| | | | The Danger of America's New Smoke Belt | | Wildfires like the ones currently devastating parts of California are likely to become increasingly frequent and destructive. But aside from the visible damage, residents living in the new "Smoke Belt" of Northern California, Western Oregon, and the Great Plains will have to grapple with a health threat that isn't always as obvious as the fire itself, writes Megan Molteni for Wired.
"As climate-change fuels increasingly large and frequent wildfires that hit closer and closer to densely populated urban centers, the smoke they produce is becoming a public health crisis," Molteni writes.
Of particular concern: "[E]levated levels of PM2.5 -- very small bits of liquids and solids suspended in the air, no bigger than 2.5 nanometers across. Particles this small can be inhaled into the deepest recesses of the lungs, into the broccoli-shaped alveolar sacs, where they bypass the body's filtration systems and slip directly into the bloodstream. What exactly is in those tiny droplets and specks depends on the source, the season, and atmospheric conditions. But it's the amount of particulate matter more than the type that matters for health."
| | Fareed: The Real Danger Trump's Tweets Reveal | | Fareed argues that President Trump's tweets Wednesday suggesting that media licenses could be revoked underscore one of the most troubling aspects of his presidency: the consistent attacks on democratic institutions.
"We are by now familiar with the Donald Trump circus – the chaos, the leaks, the public spats. And then there are the policies, with which people can agree or disagree," Fareed says. "But the third, perhaps most dangerous, feature of the Trump presidency has been the relentless assault on institutions of democracy, particularly the independent judiciary and the free press. Remember, the press is the one industry protected under the Constitution. Yet Trump singles it out in ways that are entirely inappropriate, and suggests things that we would expect to see Vladimir Putin doing in Russia.
"Does the statement from Republican Senator Ben Sasse on Trump's Tweets on the media mean we can expect more Republicans to push back forcefully? Probably not. Right now, Republicans fear that opposing Trump will invite a primary challenge. And that goes to the heart of what is really the big story of the Republican Party over the last year – Trump discovered that the base was in a completely different place than the Republican establishment. So, while the party establishment was talking about entitlement reform, tax cuts and free trade, the Republican base was much more about nationalism, cultural issues, immigration.
"Ultimately, politics in the United States right now is about tribalism, it's not really about policies anymore. At one time it was about issues, particularly economic ones. And with economic issues like tax cuts, you can often find areas for compromise. But when you get into these social issues that are more about core identity, then how do you compromise? How do you compromise on the national anthem, or gay rights, or abortion?
"The trouble with tribal politics is that it's winner takes all. There's almost no room for compromise. And as a result, the country is deeply divided, and very little gets done."
| | How Trump Can Topple Iran's Leadership | | | Iran's regime is looking increasingly like the dying days of the Soviet Union. President Trump should take a leaf out of President Reagan's playbook if he wants to see it toppled, suggest Reuel Marc Gerecht and Ray Takeyh in the Wall Street Journal.
"The ideologically exhausted theocracy tries to revitalize itself by imperialism and patronage, much as the Soviet Union did in the 1970s. [Ayatollah] Khamenei stands today as modern Persia's most successful imperialist, as he has planted Iran's flag from the Gulf to the Mediterranean. But imperialism carries costs, as the Shiite militias Iran arms and local allies it subsidizes burden its treasury," they write.
"The U.S. should once more establish contact with and financially assist dissident organizations in Iran. There is no substitute for presidential declaration, and Mr. Trump should embrace Reagan's model of speaking directly to the Iranian people while castigating their illegitimate regime. Washington should again impose crippling sanctions to deny the mullahs their patronage networks, the key to their power. A formula that led to the collapse of the mighty Soviet empire can surely down Mr. Khamenei's and the Revolutionary Guard's kleptocracy." | | Why the Kremlin Wants Russians to Watch More TV | | Vladimir Putin is widely expected to win reelection should he run for president again next year. But the Kremlin is taking no chances, suggests Amie Ferris-Rotman in Foreign Affairs. That means that it's not only shaping the message in the news media, but in entertainment, too.
"The Internet may attract more eyeballs than it used to, but Russia is still a television nation, and it is state-run or state-connected channels that have the largest audience," Ferris-Rotman writes.
"As Russia's relationship with the West has worsened, producers have found a soaring audience for shows using the tensions as a storyline. In the reality show Made in Russia, now in its third season on the state-run Moscow channel 360TV, young couples ditch their European-made car and clothes in an act of defiance against U.S. and European sanctions. Russia responded with its own counter-sanctions, including a ban on European food imports. The move initially hurt Russian consumers, but ended up boosting the domestic market. In this vein, the couples in 'Made in Russia' -- whose logo is a barcode made of strands of wheat -- discover that Russian products are of better quality anyway.
"The market for this kind of programing seems durable, at least for as long as Russia and the West remain locked in a standoff over Ukraine and other issues."
| | Two Cheers for the Fatah-Hamas Deal: The National | | The reconciliation agreement between Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas that was announced Thursday is "an extraordinary and welcome breakthrough," The National editorializes. But a big potential stumbling block remains.
"More tangible details of the deal made at the talks in Cairo will emerge over the coming days, although we do know already that it will cover a broad range of administrative issues, but it can only be held together if Hamas agrees to disarm, which is something it has refused to do, despite agreeing for its members to take on roles within the Palestinian Authority."
| | Germany, Your Military Needs to Step Up | | It's time for Germany to step out of the post-World War II shadow and play a bigger role in international security, argues Paul Taylor for Politico EU. "Germans can afford to spend more on defense but many of them don't want it."
"German defense spending has turned a corner since Russia's 2014 seizure of Crimea and destabilization of eastern Ukraine prompted Merkel to lead the push for Western sanctions on Moscow," Taylor writes. "But at 1.22 percent of GDP, even after an 8 percent increase this year, it remains far below the agreed NATO guideline of 2 percent which Berlin has promised to approach by 2024. If spending remains on its current trajectory, there's no chance the gap will be closed."
"If Germany is genuinely worried that a surge in its defense spending could scare its neighbors, it should put some of its extra resources into the planned European Defense Fund for military research and joint arms procurement, to help EU partners get more bang for their euros." | | | | | | |
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