FPA’s Must Reads (November 16 – November 22)

Atlanticism in Retreat
By A. Wess Mitchell and Jan Havranek
The American Interest

Twenty years after the end of the Cold War, the special relationship that tied the United States to the states of Central and Eastern Europe is rotting. Mitchell and Havranek describe the emergence of a new Middle Zone, but argue that the United States should strive to revive the promise of Atlanticism.

The Life and Death of Juliano Mer-Khamis
By Adam Shatz
London Review of Books

Juliano Mer-Khamis was, in his own words, “100 percent Palestinian and 100 percent Jewish.” The child of a binational couple, Mer-Khamis’ Freedom Theater in the West Bank was intentionally provocative, but his murder was unexpected nonetheless. Today, the activist’s death has taken on a life of its own, revealing the complexities of Israeli-Palestinian relations.

Exclusive: Inside America’s Plan to Kill Online Privacy Rights Everywhere
By Colum Lynch
Foreign Policy

Despite America’s public support for an affirmation of privacy rights, a secret war is being waged in a UN General Assembly. Lynch tells the inside story of how the legality of surveillance and espionage may be transformed on an international level.

The Dream Boat
By Luke Mogelson
New York Times

To document the perilous refugee smuggling route from Afghanistan to Indonesia to Australia’s Christmas Island, Luke Mogelson and Joel Van Houdt posed as a couple of Georgians seeking asylum. Despite the deaths of over a thousand such refugees struggling to make it to Christmas Island, Australia’s stringent immigration regulations continue to turn away boatloads of asylum seekers.

Inside the One-Man Intelligence Unit that Exposed the Secrets and Atrocities of Syria’s War
By Bianca Bosker
Huffington Post

One blogger’s attention to detail became the propeller of the detective work that helped uncover evidence of weapons imported into Syria. Bosker examines how Eliot Higgins, 2,300 miles away from Syria and armed with only a laptop, was positioned at the forefront of open source intelligence on the Syrian war.

Stuxnet’s Secret Twin
By Ralph Langner
Foreign Policy

Langner examines the Stuxnet cyberweapon program and explains how the sabotage of Iran’s nuclear program evolved from an originally sophisticated attack routine to a simpler and smaller version. Langner explores why such a shift in complexity occurred and what this might mean for cyber warfare.

Blogs:

The Iran Deal, and the Skeptics
The Battle Over the Future of the ICC Continues in the Hague
A Wide Ocean, Difficult Days and Ties that Bind: Morocco-U.S. Relations 50 Years after JFK’s Assassination
The Conventional Wisdom is Schizoid about U.S. Power
European Responses to Haiyan Disasters