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☆ Analysis: China's Xi Jinping skipping G20 may be part of his plan to reshape global governance
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Since its first leaders’ summit in 2008, China’s top leader has always attended the gathering – including by video link during the Covid pandemic. Now, “China sees the G20 space as increasingly oriented toward the US and its agenda, which Xi Jinping regards as hostile to China,” Werner said. Alternative governance structureXi last attended the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, in November last year, when he emerged from China’s Covid isolation and declared his return to the world stage. All the while, Xi has only made two trips abroad this year – and both are central to his attempt to reshape the global world order. Next month, the Chinese leader is expected to host the Belt and Road Forum to mark the 10th anniversary of his global infrastructure and trade initiative – a key element in Beijing’s new global governance structure.

Persons: Jinping, Premier Li Qiang, Beijing’s reticence, Xi, ”, George Magnus, I’m, I’ve, Jake Werner, ” Werner, Biden, Werner, Happymon Jacob, China’s, Shi Yinhong, Joe Biden –, Antony Blinken, Vladimir Putin –, Magnus, they’re, ” Magnus, –, “ It’s Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Premier, China Center, Oxford University, “, Quincy Institute in, Quincy Institute in Washington DC, Pacific NATO, ”, India, New, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Divisions, Renmin University, EU, Beijing, Global Security Initiative, Global Development Initiative, Civilization Initiative, Forum, Shanghai Cooperation Organization – Locations: Hong Kong, New Delhi, China, Xi’s, India, United States, Quincy Institute in Washington, Beijing, New, Washington, Pacific, Ukraine, Moscow, Bali , Indonesia, Germany, France, Brazil, Indonesia, Johannesburg, South Africa, BRICS

☆ Ron DeSantis’s Illiberal Education
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( William A. Galston | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

William A. Galston writes the weekly Politics & Ideas column in the Wall Street Journal. He holds the Ezra K. Zilkha Chair in the Brookings Institution’s Governance Studies Program, where he serves as a senior fellow. A participant in six presidential campaigns, he served from 1993 to 1995 as Deputy Assistant to President Clinton for Domestic Policy. Mr. Galston is the author of 10 books and more than 100 articles in the fields of political theory, public policy, and American politics. A winner of the American Political Science Association’s Hubert H. Humphrey Award, he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2004.

Persons: William A, Galston, Ezra K, Saul Stern, Dean, Clinton, Association’s Hubert H, Humphrey Organizations: Street, Zilkha, Brookings Institution’s, Brookings, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland, Institute for Philosophy, Center for Information, Research, Civic, National Commission, Domestic, Liberal Pluralism, Public, Rowman & Littlefield, Liberal Democracy, Yale, American, American Academy of Arts and Sciences Locations: Brookings

☆ The 2024 Election Will Break New Ground
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( William A. Galston | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

☆ The Strength of Israel’s Divided Democracy Protests - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Gershom Gorenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

In central Jerusalem, thousands of people marched the short distance from the president’s residence to the prime minister’s house. The size of the protests has been possible because the main banner is defending Israel’s internal democracy, but also because people who oppose the occupation are intensely involved. That choice has allowed Israelis from the center right and right to join and even take leading roles. But for many other protesters, it makes no sense to talk about democracy while ignoring Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. And in principle, they’re right: There is an essential contradiction between liberal democracy and the denial of rights to Palestinians.

Persons: it’s, Benjamin Netanyahu’s, “, ”, I’d Organizations: —, West Bank Locations: Israel, Jerusalem, West Bank

☆ Merit Means More Than Grades and Tests
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( William A. Galston | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

☆ In Israel, the Hobbling of the Supreme Court Is Just the Start - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Adam Shinar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Existing agreements among the coalition are explicit about these goals and legislation reflecting this agenda has already been introduced. To this, we should add subtler but no less drastic changes to the civil service, once heralded as professional and nonpartisan. It is the unraveling of Israel’s basic identity, that of a Jewish and democratic state. Across Israel, there is growing alarm about the rise of religion in the public sphere and the privileging of Jewish interests inside Israel and in the occupied territories. So here goes: Since its establishment, Israel has become only more fragmented and polarized.

Persons: Itamar Ben, Ben Organizations: Netanyahu Locations: Israel

☆ Spain Votes on Sunday: Here’s What to Know
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-23 | by ( Constant Méheut | More About Constant Méheut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

This outcome would have no major consequences if the Popular Party, which is leading the polls with about 34 percent of voting intentions, did not need Vox’s support to govern. But most studies suggest that it would, meaning that the far right could enter the Spanish government for the first time since the return of democracy in the 1970s. The Popular Party has refrained from saying whether it would seek to govern with Vox. But it has already forged several local coalition agreements with the far right after the May elections, in a move that many saw as a harbinger of a broader national alliance. The vote, Mr. Sánchez said, “will clarify if Spaniards want a government on the side of Joe Biden or Donald Trump, of Lula da Silva or Jair Bolsonaro.”

Persons: Sánchez, Vox, “, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Lula da Silva, Jair, ” Organizations: Popular Party, Vox

☆ Could Tim Scott Pull an Upset?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( William A. Galston | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

☆ After Affirmative Action, End Legacy Preferences
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( William A. Galston | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

☆ The United States and India Can Be Better Partners - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Idealism and pragmatism have long made rival claims on American foreign policy, forcing hard choices and sometimes leading to disappointment. For American presidents and policymakers, this poses a challenge; it is no longer enough to champion the ideals of liberal democracy and count on the rest of the world to follow. Advancing American ideals requires being pragmatic and even accommodating when our democratic partners fall short of the mark — and humility about where the United States falls short, too. Take India, and the quandary it poses for Washington, which is on display as Prime Minister Narendra Modi makes a state visit this week. India is a democracy in which the world’s biggest electorate openly and freely exercises the fundamental right to choose its leader.

Persons: —, Narendra Modi, Modi Organizations: Washington Locations: Soviet Union, Russia, China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, United States, India, Moscow

The series, “Wave Makers,” follows the fictitious lives of a team of campaign staffers in the run-up to a presidential election in Taiwan. The turn of events took the creators of “Wave Makers” by surprise. The main story line of "Wave Makers" features the solidarity and support between its two female protagonists. “Even the protagonists in ‘Wave Makers’ might not be able to persevere in our system,” said Kang at the National Chengchi University. These are people we must protect, not treat with prejudice.”For the show’s scriptwriters, Taiwan’s #MeToo moment has not fully arrived.

Persons: MeToo, ”, Tsai Ing, ” Tsai, Chien Li, Nina Peng, Wen, Let’s, “ Let’s, William Lai, Wang Dan, Wang, Kang Ting, Kang, “, Chien, Tsai, Carlos Garcia Rawlins, Taiwan’s, Liao, ” Kang, Lu Sheng, ” Peng Organizations: Taiwan CNN —, Netflix, Democratic Progressive Party, Kuomintang, KMT, “, National Chengchi University, Chinese Communist Party, Inter, Parliamentary Union, CNN, National Taiwan Normal University Locations: Taipei, Taiwan, Beijing, “, Asia

☆ Florida Turns Right, Minnesota Turns Left
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( William A. Galston | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —A statue of an antisemitic politician who is said to have inspired Adolf Hitler is to be tilted 3.5 degrees to the right. In 2012, a section of the Ringstrasse, the city’s central boulevard, that had borne Lueger’s name since 1934, was renamed Universitätsring. Debate over the future of the statue, which was erected in 1926, has been raging for years. The future of the statue, which has been repeatedly defaced, has been hotly debated in Vienna. He was therefore one of Hitler’s teachers,” Ariel Muzicant, president of the European Jewish Congress and former president of the Jewish Community of Vienna, told CNN in an email.

Persons: Adolf Hitler, Karl Lueger, Karl Lueger Platz, Austrian Hitler, Mein, ”, Lueger, Klemens Wihlidal, JOE KLAMAR, Wihlidal, ” Ariel Muzicant, ” Oskar Deutsch, —, “ Organizations: CNN, Getty, Public Art, European Jewish Congress, Jewish, of, antisemites Locations: Vienna, Austrian, Lueger, Viennese, AFP, of Vienna, Austria

☆ Why Should Charles III Be King?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Tanya Gold | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +7 min

King Charles(Francis Xavier,Professor X) III Prof. King Charles III, a telepath and the leader of the X-Men, is powerfully gifted, like the real Charles III (a noted gardener and watercolorist). King Charlize (Theron) III Charlize III is a gifted actor, which all good monarchs need to be, and an extraordinarily beautiful woman. King Charles III, theMadame Tussauds waxwork Wax Charles III lives in Madame Tussauds on Baker Street, and more people met him in 2022 — 2.5 million — than the real king will meet during his whole reign. King Charlie (Sheen) III Another actor, who has the advantage of already being from a famous dynasty: his father played Jed Bartlet, the philosopher king from “The West Wing.” King Charlie (Sheen) III would be handsome but not as handsome as King Charlize (Theron). King Charles (Dickens) III could not function in a country with failing public services and a system that taxes earnings, not wealth.

☆ Israel's 'Handmaids' become a defining image of the mass protests against Netanyahu's judicial reforms
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Women dressed as "Handmaids" are at the forefront of mass protests against the Netanyahu government. Netanyahu's plans to lessen the power of the Israeli supreme court. The protests in Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities oppose Prime Minister Netanyahu's plans to lessen the power of the Israeli Supreme Court in favor of elected officials. Israeli protesters wearing costumes from ''The Handmaid's Tale'' particiapte in a rally against Israeli Goverment's judicial overhaul bills at Haogen Junctions on March 16, 2023. Gili Yaari/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesPeople around the world are also voicing concerns about Netanyahu's plans.

Speaking alongside Netanyahu after talks in Berlin, Scholz said he hoped that a compromise on the reforms suggested by Israel's President Isaac Herzog was not off the table. Netanyahu visited Germany while protests erupted once again in Israel over the reforms by his far-right government that have triggered mass unrest in recent weeks. Netanyahu called criticism of the plans "absurd", assuring Scholz that "Israel will remain a liberal democracy". Netanyahu wanted the meeting with Scholz to focus on efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges that he denies, says the judicial changes will strengthen democracy and boost business.

☆ Elite Israeli reserve fighter pilots and intelligence officers boycott training to protest against Netanyahu's right-wing government
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Reserve pilots in a top Israeli air force squadron are boycotting training in an anti-government protest. Thirty-seven of the 40 reserve pilots in Israeli Air Force's 69th Squadron joined the protests by refusing to attend pre-scheduled training this week, the Jerusalem Post reports. The 69th Squadron is one of Israel's most prestigious air force units, according to Haaretz. The Israel reserve is 465,00-strong, and the mandatory service is part of the national ethos. Critics of this plan by Netanyahu's right-wing government say that this will weaken Israel's courts, and reduce civil liberties, per Reuters.

☆ The Koch Network Dumps Trump
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( William A. Galston | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

☆ Why the law Biden is using to cancel student debt is 'highly strained,' according to a group formed by Obama lawyers aimed at protecting American democracy
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Protect Democracy, a group formed by Obama lawyers, filed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court on student debt. It said that Biden's usage of the HEROES Act of 2003 to cancel student debt is "highly strained." While there might be another route to cancel student debt, the group said this relief is an overuse of emergency powers. "It is important to recognize that both student debt and the pandemic have disproportionately harmed lower income and minority communities," the brief said. One regarded Biden's student debt relief, and the other was on Arizona v. Mayorkas.

☆ Czech parliament chief assures Taiwan of her support after outcry in China
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen speaks with Czech President-elect Petr Pavel on a conference call in Taipei, Taiwan January 30, 2023 in this handout picture. Taiwan Presidential Office/Handout via REUTERSPRAGUE, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Czech lower house of parliament speaker Marketa Pekarova Adamova on Wednesday assured Taiwan of her country's support for partner states who respect human rights and liberal democracy, ahead of a visit to Taipei planned for March. The Czechs have been intensifying relations with the self-ruled island, which giant neighbour China claims as its own, and President-elect Petr Pavel spoke with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-Wen on Monday, drawing a sharp rebuke from Beijing. "I assured the minister that systematic support of partners who respect human rights and the principles of liberal democracy belongs among priorities of our parliamentary diplomacy," she said in a statement issued through her spokesman. Most countries avoid high-level public interactions with Taiwan and its president, not wishing to provoke China, the world's second largest economy.

☆ Want to prevent a civil war? Regulate social media algorithms, says an expert on political violence
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Political scientist Barbara Walter said unregulated social media is increasing the threat of a civil war. "Let people put whatever they want on social media," Walter said in an interview on Wednesday. And my answer is always the same: regulate social media," Walter said. Russia's Vladimir Putin, through his intelligence services and state-run media properties, has also used social media to pursue his own anti-democratic agenda. "Let people put whatever they want on social media," Walter said.

☆ Trump's biggest accomplishments and failures from his 1-term presidency
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

He repeatedly attacked the media, leading UN experts to warn that Trump's rhetoric raised the risk of violence against journalists. Though President Joe Biden was the clear winner of the 2020 election, Trump refused to concede. Even as world leaders began to congratulate Biden, a major sign of Biden's legitimacy, Trump continued to deny reality. After the violence, Trump released a video acknowledging that a new administration would take over, but he did not explicitly concede. Every president prior to Trump allowed for a peaceful transition of power after they'd served two terms or lost an election.

☆ A bizarre far-right coup plot uncovered in Germany hints at a much more sinister trend
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Alexander Clarkson | World Politics Review | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

In early December, German police uncovered a plot by far-right conspirators to mount a coup. It is widely acknowledged that the electoral appeal of the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, to about 10% of German voters is a matter of great concern. This image of political stability, though not unjustified, caused many observers to downplay the revelation in early December that German police had uncovered an organized plot by a network of far-right conspirators to mount a coup. German police and intelligence services had to take the threat this network represented seriously. This complacency gave the East German Stasi and other Soviet-bloc intelligence services opportunities to reach out to emerging radical networks willing to destabilize the Federal Republic at the time.

☆ Lessons From 2022 for Elitists and Authoritarians
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Gerard Baker | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

The temptation to look back on a passing year for clues to a larger historical narrative is irresistible. Despite the inevitable short-termism of late-December amateur historiography, I’m not going to resist it. For some, 2022 was the year when liberty fought back. Russia’s disastrous war in Ukraine, China’s futile war on Covid and Iran’s brutal war on its own women are testaments to the evil and folly of a system in which leaders face no accountability. Their failures and cruelties—and the tragic human cost—call for humility from those in the West who have spent the past few years denouncing liberal democracy and its works.

☆ EU wrangles with Hungary over Ukraine aid, tax plan as billions at risk
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Gabriela Baczynska | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

As the wrangling has gone on, Hungary also blocked the 18 billion euros joint EU loan to Ukraine and the tax plan, drawing ire from other countries for what they said was an attempt to blackmail the bloc into releasing the funds to Budapest. Hungary says it opposes joint EU borrowing to support Ukraine but that it would extend bilateral aid to Kyiv instead. Budapest has also said the OECD plan for a minimum corporate tax is against Hungary's national interests. Other EU countries are divided between those willing to punish Hungary more harshly and those saying the amounts frozen would be lessened if Hungary moved on Ukraine and OECD. The rest depends on Hungary, it's their money," said one EU diplomat.

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