Russia is apparently building a new military base along its border with Ukraine. The new base suggests that Russia clearly intends to maintain the ability to provide assistance to Russian-speaking separatists in eastern Ukraine. The base likely spells the death knell of the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty that was signed on November 19, 1990 in an effort to minimize the likelihood of a conventional war in Europe. The Treaty has been subject to a variety of revisions since 1990 and the breakup of the Warsaw Pact and the expansion of NATO into some of the eastern European and Baltic states has made precise interpretations of the Treaty difficult.
The back story to the flood of refugees rushing into Europe is quite dark. Smugglers are responsible for making many of the arrangements for the refugees, but show little or no responsibility toward their well being. One smuggler, portrayed in an article in Speigel was responsible for leaving refugees trapped in a truck in Austria, ultimately leading to the death of everyone in the truck. The trip from Syria to Europe will cost a refugee €2,500, a price that many have to sacrifice everything to afford. These smugglers have made about €16 billion since 2000, profiting off human misery.
Myanmar is beginning an election cycle which is an important step forward for a country that has existed under martial law for far too long. There are 92 political parties vying for power and over 6,200 candidates. There is, however, a serious problem: there is not a single Muslim party or candidate in the election, even though Muslims constitute the second largest minority group in the primarily Buddhist country. Unfortunately, that omission is true even for the National League of Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace laureate. One could have hoped more from her after her 15-year house imprisonment and her intimate understanding of what it means to be excluded.
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