My headline will no doubt make the eyes of many of our readers glaze over. But for those of you interested in the inner workings of politics in the Communist Party–and after all what that comes down to is how China is run–there is an insightful look ahead to the Party’s imminent Plenum by veteran Zhongnanhai-ologist Willy Lam at the Jamestown Foundation website. Basically, it’s about the core reality of Chinese politics, the center trying to control the regions–and basically failing, hence things like the poisoned milk powder scandal. The central government has been flexing its muscles in recent months, firing local party officials to try and get them to bend to Beijing’s will. Willy doesn’t think its going to work.
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Obama’s Afghanistan Problem: Neither Karzai Nor the Taliban Like the ‘Reconciliation’ Script
President Barack Obama huddled with President Hamid Karzai in Chicago on Sunday, urging Afghanistan’s leader to accelerate negotiations with the Taliban over a political solution to the longest war in America’s history. But the prospect for Karzai negotiating successfully with the insurgents is clouded by a question raised by Josef Stalin, on the eve of World War II, in response to the suggestion that he offer concessions to the Pope: “How many divisions does he have?” The Taliban now ask the same question about Karzai. And should the Afghan leader also ask himself the question, he might reach a similarly dispiriting conclusion. Karzai’s independent power base is minimal, as is his ability to influence the outcome of his country’s civil war absent direct U.S. involvement. And that gives neither Karzai nor the Taliban much incentive to cut a deal with the other.
Must-Reads from Around the World, May 21, 2012
Spillover - Lebanon’s Daily Star reports on escalating violence inside the country after soldiers shot dead a prominent anti-Bashar al-Assad Muslim preacher Sunday. “The gravity of the incident… prompted leaders on both sides of the political divide to call for calm and restraint to prevent the country from sliding into sectarian strife as a result of a spillover of the 15-month-old uprising in neighboring Syria,” it says.
A Royal Party: Britain Celebrates 60 Years of Queen Elizabeth II
From parades to concerts, and even tea with commoners, 86 year-old Queen Elizabeth II is traversing the United Kingdom to commemorate her Diamond Jubilee.
