EUROPE RESPECTING DONALD Buzzfeed's Alberto Nardelli interviewed a bunch of European diplomats--all off the record, for obvious reasons--about Donald Trump. Turns out they don't think too highly of the guy. I think their impressions are instructive of the deeper issues with the Trump administration though. While Trump himself as laughingstock wouldn't have to be the … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: August 9 2017

NORTH KOREA If you're concerned that it's become impossible to tell the difference between the rhetoric coming from Donald Trump and that coming from Kim Jong-un RE: nuclear war, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is here to tell you it's all OK: “I think Americans should sleep well at night, have no concerns about this … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: August 9 2017

SYRIA War crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte, who among other things has worked on criminal cases related to the genocide in Rwanda and the bloody breakup of Yugoslavia, has resigned from the United Nations' Independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria over its inability to accomplish, well, anything: "I give up. The states in the Security … Continue reading Middle East update: August 9 2017

EUROPE SLOVAKIA Slovakia's coalition government is planning to keep on keeping on despite the apparent withdrawal of one of its three members. The hard right Slovak National Party on Monday informed its partners, the center-left Smer and the Hungarian ethnic party Most Híd, that it plans to pull out of the coalition unless the three … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: August 8 2017

NORTH KOREA Tensions continue to escalate between the US and North Korea thanks largely to, and I have to be perfectly frank here, some monumentally irresponsible rhetoric coming out of Pyongyang. A couple of days ago, in response to new UN Security Council sanctions, the North Koreans threatened to turn the US into "an unimaginable … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: August 8 2017

SYRIA Later in the day on Tuesday the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that coalition airstrikes have killed 29 civilians, including 14 children, in Raqqa over the past day. There's been no comment from the coalition or the Pentagon. In Ghouta, meanwhile, the beatings will continue until morale improves: Pro-government forces intensified their assault … Continue reading Middle East update: August 8 2017

EUROPE RUSSIA Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met on Monday on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum conference in Manila and, according to Lavrov at least, it was a Good Talk: Lavrov described his talks with Tillerson as lengthy and said they covered a wide range of topics, … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: August 5-7 2017

PHILIPPINES Anybody who had "Philippines" in their "where will America bomb next" office pool, stand by to collect your winnings: The Pentagon is considering a plan that allows the U.S. military to conduct airstrikes on ISIS in the Philippines, two defense officials told NBC News. The authority to strike ISIS targets as part of collective … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: August 5-7 2017

SYRIA Bashar al-Assad's military is on the offensive again, on two fronts. In Homs province, they were able to capture the town of Sukhna from ISIS on Sunday, which should be the last serious ISIS obstacle between Assad's forces and besieged Deir Ezzor. Meanwhile, Assad's air force has been bombing the Damascus suburb of Ein … Continue reading Middle East update: August 5-7 2017

EUROPE RUSSIA The European Union on Friday sanctioned three Russian firms and three Russian individuals accused of involvement in shipping gas turbines to Crimea. The turbines were legally sold to Russian buyers by the German firm Siemans, but as the EU doesn't recognize Russia's annexation of Crimea shipping the items there is a violation of … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: August 3-4 2017