Happy Solstice!!!! We can all celebrate because the days will start getting longer. Unfortunately, even though today marks the least amount of daylight for the Northern Hemisphere, it doesn’t mark the coldest time of the year–that’s still weeks away because temperatures lag behind daylight hours. But we’re on the upward slope now!!
The apparent thaw in US-Iranian relations seems to have ended abruptly (or at least slowed considerably). The US is blocking Iran’s participation in the negotiations on Syria scheduled for next month. Both Saudi Arabia and the Syrian opposition to President Assad are relieved by the decision, but it certainly complicates the peace process. Iran has a stake in the outcome of the conflict in Syria, and states should pursue the possibility that Iran could be persuaded to support an outcome that did not involve Assad. Freezing Iran out of the negotiations does not give it a say in framing such an outcome.
The Thai opposition party, the Democrat Party, has announced that it will boycott the snap elections called for by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. The elections were called to defuse a tense political situation as the protests have called for an immediate resignation of the Shinawatra government and its replacement by a “People’s Council.” The opposition movement has as its objectives the continued exile of former Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, the current Prime Minister’s brother. If the boycott does occur, it is unlikely that the election will resolve any of these tensions since the opposition believes that the elections will not be run fairly.
World Politics News 
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