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Parti Tarini of WSJ covers Kamala Harris, US vice president, as she makes an abortion rights tour starting in Wisconsin. Following the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision ending the constitutional protections on abortion, Kamala Harris as a prosecutor who handled sexual assault cases involving women and children, is able to talk to women in different states about the effects on women. In Wisconsin following the Dobbs decision Wisconsin's 1849 law banning abortion was reactivated. Harris talks to women in Wisconsin and Georgia in this WSJ report. In Georgia the law now has a six week abortion ban with exceptions in rape and incest cases with a police report. Harris told women that she knew that it was a difficult conversation to have, but one had to face reality, showing what it means to get a police report in such a situation. As former district attorney in California, and as California Attorney General she was fighting fro women's rights back then, involved in legal battles about women's reproductive health and abortion, including a multistate case on the Supreme Court Hobby Lobby case in 2014. She was raised Harris says by a mother who was a breast cancer researcher, and conversations at the kitchen table were also about women's reproductive health and hormones. Harris says in this interview that this stuff should not exist in the shadows, when it happens in this way it is women who suffer. On many issues that involve women Harris is uniquely qualified. For instance the wars in Ukraine and in Gaza and Israel have a huge impact on women and children, and Kamala Harris is taking on the role of bringing and end to the conflict in Gaza by participating in Biden's talk with the prime minister of Israel. Harris has prepared for this role more than it appears and she is able to talk to women in a way that is rare for an elected official says this report, and also to the people of this country on issues that determine their future. On the Special Counsel's report Harris can also talk about this in a way that is direct, sincere and from experience. She said about the prosecutor's report : "The way that the president's demeanor in that report was characterized -could not be more wrong on the facts, and clearly was politically motivated." She called the comment on the president's age "gratuitous" and described the role of a prosecutor as "requiring a higher level of integrity."    ...

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Ruchir Sharma, chief global strategist at Morgan Stanley, says Poland has achieved a remarkable transformation over 25 years with steady growth of 4% year after year. The bright spot is manufacturing. For emerging nations the average percentage of GDP from manufacturing exports is 22%. Poland is at 33 percent of GDP for manufacturing exports. Countries dependent on commodity exports such as Argentina, Brazil, Russia, lack this steady growth from a manufacturing base and are less likely to cross the line of $15,000 of GDP per person that qualifies for it to be called an "advanced economy" for the IMF. South Korea, the Czech Republic and Poland are some of the countries that have benefited from manufacturing exports. Poland's wages are one third of that in Germany and its currency is cheap, giving it an advantage as an export hub for German companies. Germany is the main destination for exports and the German automobile industry uses the Czech Republic and Poland as export hubs. Poland's and Czech Republic's geographical location near Germany with a highly educated population makes it attractive for German companies. Poland has gone from $2300 per capita GDP to about $13,000 in 25 years according to the IMF, and is likely to be the next country to make it to advanced economy status by 2020, says Sharma. It is important not to run up debt, to manage finances carefully, and to maintain steady growth not growth in spurts interrupted by declines, and have a manufacturing base, says Sharma.  ...

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Yascha Mounk says Germany is not as committed to the West as it was in the days of chancellor Adenauer. Policies pursued by Gerhard Schroeder distancing Germany from the U.S. were also carried on under chancellor Merkel.

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  A new German party called BSW,  Bundnis (Association) Sarah Wagenknecht, means Germany nationally could see a smaller Social Democrats party in parliament making way for the socialists who want to keep out migrants. Across East Germany a new party is challenging the AfD from the socialist side getting the protest vote against pro-migrant policies.The socialist BSW party is taking votes from the SPD and DIe Linke Left, from Free Democrats and Greens in the state parliamentary elections in East German states of Thuringia, Saxony, Brandenburg. Nationally SPD may be 15-20%, BSW 10%, and CDU 30%, AfD 10-15%, FDP 10%, Greens 10% in a new shape for German parliamentary representation. The AfD and far right in Germany is challenged by the BSW with both parties opposing policies that led to large scale migrant flows into Germany of Angela Merkel.  BSW is the socialist party of Sarah Wagenknecht which is opposed to migrants entering the country as it distracts from tackling the problems of the working class in Germany and burdens public services when needs are greater among the local communities.  It sees the ruling Christian Democrats, Social Democrat and Free Demcorats, Greens, as out of touch with the problems of working class Germans struggling to make a living. BSW also opposes the wars in Ukraine and Gaza for the same reasons as it takes away resources that are better used to tackle problems at home. The AfD party also opposes migrants but is seen as feeding on the grievances of people of old east German communist state who feel left behind by the reunification of Germany. As a socialist party BSW is for addressing problems of inequality and poverty, childcare, cost of living action, housing, and many of the problems of the working class. Mette Frederiksen Danish prime minister has combined socialist ideas with anti-migrant position in Denmark. A similar position is being taken in the US by the Biden Harris administration in the US by closing the Border with Mexico.  Who is Sahra Wagenknecht and the BSW? Bundnis Sarah Wagenknecht or Association of Sarah Wagenknecht is a socialist party that grew out of Sarah Wagenknecht's own experience growing up in the socialist state of the German Democratic Republic during her formative years in East Berlin.  Born to a Iranian father who disappeared in Iran, and a German mother she was raised by her grandparents. She was active in the socialist parties Die Linke group in parliament since 2000. She received her bachelors degree in philosophy and New German Literature at East Berlin Humboldt University. Followed by MA at Groningen University in philosophy of Marx-Hegel and a doctoral degree from TU Chemnitz in Economics. She was member of parliament in the Bundestag and leader of the Die Linke group. The twin 2009 financial crisis by banks pursuing excessive leverage profits and unethical dealings, the euro crisis that followed of state actors misrepresenting their finances, the rent seeking attitudes of finance, pharma, tech monopolies and other industries has led her along with Italian economist Mazzucato to question the existing system. ...

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This WSJ editorial board opinion lists all the reasons for continuing the war in Ukraine without answering the question raised by Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg about- what US interest calls for losing an entire generation of Ukrainians and Russians young men to war? The US as a beacon of hope in the world requires asking this question. Kellogg is a 80 year old veteran who has seen hand to hand combat in Vietnam and survived, attended the US Army College in Kansas, and has decades of experience in the Army, and was National Security Adviser. The US should ask questions about what is its right role? NATO was started in 1949 against the wall coming up in Eastern Europe under Communism, the Warsaw Pact was formed to oppose NATO in 1955. Yet after the Warsaw Pact was  disbanded by July 1991 after the fall of Communism there was no effort to reassess forming a new architecture that is based on the new situation. Shouldn't NATO have been replaced after Warsaw Pact was no longer in existence? Russia was too weak in the 1990's and till 2010 and there was no one to make the case for a new defense architecture. And no effort to reconsider and see that there is no fallback to positions from the Cold War and before that to British Empire positions about protecting its dominions in India and Asia from Russia. Considering that Russia is the only major nuclear power other than US in 2025, and within the years of a pandemic that destroyed an entire generation of older people- American, Russian, Chinese and Indian.   ...

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President Trump's focus in the State of the Union message in 2020 in the U.S. Congress was on what he had done for U.S. prestige and perception- "In three short years, we have shattered the mentality of American decline and we have rejected the downsizing of America's destiny. We have totally rejected the downsizing." "We are moving forward at a pace that was unimaginable just a short time ago, and we are never going back." The theme of the speech- "The Great American Comeback." No longer were other nations be allowed to take advantage of America, American interests would come first, and this also meant blue collar working families and middle class. Trade deals with Mexico and Canada, trade deal with China, reversing of the trade deficit, bringing back about 12,000 of the 60,000 thousand factories lost over two administrations Democratic and Republican of the last 16 years with many more factories in the pipeline, increasing jobs and incomes in an unprecedented way, were all the focus of the speech. The president basically sidestepped the impeachment for Ukraine policy and implementation, and focussed on the optimism from reversing American decline in trade, jobs, and manufacturing under past Republican and Democratic administrations.   ...

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Michael Birnbaum, the Post, Moscow bureau chief talks to experts and politicians in Moscow about the economic situation as the ruble declines by 36% since July, with the fall in oil prices accelerating its fall and reducing the impact of central bank intervention in slowing the decline. He cites a Putin interview with Tass news agency in Nov. which he says a tieup is possible between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia to bring down oil prices as a way to strengthen the effect of sanctions in changing Russian policy. Russian Finance minister Anton Siluanov says lost oil revenue impact is about $90 to $100 billion a year, added to the cost of sanctions at $40 billion. Significant capital flight also adds to the overall cost. Russian companies borrowing in dollars have large debt payments due that will need to be supported by the Russian government, an added cost. This will put the Russian economy in recession in 2015. The central bank expects inflaion at 10% in 2015. Large losses of this magnitude will be harder to sustain and deplete international reserves of $429 billion as of Oct. 2014. The thinking of ordinary Russians is reflected in an independent Levada Center opinion poll showing 61% of Russians expecting a decline in living standards and economic crisis in the near future. The man most responsible for stabilizing Russia's finances, former finance minister Alexei Kudrin, who had profound public disagreements with president Medvedev over increases in the military budget, warned of an economic crisis following the parliamentary and presidential elections. A major weakness of the Putin-Medvedev second and third terms is the failure to use higher oil revenues to expand the tech sector and other industries to diversify Russian exports away from oil. ...

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In his farewell speech Boris Johnson, with true British resilient spirit,  says "I will be giving fervent support to Liz Truss and her government every step of the way." Johnson likened his transfer of power to Ms Truss to a relay race. "The baton will be handed over," saying it "unexpectedly turned into a relay race, they changed the rules halfway through." But he expressed no feelings of regret, having come to terms with the arrangement in his own way. More likely Johnson is without saying it still determining the policies and direction of the government, perhaps more so now with Liz Truss and his loyalists the only persons in the cabinet and running the British government. Johnson addressed people's fears about the energy price increases- "the UK would continue to have the strength to give people cash they need to get through this energy crisis that is caused by Putin's vicious war."  He listed his government's achievements- the response to Covid. Some of this is forgotten as the UK not the EU leadership was first to move forward with vaccination plans. Johnson put his government's faith in the vaccine invented at Oxford University and committed early while the EU languished under Merkel and her protege Ursula Von der Leyen. The EU fell behind in providing vaccine leadership as Britain forged ahead early, giving hope to the rest of the world's population including India that adopted the Oxford vaccine. Johnson likened his role to the missions to the planets- "Let me say I am now like one of those booster rockets that has fulfilled its function and I will be re-entering the atmosphere and splashing down invisibly into some remote and obscure corner of the Pacific." Johnson has taken the situation in a truly British way without any rancor and gracefully. With Liz Truss in charge he even gets a break after the difficult period handling the once in a century pandemic, handing over to a younger member of his group, and yet deciding on many of the policies and guiding the government for the term it was elected for to 2024. History will look at him favorably for his handling of the pandemic and vaccination, and for his instincts about the Ukraine war and Britain's unwavering support, and now in guiding Truss to provide Britain with strong support for the cost of living crisis caused by the war. His failings stem partly from his exuberance and optimistic spirit, but nowhere near detract from these achievements. ...

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This behind the scenes account  shows how the NATO communique with policy declaration was prepared by July 6 before European leaders and Mr. Trump set foot in Brussels on July 11. It shows to what lengths key members in the Trump administration will go to achieve American objectives in preserving the NATO alliance. Particularly now that Russia is taking an aggressive stance to NATO near its borders.  General Mattis at Defense Department pushed for the 4 30's initiative which is about preparing a rapid deployment force to be ready by 2020. This is in the communique. Also in the communique is the setup of a command post in Norfolk, Virginia, ready to act to deploy forces in Europe. U.S. ambassador to NATO, Kailey Hutchinson, received the demand from National Security Adviser Bolton to have ambassadors from all countries work overtime to get the declaration done by July 6. Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General supported this effort. All were concerned that there should be no repeat of the mess that happened for the G-7 communique when at the last minute president Trump refused to sign on, leading to derisive comments about Canada's Justin Trudeau. It was seen as critical to preserve the sense of unity in the U.S. alliance with Europe. This time there was no disruption even though Mr. Trump acted unpredictably in Brussels. ...

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U.S. senior Republican Senators Lindsay Graham of South Carolina and John McCain of Arizona, are getting ready to launch a wide ranging probe of Russian interference in the U.S. 2016 presidential election through cyber attacks. The probe is not limited to DNC hacking and the concern is not just that any one candidate was targeted but for the integrity of the American election process. Even though it is not mentioned in this report in the Washington Post by Demirjian, Senators and Congressmen from the Republican Party in charge of key committees of oversight on foreign policy and defense now see it as their responsibility to prevent an enlargement of cyberattacks as Germany and France face elections. Mr. Trump has said in an interview with Time magazine that Russia was not responsible for cyber attacks, that it "could have been China, it could have been some guy in New Jersey." Senator McCain is readying a probe into cyber attacks into U.S. weapons systems, and U.S. military, as the issue widens in its scope and significance for the West and for the U.S. and its allies in Europe and Asia. Senate Select Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (N.C.) will be working closely with McCain, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman, on this particular issue and Senator Mitch McConnell has been apprised of the discussions, according to this report in WP. Senator Graham said- "They'll keep doing more here until they pay a price." Graham will hold a series of investigative hearings in 2017 about Russian meddling and "misadventures throughout the world."  This will include new legislation.  Graham told CNN on Dec. 7, 2016 in strong language- "I am going after Russia in every way you can go after Russia. I think they are one of the most destabilizing influences on the world stage. I think they did interfere with our election, and I want Putin personally to pay the price." During the debates Governor Pence of Indiana, the Vice President elect took a strong position on Russia, and the Vice President's positions on foreign policy and defense are similar to that of the Republican leaders in Congress.  It is hard to remember a time in the post war period when there was such a distinct difference in foreign policy and defense as it relates to Russia between a Republican president and both a Republican Congress and almost all Republican governors. Senator Corker from Tennessee, who heads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is on the short list to be Secretary of State. A related story in the WSJ shows the selection of military leaders for key intelligence, defense and homeland security, and Gen. Petraeus considered for foreign policy, as diverging from historical practice of keeping civilian oversight preeminent in the U.S.. Rep. Peter King, an early supporter of Trump, who is on committees for intelligence and counterterrorism told MSNBC, that he is confident that Trump will not be "taken in by Putin." The U.S. Republican dominated Congress has taken a strong position on Russian interference in Syria and Ukraine. In the House of Representatives Republican Rep. Devin Nunes from California and Rep. Mac Thornberry from Texas are leading efforts on cyber and intelligence as heads of their committees. ...

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A nuclear plant on the left bank of the Dnieper (Dnipro) river in Ukraine under Russian control in the early days of the war and close to Ukraine on the other side of the river is facing increased shelling. The war is shifting to southern Ukraine as Ukraine launches an offensive to retake the city of Kherson lost at the beginning of the war.

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As Russia expands its intervention in Ukraine in Feb. 2015, a former Deputy Treasury Secretary in the Clinton Administration, Roger Altman, points out the importance of the response of global financial markets. Financial markets have downgraded Russian debt, and the ruble continues to lose value. With $200 billion in foreign currency reserves available to tackle the financial crisis caused by $150 billion in capital flight and 50% loss in ruble value, and a business sector with large dollar debt, Russia, he says will have to take into account its weak financial situation. Arms aid to Ukraine to which Russia can respond is not a good option compared to stronger economic sanctions, says Altman. Altman points out- what president Obama has also pointed out- Russia has a GDP the size of Italy, a population of 140 million, with its budget and economy overly dependent on oil exports, and an economy connected to the global economy and dependent on global technologies. It lacks the economic strength to continue with its more aggressive policies, and cannot ignore world opinion indefinitely or isolate itself from the global economy. This is true of any country in the global economy, and especially for any emerging market dependent on foreign capital, foreign investment and foreign technologies, making it important for Russia to play by the rules of fairness in the international community in the postwar global order of peaceful cooperation. As Schemann points out in a NYT editorial observer Russia is losing credibility in the global community....

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With issues of job losses, deindustrialization, cost of living, climate change, budget allocations to infrastructure shifting to the war in Ukraine and defense preparedness, the divisions in the country from outdated marraige laws is simply incomprehensible.

French Mayor Menard of Mediterranean city Breziers raises issues about French marraige laws and illegal migrants remaining in France, with an illegal migrant ordered to leave making use of this law to remain in France. French marraige laws give automatic right of residence upon marraige to a French citizen and give French nationality in 4 years. Marraiges are conducted by the mayors of a city or his representatives This is an unconventional arrangement. A bill amending these marraige laws is now before the French parliament. This has become an issue in France with the failure to deport 7% of those ordered to leave.

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The IMF loans of $18 billion approved in March 2014 are conditional on structural reforms in Ukraine which will be painful. This includes a 50% increase in the price of natural gas on May 1, tax increases and spending cuts, flexible exchange rates. About 10% of the state officals will be cut and decreases in pensions for judges. Higher taxes will be placed on alcohol and tobacco products. Prime minister Yatsenuyk, says without the reforms and IMF-EU loans the economy woud contract by 10%, with the package GDP would decline by 3%. Ukraine's 10 year dollar denominated government bonds had a yield of 8.94%. Years of large state subsidies for natural gas, mismanagement and corruption have left Ukraine's finances in bad shape. Ukraine now faces austerity measures similiar to that in other Eastern European countries and Greece, leading to continued political unrest.

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Exxon CEO Tillerson established the early links with Russia for oil exploration projects. He says large investments in oil exploration in Russia are unlikely to be affected by the political risks in U.S.-Russia relations.

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The issue seen through the eyes of the Russians who see the Kosovo precedent as one that the west supported and beleieve that the Ossetians have just as much right as the Kosovans to decide their own future. And the view of the former Soviet republics and regions of soviet influence in Eastern Europe such as the Baltic countries Estonis, Latvia and Lithania and Ukraine which support Georgia and their perception that the Russian use of force affects their freedom to pursue their own future course. The need for accomodation by both sides, the Russians to respect ther rights of these countries to pursue their own course and these countries to respect the rights of ethnic Russians and the US and the EU to see these countries not as ways to keep Russia in check by keeping missiles in these countries for example as a longer term plan. Russians.