Today is World Ocean Day and it would be impossible to overstate the significance of oceans for world politics. The oceans are the main transmission routes for most of our cultural interactions, the most important trade routes, and the subject of many disputes among nations. To celebrate the Day, the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center has made a video that is quite impressive:
South Korea has experienced an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). MERS is a zoonotic virus since we believe that it jumped from animals to humans. It is a particularly virulent virus–about 36% of sufferes die from the disease, although South Korea’s death rate thus far is considerably below that percentage (only 4 patients of the 41 who contracted the disease have died). Since it spreads rapidly, this is an outbreak to keep an eye on.
The Supreme Court rendered a decision today that concluded that the “power to recognize foreign governments is exclusive to the president.” In the case, Zivotofsky v. Kerry, the Supreme Court ruled that Menachem Zivotofsky, who was born in Jerusalem to an American mother could not list Israel as his place of birth on his passport. Israel took control of Jerusalem in the 1967 war, but the US government has never recognized Israeli sovereignty over the city. Congress passed a law in 2002 which allowed such persons to put Israel as their place of birth on their passport, but the Supreme Court invalidated the law. The victory for the Executive Branch clarifies a long-standing constitutional debate.
Jon Stewart is a brilliant political analyst and I truly enjoy most of his monologues. Unfortunately, in this particular monologue, Jon Stewart’s choice of words is highly offensive. So you may wish to skip viewing this episode. But his analysis of American foreign policy in the Middle East is spot on. He manages to capture the idiocy of many decisions made by the US, most of which were made in ignorance of what the essential dynamics of Middle East politics really were.
World Politics News 
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