Tim Talks Politics - The Weekly Brief, November 2, 2018

The Weekly Brief - November 2, 2018

Cold War Reruns

I’ve recently been sharing stories on Cold War 2.0: America vs. China, but apparently Cold War 1.0 has some nostalgic appeal left in it. In its ongoing efforts to demonstrate its great power relevance, Russia made two interesting moves this last week: Deepening economic ties to Egypt and announcing the possibility of a military base in Cuba.

Both actions are very reminiscent of Cold War power plays, Cuba in particular being bandied about by Russia as a response to America’s withdrawal from the INF. However, it could also be read as Russia seeking to project strength as it negotiates its emerging relationship with China.

What Makes a Citizen?

As a caravan of immigrants from Central America approach the Mexican-American border in parallel with next week’s midterm elections, President Trump is considering signing an executive order ending birthright citizenship as a legal pathway to citizenship status.

The move has been quickly condemned not just by Trump’s opponents, but by conservatives as well. The debate broke along fairly familiar lines and got quickly caught up in the immigration debate, but Politico took time to unpack the deeper history of the concept, which is well worth informing yourself on.

Universal Postal What!?!

Rarely do I share just one story on a topic, but a big part of this newsletter is bringing your attention to events and perspectives that get undercovered. In all the blow up over America’s announced withdrawal from the INF last week, the news cycle missed another withdrawal: President Trump announced plans to withdraw from the Universal Postal Union.

Yeah, I’d never heard of it either. Lawfare has a breakdown on what the UPC is, what it does, and why an American withdrawal from it may be problematic.

Church Splits

Another underreported story this last week is the biggest split in Christianity arguably since the Reformation. I am not an expert on the organization of the Orthodox Church, but I do know it is organized largely around patriarchates that are led by Patriarchs, chief among them being the Patriarch of Constantinople (but not in a pope kinda way).

All this to say, the Patriarchate of Moscow is severing its ties with Constantinople over the latter’s announcement that churches in Ukraine would no longer be under Moscow’s leadership. It’s not exactly a split over theological or doctrinal differences, but seems to have become a victim of the ongoing political contest between the Ukrainian and Russian states. Still, the Orthodox Church has not seen such a split in 1,000 years, so it’s kind of a big (and tragic) deal.

Domestic Terror in America

The last week was an emotionally exhausting one for many Americans struggling with what appeared to be a right-wing violence spike with attempted mail bombings, and a mass shooting in a Pittsburgh synagogue.

Attention quickly fixed on the white far-right male perpetrators, as many wondered if there’s something uniquely violent with that particular combination of traits. A key part of that analysis requires looking at the contexts these men inhabited that would spur them to such violence.

What is found there are common denominators in antisemitism, online platforms of a dubious nature, social alienation, and problems with the law.

So is it identity, or society that’s to blame? Nature or nurture? At least as far as nurturing goes, AEI suggests American society has a lot of work to do before we can avoid further acts of such violence. One step towards addressing these topics may be getting a clear handle on the legal distinctions between hate crimes and terrorism. There is a difference.

Trump’s Man in Brazil?

A couple of weeks ago, I shared some stories on the first round of Brazil’s presidential election. The runoff was held this week, and, as expected, Jair Bolsonaro is the new president.

Now, Brazil potentially faces a very different way of doing business. And perhaps that’s what Brazil is looking for after years of stagnated growth and one corruption scandal after another. Still, Bolsonaro’s penchant for law and order at home may or may not translate into a stronger Brazil abroad, according to Brookings.