From China and WTO Review:
Trump, Trade, and National Security: Will Federal Courts Rein in the President?
Presidential actions-even when the president argues that they are not reviewable by courts-are indeed subject to judicial review. This is what is called the rule of law: Congress makes the laws, but all laws and executive actions must comply with the US Constitution to uphold the federal government’s structure and to preserve individual rights. This protection of individual rights is the essence of America’s exceptionalism and goes back to the 1791 adoption of the Bill of Rights as amendments to the US Constitution. Under the US Constitution, Congress has exclusive authority over trade.18 However, much of this authority has been delegated to the executive branch since the 1930s. So far, Congress has failed to reclaim its trade authority (or its war-making authority).
—Stuart Malawer
From The National Interest:
The End of the Wilsonian Century?
The Wilsonian mindset encourages the belief that multilateral institutions can act as a kind of silver bullet for every pressing international security challenge. But multilateral organizations, while sometimes useful, have no such magical power. The most pressing security challenges are not problems of legality. In many cases of utmost interest, multilateral institutions work at the perimeter of international power politics, not the center, and their claims are frequently unenforced. Nor is it clear why global organizations populated by numerous unelected dictatorships should lay claim to any superior morality over the sovereign decisions of free countries.
—Colin Dueck
From Inside Higher Education:
Is There Corruption in Moldova’s Universities?
Moldova is not an expensive country and prices for most necessities are moderate. Nevertheless, the salary that university faculty receive—$120-$200 per month—is barely enough to cover the cost of food, even if one eats in a university cafeteria. How do they survive? Conversations with students suggest faculty members hold multiple jobs and collect illicit benefits, including bribes. Students say that, “You can solve any problems with the help of money,” meaning academic problems being resolved with the help of bribes given to faculty members and administration. In addition to second and third job, bribes and gifts may constitute supplemental income. Thanks to this supplemental income, faculty members survive financially. Gift giving is usually perceived as a norm, especially if a gift is given after the examination.
—Ararat Osipian
From Defense One:
Selling F-16s to Taiwan Is Bad Business
The reality is that a few more F-16s won’t change the balance of power between Taiwan and China. So instead of providing for Taiwan’s defense from China, what the F-16 deal will do is give Taiwan the confidence to act in ways that aggravate China and encourage China to act more aggressively in turn. Worse, by raising tensions between the two nations, the F-16 deal also increases the possibility of a conflict breaking out, one that could drag the United States into a costly and dangerous war on the other side of the world with a nuclear-armed superpower.
—A. Trevor Thrall
From The Hill:
Tunisia’s Protest Vote Puts Populists in the Driver’s Seat
Tunisia under a President Saied or President Karoui will face the not unfamiliar challenge of a novice leader with strong ideas learning the legal and political constraints on his authority. Tunisia’s competent technocrats will represent some stability in Tunisia’s partnerships, but the U.S. will need to invest more time and effort to maintain a productive relationship with this important state in transition.
—Ellen Laipson and Oussama Romdhani
From The Conversation:
It’s High Time Someone Studied Marijuana Taxes—So We Did
One solution is to coordinate tax rates across states to avoid cross-border purchasing. Our study also suggests that health officials need to work around medical marijuana users who circumvent taxes faced by recreational users. Connecting dispensaries electronically and making the purchasing cards computer-readable to keep track of marijuana sales could help cut down on this practice.
—Muhammad Salar Khan
From Sinembargo.mx:
Finally, I am not sure that all members of the Jewish community agree to equate the Holocaust of the twentieth century with the era that the world is currently living. This could decontextualize and distort one of the most terrible tragedies of all time. Certainly, we are experiencing a tremendous humanitarian crisis in various regions of the world; the tragedy of the refugees is the product of bloody wars that are based on the internal struggles for power, money, and natural resources.
—Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera
From The Hill:
Differences Between Primaries and Caucuses Matters in This Election
Attending a meeting is a bigger commitment than voting in an election. Not only that, but caucuses require something that should have gone away with the fall of the Soviet Union — public voting. Caucusgoers have to stand up in front of their friends and neighbors and God and everybody and declare their choice for the Democratic nomination. That is something most voters don’t want to do. As a result, voters who participate in caucuses are often ideologically committed activists.
—Bill Schneider
From The American Thinker:
British Globalism Challenges Its Democratic Heritage
For almost two years, the world has watched British politicians trying to ignore the citizens' decision to leave. This is what we all dislike about politics and why support is waning for government as an institution. There are constant calls by those who wish to "remain" to negotiate a withdrawal with the E.U. But the E.U. never had an incentive to let the United Kingdom leave. In fact, with several other countries thinking about also leaving the E.U., E.U. officials must extract as much angst and pain as possible from the English. Those in Parliament who think more negotiations with the E.U. will solve the problem are not serious people. The next thing we can expect by those opposing leaving is that the Brexit result was determined by Russian election interference.
—David K. Rehr
From Atlantic Council:
He’s Serious: Putin Offers to Sell Air Defense Missiles to Saudi Arabia
The Western press has focused on how Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif appeared to be laughing as they listened to the translation of Putin’s remarks. It has even been suggested that Putin himself was not being serious, and that his statements were instead intended to “troll” Trump. But whatever the Iranian reaction to it, Putin’s offer to sell air defense missiles to Saudi Arabia should be seen as a serious one.
—Mark M. Katz
From Daily Sabah:
The Geopolitics of Natural Gas Resources in East Mediterranean
The presence of numerous naval vessels cannot be solely due to the Mediterranean's energy resources. In this geographical area, it seems that the balance of power is as important as the energy resources of the great powers, and on this basis, this region has become a new stage of competition for those powers.
—Omid Shokri Kalehsar
From The Syndication Bureau:
Don’t Expect New Directions in Israel’s Foreign Policy
It will be in Gantz’s interest to have a cordial and productive relationship with Washington. The most striking change that could occur is a restoration of a more bipartisan relationship between diverse American constituencies and Tel Aviv. Netanyahu politicized the relationship by identifying with the Republican party to an extent that worried historic friends of Israel. A more balanced and normal US-Israel bilateral relationship could be the most noteworthy international effect of a new lineup in Tel Aviv.
—Ellen Laipson
From The Hill:
The Key Impeachment Question: What If Trump Is Acquitted?
What happens if Democrats impeach President Trump and fail to remove him from office? That’s what Emerson warned about: striking the king but failing to kill him (in this case, metaphorically). Leaving a wounded president in office could be costly. An impeachment battle could rally Trump’s army to seek revenge on Democrats at the polls next year.
—Bill Schneider