It’s All About May 25 -- Thomas Friedman, New York Times
KIEV, Ukraine — The word “maidan” means “square” in Ukrainian and in Arabic. And the “Independence Maidan” of Kiev, like the “Tahrir Maidan” of Cairo, has been the scene of an awe-inspiring burst of democratic aspirations. The barricades of piled cobblestones, tires, wood beams and burned cars erected by Ukrainian revolutionaries are still there — indeed, it looks as if it could be the set of “Les Misérables” — and people still lay fresh flowers at the makeshift shrines for the more than 100 people killed in the Maidan by the old and now deposed regime here. Walking through it, though, I tried to explain to my host that, while I was incredibly impressed, a lot of Americans today have “Maidan fatigue” — too many dashed hopes for democracy in too many squares — from Afghanistan to Iran, Iraq to Egypt, Syria to Libya.
Get over it, Ukrainians tell me. Our revolution is different. There are real democratic roots here, real civil society institutions and the magnet of the European Union next door. With a little help, we can do this.
Read more ....
Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials
West's options: Russia's Ukraine challenge -- BBC
Putin's strategy: Good cop, bad cop -- Alexander Motyl, CNN
Closer, But Still No Deal on Iran -- David Ignatius, Washington Post
Why Israel may need to rethink its assumptions on Palestinian unity -- Christa Case Bryant, CSM
Tilt towards military unbalances Egypt's ultra-conservative Salafists -- Louisa Loveluck, CSM
Amid the Atrocities: William Daniels Returns to Central African Republic -- Andrew Katz, Time
What Germany Left Behind: A Feeling of Abandonment in North Afghanistan -- Nicola Abé, Spiegel Online
What Afghanistan Finally Got Right -- David Francis, Fiscal Times
Welcome to North Korea's Game of Thrones -- Dennis P. Halpin, National Interest
Death and Anger on Everest -- Jon Krakauer, New Yorker
Negotiating Asia’s Troubled Waters -- Michael J. Green, New York Times
Would China fight for disputed islands? -- Celia Hatton, BBC
Asia's Two Very Different Futures -- Zachary Keck, National Interest
Obama: Going ‘all in’ for the Asian Century -- Josette Sheeran, Reuters
America: Choose Your Enemies Wisely -- Robert W. Merry, National Interest
Why Apple Can't Quit Steve Jobs -- Alyssa Newcomb, ABC News
