The New York Times: Rise of Saudi Prince Shatters Decades of Royal Tradition

The rise of Prince bin Salman has shattered decades of tradition in the royal family, where respect for seniority and power-sharing among branches are time-honored traditions. Never before in Saudi history has so much power been wielded by the deputy crown prince, who is second in line to the throne. That centralization of authority has angered many of his relatives. [...]

The need for change is greater now, with global oil prices less than half of what they were in 2014 and hundreds of thousands of young Saudis entering the job market yearly. Prince bin Salman has called for a new era of fiscal responsibility, and over the last year, fuel, water and electricity prices have gone up while the take-home pay of some public sector employees has been cut — squeezing the budgets of average Saudis. He has also said the government will sell shares of Saudi Aramco, believed to be the world’s most valuable company. [...]

Some of his initiatives have appeared ham-handed. In December, he held his first news conference to announce the formation of a military alliance of Islamic countries to fight terrorism. But a number of countries that he said were involved soon responded that they knew nothing about it or were still waiting for information before deciding whether to join.

Others have been popular. After Prince bin Salman called for more entertainment options for families and young people, who often flee the country on their vacations, the cabinet passed regulations restricting the powers of the religious police. An Entertainment Authority he established has planned its first activities, which include comedy shows, pro wrestling events and monster truck rallies.

The prince has kept his distance from the Council of Senior Scholars, the mostly elderly clerics who set official religious policy and often release religious opinions that young Saudis mock as being out of touch with modern life.

Instead, he has sought the favor of younger clerics who boast millions of followers on social media. After the release of Vision 2030, Prince bin Salman held a reception for Saudi journalists and academics that included a number of younger, tech-savvy clerics who have gone forth to praise the plan. [...]

Personal relationships have long been the bedrock of American-Saudi relations, yet the Obama administration has struggled to find someone to develop a rapport with the prince. The job has largely fallen to Secretary of State John Kerry, who has hosted the prince several times at his home in Georgetown. In June, the two men shared an iftar dinner, breaking the Ramadan fast. In September 2015, dinner at Mr. Kerry’s house ended with Prince bin Salman playing Beethoven on the piano for the secretary of state and the other guests.

read the article 

Al Jazeera: Why the world fears refugees (Narrated by Zygmunt Bauman)

Zygmunt Bauman, one of the most influential thinkers of our time, says many Europeans' fear of refugees boils down to the idea of the “precariat” - people whose lives are marked by precariousness, anxiety and fear.

Politico: It’s time to release the real history of the 1953 Iran coup

Sixty-three years ago, the CIA and British intelligence fomented a coup d’état that toppled the prime minister of Iran, restored a cooperative shah and strengthened a regional buffer against possible Soviet aggression. It also unwittingly set Iran on a course toward dictatorship and helped inject the 1979 Iranian revolution with an anti-American cast that continues to animate hardline elements within the current regime. [...]

Numerous excuses for refusing to publish documentation on the Iran coup have surfaced over the years. A standard rationale invoked by the intelligence community on a wide range of subjects has been the need to safeguard “sources and methods.” Protecting individuals from harm is praiseworthy, though arguably less meaningful in cases such as this when every major participant is deceased. Protecting methods is also perfectly reasonable in theory, but CIA claims deserve some scrutiny when the agency has used similar assertions to keep World War I-era techniques like the use of invisible ink classified until almost a century later — far beyond the method’s usefulness. [...]

Instead of holding onto the past, the State Department has an opportunity here. The consensus of Iran experts I have spoken with in recent weeks is this: Why not deny hardliners once and for all the benefits they’ve been reaping from this propaganda gift? Claim the high road by throwing open the available record even on our most awkward episodes. Identify this for what it is — a gesture of respect to the Iranian people — and call on Tehran to act in kind by acknowledging that both sides have historical reasons to claim grievances against the other.

Looking beyond Iran, releasing the FRUS volume would contribute to other worthwhile goals. It would give a boost to the president’s lofty commitment to greater openness, a part of his record that has come under fire from his supporters in recent years. More importantly, it would at last provide the American people access to a chapter of their recent history they have every right to see. It would even strike a blow for the currently unfashionable principle of judging our past — and our elected officials — on the basis of historical fact rather than self-serving partisan invention.

read the article 

Independent: Israeli human rights group urges UN to take action to end country's 'brutal' occupation of Palestine

An Israeli human rights group urged the UN Security Council to take decisive action now to end the country's occupation of Palestinian territory.

Hagai El-Ad, executive director of B'Tselem, told an informal council meeting Friday on "Illegal Israeli Settlements: Obstacles to Peace and the Two-State Solution" that Israel has controlled Palestinian lives in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem for the past 49 years "and counting."

"Israel will not cease being an oppressor simply by waking up one day and realising the brutality of its policies," he said.

With the 50th anniversary approaching next year, El-Ad said "the rights of Palestinians must be realised, the occupation must end, the UN Security Council must act, and the time is now."  [...]

Another Israeli rights group, Peace Now, was invited to speak but it was represented by its sister organization, Americans for Peace Now, which has also campaigned for an end to Israeli occupation.

"The occupation is a threat to Israel's security and to Israel's very existence," said Lara Friedman, the group's director of policy and government relations.  [...]

The Palestinians pushed for the Security Council to adopt a resolution against settlements in February 2011 but it was vetoed by the United States. The 14 other Security Council members voted in favour of the resolution, reflecting the wide support for the draft which had over 100 co-sponsors. 

read the article 

The Huffington Post: How Hungary and Poland have silenced women and stifled human rights

The popular view voiced by the Polish opposition - that the governing Law and Justice Party (PiS) wants to bring back the Middle Ages - is insufficient. It relies on the “backlash” narrative of women’s emancipation, which sees nations making linear progress towards equality, interrupted by setbacks that can be overcome by joint action. [...]

The emergent regimes of Viktor Orbán in Hungary and Beata Szydło in Poland do not represent a revival of authoritarianism, but a new form of governance. This new system stems from the failures of globalisation and neoliberalism, which created states that are weak for the strong, and strong for the weak.

To describe the modus operandi of these new regimes, we have coined a new term: the “polypore” state.

A polypore is a parasitic fungus that feeds on rotting trees, contributing to their decay.

In the same way, the governments of Poland and Hungary feed on the vital resources of their liberal predecessors, and produce a fully dependent state structure in return.

This style of government involves appropriating the institutions, mechanisms and funding channels of the European liberal democratic project. [...]

Just as the polypore fungus usually attacks already damaged trees, illiberal regimes rise to power in the context of democratic standards weakened by the financial, security and migration crises.

In Central Europe, post-1989 regime transformation gave preference to economic reform measures over civic and social ones. Liberal norms and practices have never been fully embedded in these societies. This creates a paradoxical situation where illiberal forces have flourished amid an unfinished liberal revolution.

read the article 

The Telegraph: Controversy as Russian town unveils first statue of Ivan the Terrible

He was Russia’s first Tsar, a military leader and visionary who set the county on the path to superpower status, introduced the printing press, and even established Moscow’s first contacts with England.

He was also of the most feared tyrants in history, a mentally disturbed paranoiac who unleashing a reign of terror that devastated whole cities and suffered bouts of madness that even saw him kill his own son. 

More than four centuries after his death, Ivan the Terrible was again at the centre of controversy after Russia’s first ever statue to the notorious 16th century ruler was unveiled on Monday. [...]

The statue has also been backed by Vladimir Medinsky, Russia’s culture minister, who has argued that Ivan’s ruthlessness was comparable with that of his European contemporaries.

He acknowledged in a speech that Ivan was “one of the most controversial” figures in Russian history.

Others have been outraged at the idea of erecting a monument to the ruler, however.

Critics launched a court battle to try to block the project, and more than 500 people signed a local petition that said "We don't need a monument to a tyrant in the city."

read the article 

Time: U.S. Support for the War in Yemen Is Indefensible

The humanitarian impact of the bombing campaign is staggering—no civilian is left unaffected. Yemen, the poorest country in the Middle East before the start of this conflict, is now on the brink of starvation. The numbers do not sufficiently represent the desperation that this conflict has wrought, but they’re a start. More than 19 million people do not have access to clean water, 14 million people are suffering from hunger and malnutrition, and more than 3 million Yemenis have been driven from their homes. [...]

We live in a world where the rules of war are continually flouted and the U.S.-supported Saudi-led campaign in Yemen is no exception. In the more than 3,000 strikes since the conflict began, civilian sites are routinely in the line of fire. Hospitals, schools, factories, homes, markets—there is no safe space in Yemen today. And with Saudi Arabia’s purchase of more than $115 billion in U.S.-manufactured military equipment approved since the war in Yemen began—including air-to-ground munitions as well as tanks—the jeopardy civilians are facing is marked with a deep American imprint.

Newly disclosed government documents reveal that State Department lawyers warned that the U.S. could be implicated in war crimes for supporting a Saudi-led air campaign in Yemen.

read the article 

The Guardian: Cardinals see red over Vatican McDonald's

The cardinals have complained that they were not consulted about the new McDonald’s and are worried that they will have to help pay for extra restructuring expenses to adapt the building, including a new flue for the kitchen.

The problems allegedly started when the cardinals were alerted this summer by Apsa, the Holy See agency that owns the property and manages the Vatican’s vast real estate holdings, that it had agreed to rent the ground floor space to McDonald’s.

The US fast food company was reportedly willing to pay “a few tens of thousands of euros per month” for the property – which faces Borgo Pio and Via del Mascherino – far outbidding any other potential tenants. [...]

It is unclear whether the angry cardinals – who include Gianfranco Ravasi, Giuseppe Versaldi and Gilberto Agustoni – will receive a sympathetic ear from Pope Francis, who has famously opted to live in modest accommodations in Casa Santa Marta and repeatedly pressed clergy to live as simply and frugally as possible.

Two controversial books released last year by Italian journalists Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi described how many cardinals live in the lap of luxury in apartments owned by the Vatican, with one former high-ranking official, Tarcisio Bertone, living in what was described as a “princely dwelling”, at very modest prices. Instead of rent, the cardinals usually only pay for utilities and, once they retire, are charged a monthly rental fee of €7 to €10 per sq meter.

read the article