WORLD ROUNDUPWhy Is Trump Suddenly Talking About Invading Nigeria? | Venezuela’s Grim Prospect | Yitzhak Rabin Knew What Netanyahu Doesn’t, and more

Why Is Trump Suddenly Talking About Invading Nigeria?  (Kọ́lá Túbọ̀sún, Foreign Policy)
A U.S. military intervention would be a disaster in an already divided country.

China Places a Hong Kong-Sized Bet on Western Decline  (Economist)
The territory aims to prove that a non-free society can be a global financial hub.

How a Little Chinese Island Rose to Global Chemical Dominance  (Economist)
A parable of China’s industrial supremacy.

Trump Weighs Options, and Risks, for Attacks on Venezuela  (David E. Sanger, Tyler Pager, Helene Cooper, Eric Schmitt, and Devlin Barrett, New York Times)
President Trump has yet to make a decision, but his advisers are pressing a range of objectives —from attacking drug cartels to seizing oil fields —to try to justify ousting Nicolás Maduro.

Venezuela’s Grim Prospect  (Quico Toro, The Atlantic)
Why regime change is unlikely to bring a return to democracy

Yitzhak Rabin Knew What Netanyahu Doesn’t  (Dennis Ross, The Atlantic)
Thirty years after Rabin’s assassination, Israel is ignoring the lessons of the most honest statesman I’ve ever known.

China’s Security State Sells an A.I. Dream  (Vivian Wang, New York Times)
China’s new national drive to embrace artificial intelligence is also giving the authorities new ways to monitor and control its citizens.

Sudan Needs a Credible Transition from Military Rule  (Niger Innis, National Interest)
Peace in Sudan means that the era of generals deciding the country’s destiny must end.