WORLD ROUNDUPHow Do You Solve a Problem Like North Korea? | The War on Terror Is Back | Number of Chinese Workers in Africa Drops Substantially, and more
· A Watershed Moment for the Politics of Israel, Courtesy of Chuck Schumer
Republicans have long sought to make Israel a partisan issue, framing their party as the only one truly supportive of the Jewish state. The Senate majority leader’s blistering speech may have helped.
· How Do You Solve a Problem Like North Korea?
Since the end of the Cold War, it seems that every formula, from threatening war to promising peace, has been tried.
· China Gives Warnings on Vietnam-Australia Strategic Relationship
A new, closer diplomatic relationship between Australia and Vietnam is drawing warnings from China against forming “exclusive circles” in the Indo-Pacific region.
· Number of Chinese Workers in Africa Drops Substantially
From a record high of 263,696 workers on the continent in 2015, only 88,371 were recorded in 2022, the most recent year on record.
·Which Terrorist Organization Suffers More Casualties in Its Attacks? Al Qaeda, ISIS, Hamas, or Iran-backed Militia Groups?
Despite being a top priority on government agendas for the past few decades, it appears that no counterterrorism policies have been successful in combatting terrorist groups.
· The Earthquake That Could Shatter Netanyahu’s Coalition
Israel’s ultra-Orthodox don’t serve in its armed forces. That’s getting harder than ever to justify.
· The War on Terror Is Back
The conflict once called the “War on Terror” has well and truly returned.
A Watershed Moment for the Politics of Israel, Courtesy of Chuck Schumer (Jonathan Weisman, New York Times)
Over 44 painstakingly scripted minutes on the floor of the Senate on Thursday, the majority leader, Chuck Schumer, spoke of his Jewish identity, his love for the State of Israel, his horror at the wanton slaughter of Israelis on Oct. 7 and his views on the apportionment of blame for the carnage in Gaza, saying that it first and foremost lay with the terrorists of Hamas.
Then Mr. Schumer, a New York Democrat and the highest-ranking elected Jew in American history, said Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was an impediment to peace, and called for new elections in the world’s only Jewish state.
The months that have followed the slaughter of Oct. 7 and the ensuing, calamitously deadly war in Gaza have been excruciating for American Jews, caught between a tradition of liberalism that has dominated much of Jewish politics and an anti-Israel response from the political left that has left many feeling isolated and, at times, persecuted.
But Mr. Schumer’s speech was potentially a watershed moment in a much longer political process, pursued initially by Republicans but joined recently by left-wing Democrats — to turn Israel into a partisan issue. Republicans, as they see it, would be the party of Israeli supporters. Democrats, as the rising left would have it, would be the party of Palestine.
At the root of that divide is a fundamental question: Is support for the Jewish State separable from the support of Israel’s democratically elected government? For years, Republicans have said no. Increasingly, the Democratic left agrees but from a different perspective: Israel is bad, regardless of who governs it.
How do you solve a problem like North Korea? (John Delury, New York Times)
Since the end of the Cold War, it seems that every formula, from threatening war to promising peace, has been tried. And yet, despite being under more sanctions than just about any other country, North Korea developed a nuclear arsenal estimated at 50 warheads and sophisticated missiles that can, in theory, deliver those weapons to targets in the continental United States. (Cont.)
