure to see the risks in such dependence and increased imports. For the oil embargo to lead to sharp reduction in Russian oil revenues that reduces financing of the Ukraine invasion, and for the EU oil embargo to bring results the missing piece is Saudi action to increase production. This may now be in place as Mr. Biden visits Riyadh next month. Crown Prince Salman of Saudi Arabia has pushed Saudi Arabia to make changes to modernize the country's culture providing the US with a partner that is now different than the Saudi Arabia steeped in tradition and inward looking under previous rulers. Under president Obama Democrats favored Iran and reduced security guarantees that were set up since president Franklin Delano Roosevelt met the Saudi King in 1944 aboard an American ship during the war. The turn of events with Russian invasion of Ukraine with Chinese support have created risks of a China invasion of Taiwan with aggressive action of China. President Biden has made this clear and stated straightforwardly the American position on Ukraine- Russia winning by invading a neighboring country sets the precedent for a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. This is why the US remains resolute with its European partners in seeing to it that Ukraine remains as Biden said in the NYT  "independent, sovereign and able to deter invasion and defend itself." For Europe it is about defending its neighborhood from the Baltic Sea to Bulgaria in the Balkans with American support. For the US it is about keeping its leadership presence in Asia in an alliance with Japan, India, Australia and most of South East Asia including Indonesia, Bangladesh with a population of close to 3 billion people. China which was supported by the US throughout the period of colonial dominance since the 18th century preventing its breakup and foreign rule as happened in India, and a major recipient of American aid and investment in the 20th century is now where Japan stood in the two decade period 1925 -1945 with its aggressive expansion under Japanese imperialist rule. In this sense the world is moving back to the days of the Free World's struggle in the days after the Iron Curtain fell over Europe with Soviet expansion in Eastern Europe. Saudis, UAE, and Turkey as part of NATO, are also moving back to the positions they had over a long period for centuries from 1800. Saudi Arabia and UAE came into prominence after discovery of oil and were backwaters to Egypt and Turkey which were supported by Britain to keep Russia from advancing in Asia and Europe during that period. India under the British Empire is now in the Indo-Pacific Framework with Japan which was inward looking and under European influence for most of the last 200 years.  ...

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Friedman's ambivalent position on the situation in Syria on one hand in a recent op-ed on Israel pointing to the need for the U.S. to concentrate its attention on Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, instead of Bethlehem, Israel; and on the other speaking of the situation being out of control in Syria with the proxy war between Sunni and Shiite. U.S. public opinion and media opinion has consistently supported the struggle for freedom in the Middle East against dictatorial military regimes, yet the Obama adminstration has either followed the lead of France and Britain or acted in a vacillating manner.

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Brooks point to the percentage of GDP going to consumption as having gone up from 62% between 1962 and 1980. In 2008 it was 70% of GDP and debt went up from 55 percent of national income to 133%. Financial self restraint and values of earlier generations eroded. He says the slide in economic morality affects red and blue equally, so the cultural politics organized the way it is is obsolete. There has to be a movement to restore economic values cutting across the current lines. Building a producer not a consumer economy, return to financial restraint large and small. And importantly he says, such a movement will have to take on what you might call the lobbyist ethos. The conviction that every group is entitled to every possible appropriation, regardless of the public cost. Such a crusade will he says rearrange the current alliances and embrace policies such as energy taxes. See the Friedman article on a gasoline tax, where he tells those who want to fight the wars against religious extremism such as in Iraq, to not be wimps and take on the opposition to the gasoline tax....

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This editorial in the WSJ says Obama's silence when it comes to the jailed opposition leader in Malaysia is one more silence when it comes to issues related to suppression of democratic freedoms. When this issue was raised in June the WSJ reports it drew the Obama comment: "democracy is hard." This is all the more astounding now says the Journal, after the WSJ report about corruption in the Najib Razak government related to the $700 million from a state owned investment bank. This editorial says about the record of the Obama administration on going silent when issues of freedom and suppression have come up from Iran in 2009 to many other events and Malaysia today- that this is one of the most puzzling aspects of the Obama presidency. It also points out this is is one of the most discouraging aspects of how the U.S. is seen in the world under the Obama presidency, when it comes to protecting freedom and freedom of speech and expression.

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The British parliament defeated a measure put forward by prime minister Cameron for military response to the chemical weapons attack in Syria in August 2013. The vote against British intervention was 285 to 272 with members of his own party and Liberals voting against the measure. The case put forward by Cameron was based on humanitarian grounds, and to prevent the use of chemical weapons in the future. Under pressure from politicians from all parties Cameron decided to put this to a vote in parliament following a debate on Aug. 29, 2013. In calling for the vote Cameron said he was deeply mindful of the deep concerns about Britain's intervention in Iraq in 2003.

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Scott Shane and Jo Becker provide this exceptional account of the events that led to the unraveling of Libya. Saying they were not going to do another Iraq, senior policymakers and president Obama failed to realize the importance of basic steps that needed to be taken to secure the large arms arsenal of the Gaddafi regime, providing the assistance and support for transition to peacetime of the many militias in the country, and arrangements with Arab allies of the U.S. such as Qatar and UAE and other Arab neighbors allied with the U.S. to secure the arms arsenal and secure borders. It was clear from the beginning that Gaddafi had discouraged the development of institutions that would hold the country together- handholding was essential for the Libyan project to succeed. Instead as Shane and Becker document here Libya received neglect with strong conditions set for U.S. assistance such that neglect was assured. It is not clear from this report that Secretary Clinton supported the policy because this is what she would have done, or because of a sense of being a team player in the Obama administration, though it leans on the latter. Observing her role in supporting a Libya free of the dictatorship supports the idea that Hillary Clinton would have seen the need to help build institutions where none existed, and the basic step of transition of militias to peacetime. The weakness of the Libyan government is cited here, which only reinforce the need for the U.S. to be involved in a transition to peacetime Libya, after enabling the Libyan people to remove the Gaddafi regime. The militias allied with Qatar and UAE on opposing sides helped worsen the situation, with the U.S. having sufficient influence with western allied governments to ensure a unified internationally supported policy for transition with basic security....

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Many of the candidates in the sixth Republican presidential debate were critical of the way John Kerry handled the issue of U.S. boats and sailors seized and then returned by Iran.

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Exhibitions in Istanbul from the period 1970-1980 and the violent activity from protest groups and others during that period. Lingering effects today with crackdown on journalists by the Erdogan government and polarization of public opinion.

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A complete breakdown in negotiations between the U.S. and Russia happens after Russia continues its bombing campaign in Aleppo. About 275,000 people and 100,000 children are in the war torn area in northern Syria. The U.S. had called on Russia to stop the bombing campaign, but Secretary of State Kerry failed to persuade Russia to commit to a ceasefire. The result has been international criticism of the Russian role in the war, and speculation on what president Putin sees Russia gaining from this intervention in DW.com and other sites. 

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This writer appeals to old Cold War views and even before that the views of Russia from the 19th century when it was seen as a threat to the British Empire and Turkey, when he says the conflict in Georgia threatens American interests in places like Afghanistan and Iraq. The mountains of Afghanistan make it appear remote even from India much more from Georgia but in the grand strategy view all this is of no importance. And the conflict in Afghanistan has religious overtones with Islamic militants and involves Pakistan and other tribal and communal interests and now has become intertwined with the opium farming in the south. Besides America has no other interests in Afghanistan except it being used by elements like the Taliban and Islamic terrorist groups and has after the Soviet withdrawal left Afghanistan to itself, and the situation in Afghanistan is more a result of a conflict between India and Pakistan and of communal conflicts and creation of Taliban by support from Pakistan at that time....

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The election debate brodcast live on Iranian television between Moussavi and Ahmadinejad. Moussavi described Ahmadinejad's foreign policy as engaging in " adventurism, illusionism, exhibitionism, extremism, and superficiality. He also described Ahmadinejad's denial of the Holocaust as harming Iran's standing with the rest of the world, and undermining its dignity. The debate was intense with Moussavi at one point saying the Iranian president was moving towards a "dictatorship." Ahmadinejad said that Moussavi was being supported by Khatami and Hashemi to bring him down. A video showing this simple home was circulated before the debate to contrast Ahmadinejad's simple style with that of some of his opponents like Nateq Nouri, a conservative Speaker of Parliament.