| How a post-Khashoggi US 'correction' on Saudi relations could unfold Posted: 25 Oct 2018 02:20 PM PDT ![How a post-Khashoggi US 'correction' on Saudi relations could unfold]( "How a post-Khashoggi US 'correction' on Saudi relations could unfold") The murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi will have far-reaching repercussions in the coming months – from the viability of the US-Saudi strategy to counter Iran, to the price of oil, and on to prospects for President Trump's Middle East "deal of the century" peace plan. What is less certain is whether the horrific violation of one Saudi regime critic's human rights will do much to stem the rise and free reign of rights-violating regimes across the Middle East and indeed around the world, many regional experts say. The Saudis may have believed they had a "blank check from the Trump administration" to pursue actions like the silencing of regime critics such as Mr. Khashoggi, says Steven Cook, senior fellow for Middle East Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) in Washington. If they did, it is at least in part because they saw other authoritarian leaders – from regional players Turkey and Egypt to global powers Russia and China – silencing their critics and stamping out dissent with impunity, he adds.
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| What mail bombs say – and don’t say – about political discourse Posted: 25 Oct 2018 01:38 PM PDT ![What mail bombs say – and don't say – about political discourse]( "What mail bombs say – and don't say – about political discourse") Hours after a package containing a pipe bomb was mailed to a "John Brenan" c/o CNN in New York on Wednesday, former CIA Director John Brennan linked the attack to America's political fever pitch.
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| Control of House may hinge on ‘Panera moms’ in the suburbs Posted: 25 Oct 2018 12:36 PM PDT ![Control of House may hinge on 'Panera moms' in the suburbs]( "Control of House may hinge on 'Panera moms' in the suburbs") The last time voters here sent a Democrat to Congress, Richard Nixon was president, and the sprawling retail center that is disappearing in Ms. Mattson's rear-view mirror didn't even exist. Mattson turns into a modest neighborhood where she will canvass for Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA operative who is seeking office for the first time.
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| Political violence and its antidote Posted: 25 Oct 2018 11:51 AM PDT ![Political violence and its antidote]( "Political violence and its antidote") Democracy, writes British scholar David Runciman in a new book about the topic, is simply "civil war without the fighting." But, he adds, when something is not working in a democracy – such as when there is an uptick in political violence – the people usually change it. Lately, a few democracies have witnessed a rise in political violence. In South Africa, an increase in feuding within the ruling African National Congress has led to about 90 politicians killed since 2016.
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