In this edition of insights, we take a look at the Democratic Presidential Candidate Elizabeth Warren, the collapse of the meeting with the Taliban the death of Robert Mugabe and the current state of Moscow. Read the insights below, and, of course, we encourage you to read the articles in full and inform yourself on these important issues:
“The open secret of Ms. Warren’s campaign is that her big-money fund-raising through 2018 helped lay the foundation for her anti-big-money run for the presidency. Last winter and spring, she transferred $10.4 million in leftover funds from her 2018 Senate campaign to underwrite her 2020 run, a portion of which was raised from the same donor class she is now running against...her disavowal of closed-door events with the donor class has become an inextricable part of the DNA of her candidacy...It is the reason...she has the time to dedicate to hourslong selfie lines, to expand the map of states she can visit, and to call up small donors at random to thank them for giving, rather than pleading for more $2,800 donations from the well-to-do.” - Shane Goldmacher, New York Times, MORE
“Mr. Trump came up with an even more remarkable idea — he would not only bring the Taliban to Washington, but to Camp David, the crown jewel of the American presidency...What would have been one of the biggest headline-grabbing moments of his tenure was put together on the spur of the moment and then canceled on the spur of the moment. The usual National Security Council process was dispensed with; only a small circle of advisers was even clued in. And even after it fell apart, Mr. Trump took it upon himself to disclose the secret machinations in a string of Saturday night Twitter messages that surprised not only many national security officials across the government but even some of the few who were part of the deliberations.” - Peter Baker, Mujib Mashal,Michael Crowley, New York Times, MORE
“Robert Mugabe’s career can be divided into three main parts. First, as an extraordinarily skillful leader who managed to dominate a fractious nationalist movement opposed to the white-supremacist rule of Rhodesia’s Ian Smith. Second, as a legitimate if increasingly flawed ruler from independence in 1980 until his humiliating defeat in a constitutional referendum in 2000. And third, as a bloodstained dictator who ruled by rigging elections and torturing his opponents until his ousting...There followed a brief coda as a deposed, and dying, tyrant...Some in Zimbabwe will always admire him for his brilliance in liberating them in the 1970s from a regime that was undeniably racist...But the fundamental truth was that Robert Mugabe was one of Africa’s most evil dictators.” - The Economist, MORE
“Over the past couple of months, the city of Moscow has seen an unprecedented number of large, confrontational protests...the arrests continue to multiply, prison terms grow longer, and the brutality becomes more brutal….Why is the regime unleashing such spectacular and effortful fury on a few candidates for offices with no power and next to no chance of winning in rigged elections? A common interpretation is that the Kremlin is scared. Vladimir Putin’s popularity is slipping, and even a rigged election can stress the system to the point where its rusty structures give. This could well be true, but it is also true that the system Putin has built is so opaque that we will not know how thoroughly it has rusted until it actually collapses.” - Masha Gessen, New Yorker, MORE
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of The Common Good.
