Politics

Authored by MK Bhadrakumar via The Asia Times,

In the annals of Russian-American relations, it is difficult to recall a precedent for the Kremlin leader calling his White House counterpart to convey his personal gratitude and appreciation for the profound contribution made by the US’ Central Intelligence Agency and its director to Russian national security.

The great irony is that the incumbent Kremlin boss is a former KGB officer. Vladimir Putin never ceases to surprise.

Authored by Paul Craig Roberts,

What do we make of Trump’s national security speech?

First of all, it is the military/security complex’s speech, and it is inconsistent with Trump’s intention of normalizing relations with Russia.

In keeping with China’s strategy of methodically encroaching on its geopolitical rivals via air force and naval drills in the Pacific, both Japan and South Korea scrambled fighter jets earlier this week as China suddenly expanded the scope of naval drills being held in the waters off the Korean peninsula.

Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) got into a spat with CNN's Wolf Blitzer following Tuesday's vote on the Republican tax bill, after Corker switched his vote from "no" to "yes." 

Corker appeared uncomfortable after Blitzer played a clip of him criticizing President Trump in October, after Corker said Trump had "proven himself unable to rise to the occasion" of being president. 

Authored by Andrew Korybko via Oriental Review,

Australia is implementing its own “foreign agents” legislation modelled off of the US’.

The government recently announced that foreign lobbyists must register with the authorities and that political parties will be banned from accepting foreign donations.

The move to stop foreign funding is clear-cut and understandable, though there’s a lot of vagueness and prevailing uncertainty over what criteria will be used to designate someone as a “foreign agent”.