Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler The dust is now settling on an unmitigated military disaster and a stinging political humiliation for the United States’ standing in the world. The unfolding Afghan fiasco confronts Washington policymakers with complicated Rubik’s cube choices in the wake of Kabul’s collapse. The Biden Administration’s next moves will affect […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler The warning flags were clearly there but Team Biden chose not to heed them. A top secret State Department Memo in mid-July, cited by the Wall Street Journal, signaled swift advances of the Taliban and the impending collapse of the Afghan military. Nobody seemed to notice? Let’s offer […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler PARIS — Sadly, we have seen this movie before. In the Spring of 1975, the collapse of South Vietnam coming to crescendo with the fall of Saigon indelibly marking a generation. Cities like Pleiku, Danang and Hue in this contemporary saga are Kunduz, Kandahar and Herat. Now with […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler PARIS — People are upset. Many are frightened, and not surprisingly France is frustrated with the ever-changing Covid news and government rules which much like the weather reports keep changing personal, business and day-to-day plans. Now for the fourth weekend in a row, anti-vaccine pass demonstrations rocked France […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler Cuba’s ongoing political and social upheaval has shocked many observers as a sudden and intense summer storm. Across the island in small towns and provincial centers protests erupted like a squall line until reaching the capital Havana. Tropical storm “Liberdad” was lashing the Island of Cuba while its […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler It’s summertime and the living is easy, as the old song goes. And vacations both domestic and international should be surging despite dark pandemic clouds still shrouding parts of the world. But last year’s collapse in international tourism, seeing a decline by 74 percent in 2020, has still […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler Amid pomp, pageantry and proletarian parades, China’s President Xi Jinping kicked off festivities celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Communist Party of China (CCP). The mass performances and political choreography, one of the things dictatorships seem to do so well, was held in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. Dressed in […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler Dark clouds are shadowing Afghanistan as the final pullout of American forces from the beleaguered war-torn country continues, and the future darkens with the likely approach of a militant Taliban regime. Time is running out to “prevent a worst case scenario” as Deborah Lyons, the UN’s Special Representative […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler Were there great expectations for the summit meeting in Geneva between President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin? Certainly not, but in the immediate aftermath of the U.S. president’s week of transatlantic diplomacy at the G-7 in Britain, and the NATO meeting in Belgium, a clear […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler European majorities seem troubled and deeply disillusioned over the ongoing COVID pandemic, which has turned into a crisis of confidence in the European Union, and equally stirred lingering doubts about the United States as a partner and ally. This gloomy assessment is reflected in a current poll which […]
