Global Eyes: Global Edition

Transnitsia declares independence. Russia obstructs the Iran deal. Beijing is sleeping badly. Is the FSB really leaking? A letter to the editor. And the day is yet young.

This isn’t a comprehensive survey; just a few notes on items that caught my eye.

Transnistria declares independence. Strangely, there’s almost no reporting on this. Moldova is vulnerable. From Tecumseh Court:

There’s two friendly supply lines into Ukraine: western NATO countries (Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania) and Black Sea ports. Keeping both of those open is the number two center of gravity for the war.

(If you need a refresher on centers of gravity: War 101 explains. Later today, we’ll publish PART III: Pros talk logistics.)

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Iran

• Russia obstructs Iran nuclear deal as the Kremlin frets over its oil income.

• UK, France say Iran nuclear deal is close

• Will there be an Iran nuclear deal? What you need to know.

• Biden’s coming Iran deal will be even worse than Obama’s

• Russia says won’t back Iran nuke deal without US guarantees over Ukraine sanctions

With all the media focus on Ukraine, we worry this won’t get the requisite scrutiny. Why is Russia at the table at all? There’s something kabuki about this: We’re one step away from a shooting war with Russia, yet Russia is our negotiating partner in the Iran nuclear deal?

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Our new pseudonym policy

The other day, a correspondent who wishes to be anonymous sent us a letter to the editor, which we published. I replied to it at length, in two parts. He’s answered me, below.

It’s becoming difficult for our readers to keep all of our anonymous correspondents straight. So from now on, if you prefer we withhold your name—which is absolutely fine; we’re interested in your arguments, not your name—you must either suggest a pseudonym for yourself or suffer the indignity of being assigned one at random from a 1921 London telephone directory.

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To the editors, from Colonel Sir A. HOLBROOK:

Thanks for your eloquent, detailed, and thoughtful responses to my questions.  I’ve tried to read through them carefully. I am confident that we share a common vision of how we would like the world to be, and our disagreement is at the highest level one of means rather than ends. Wanting to be both responsive and as succinct as is appropriate for such a momentous topic, I would like to suggest three points that I think are most important: