WORLD ROUNDUPOverreacting to the Chinese Spy Balloon | Corruption Made Turkey’s Earthquake Deadlier | Time to Decolonize Western Russia Studies., and more

The U.S. Overreacted to the Chinese Spy Balloon. That Scares Me.  (Howard W. French, Foreign Policy)
So unused to being challenged, the United States has become so filled with anxiety over China that sober responses are becoming nearly impossible.

In 46 Words, Biden Sends a Clear Message to Israel  (Thomas Friedman, New York Times)
Biden is as pro-Israel in his gut as any president I have ever covered. He has also had a long and mutually respectful relationship with Netanyahu. So I can tell you that whatever Biden has to say about Israel comes from a place of real concern. It’s a concern that the radical transformation of Israel’s judicial system that Netanyahu’s ultranationalist, ultrareligious coalition is trying to slam through the Knesset could seriously damage Israel’s democracy and therefore its close ties to America and democracies everywhere.

How Corruption and Misrule Made Turkey’s Earthquake Deadlier  (Gonul Tol, Foreign Policy)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hollowed out state institutions, placed loyalists in key positions, and enriched his cronies—paving the way for this tragedy.

It’s High Time to Decolonize Western Russia Studies  (Artem Shaipov and Yuliia Shaipova, Foreign Policy)
As a fact of history and problem of contemporary geopolitics, Russia’s nature as an imperial power is incontrovertible.So why has this fundamental, foundational fact about Russia been all but ignored in the West for so long, including among those who study and analyze the region? Why has it taken a brutal war of conquest for most Western Russia experts even to begin addressing Russia’s nature as a vast colonial enterprise? Many continue to see Ukraine and other former Soviet countries through Moscow’s empire-building lens, despite the obvious nature of Russian aggression since the 1990s and long before.
It’s high time to decolonize Russian, East European, and Eurasian studies—and stop viewing the region through Moscow’s imperial lens.

The Sources of Chinese Conduct  (Odd Arne Westad, Foreign Affairs)
In February 1946, as the Cold War was coming into being, George Kennan, the chargé d’affaires at the U.S. embassy in Moscow, sent the State Department a 5,000-word cable in which he tried to explain Soviet behavior and outline a response to it. A year later, the text of his famous “Long Telegram” was expanded into a Foreign Affairs article, “The Sources of Soviet Conduct.” Writing under the byline “X,” Kennan argued that the Soviets’ Marxist-Leninist ideology was for real and that this worldview, plus a deep sense of insecurity, was what drove Soviet expansionism.

Good Riddance to the War on Terror  (Paul R. Pillar, National Interest)
December 31 marked the end of what came to be called the “war on terrorism.” Now is as good a time as any to reflect on the mistakes that were central to this “war.”

It’s Time for America to Revisit the Monroe Doctrine  (Mike Coté, National Interest)
Recent events have shown America’s foes becoming more brazen in their penetration of the Western Hemisphere; the answer to this challenge lies in our past.

Russia Has Already Lost in the Long Run  (Brent Peabody, Foreign Policy)
As Russia ramps up its second offensive, a debate has erupted over whether Moscow or Kyiv will have the upper hand in 2023. While important, such discourse also misses a larger point related to the conflict’s longer-term consequences. In the long run, the true loser of the war is already clear; Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine will be remembered as a historic folly that left Russia economically, demographically, and geopolitically worse off.