Needs more attention

Since the end of World War II, the world has grown steadily more globalized. Trade has grown faster than global gross domestic product itself. Supply chains have lengthened. Companies have become more multinational. The rate of globalization reached a fever pitch in the 1990s and early 2000s.

But then the financial crisis hit. Trade plummeted in 2009, falling faster than GDP, only to rebound a year later. But since then, trade has stopped growing as a percentage of output, the way it had in the past. A few years isn't necessarily enough to establish a trend, but the slowdown in trade is unprecedented in the postwar era.
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Occupations that are more exposed to global competition experience greater job losses when globalization expands. In addition, the dumping of Chinese and other developing-country labor onto the global labor markets probably pushed down labor’s share of income, boosting capital owners at the expense of workers. A slowdown in globalization will put the brakes on both of these processes, holding down inequality and slowing the rate at which workers are displaced from their jobs.

In other words, the slowdown of globalization may bring just the relief that beleaguered American, Japanese and European workers need. Economists who tell you that trade is always a net benefit overlook the pain it can inflict on substantial groups of people within individual countries. These distributional effects of trade can be so severe on those who lose out that they can swamp the GDP benefit that trade provides. If this has been happening in rich countries, then a slowdown in trade is actually good news

It's pretty disgusting

Why precisely now, after four years of war and over 200,000 killed, have tens of thousands of Sunni and Christian Syrians decided to leave what was once Syria?

The answer is that after the nuclear agreement reached between Iran and the world powers in July, the Shi'ite axis of Iran, Syrian President Bashar Assad and Hezbollah became the favored side for the United States which signaled to the Syrians that Assad is not going anywhere and that the war was not going to end.

This altered political dynamic, that spurred the masses of Syrians to leave their country, is not necessarily bad news for Israel.

Does this sound familiar?

The President talked about learning “the lessons of the past” from interventions such as the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, and Qaddafi in Libya.

In Libya, Obama said the United States “joined an international coalition under a U.N. mandate to prevent a slaughter.”

“Even as we helped the Libyan people bring an end to the reign of a tyrant,” Obama continued, “our coalition could have, and should have, done more to fill a vacuum left behind.”

“In such efforts, the United States will always do our part,” Obama promised.

The forever war

ISLAMABAD—
Insurgent officials and Afghan media confirmed Monday evening the Taliban has seized control of Kunduz after staging a pre-dawn well-coordinated offensive against the northern city.
The insurgents also have released hundreds of prisoners after taking control of the detention facility.

You know what? I think this happened during the lunar eclipse.
And let's not forget.

In eastern Afghanistan Sunday, authorities said hundreds of Islamic State militants staged a coordinated pre-dawn attack against key security outposts in Nangarhar province. Afghan forces forced the extremists to retreat.
Officials said it was the first major attack by Islamic State militants against Afghan forces, coming after months of reports that the extremist group is becoming more powerful in Afghanistan.