Modi Uses His Silver Tongue To Speak His Silver Linings | An Old Russian Standoff In Ukraine

“The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.”

“When strong, avoid them. If of high morale, depress them. Seem humble to fill them with conceit. If at ease, exhaust them. If united, separate them. Attack their weaknesses. Emerge to their surprise.”

– Sun Tzu

If You Don’t Have Anything Not Nice To Say: A phrase commonly attributed to Mark Twain is still true, even if the attribution is doubtful. The phrase is: “It’s better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than open it and remove all doubt.” Some world leaders would be wise to practice this truth. One already doing so is India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. His government is currently embroiled in at least three different political disputes, none of which Modi has discussed in public. It’s not that Modi shies away from public speaking; he’s a politician who is constantly speaking (last weekend he addressed several campaign rallies, and released the 50th episode of his monthly radio address). But he doesn’t comment on controversy that could damage his administration. Instead he praises his government’s track record, and avoids answering unscripted questions. Analysts say it’s all part of Modi’s long-running strategy to present himself above the fray, while leaving day-to-day political combat to his lieutenants.

Four years ago Modi led his Hindu nationalist party, BJP, to a huge victory by running a presidential-style campaign that emphasized his own qualities as a leader over party affiliation. Like President Trump, Modi uses social media to communicate directly with voters, and he prefers appearing on friendly media outlets and answering prearranged questions. But Modi’s interactions with journalists are carefully managed; he avoids formats like press conferences, or answering reporters’ questions on the fly. He prefers silence to random responses that could fuel attacks by the opposition. One academic who has written extensively on the prime minister said: “The fact is that Mr. Modi chooses his subjects very carefully. The subjects that he doesn’t want to touch, where he can be trapped, he avoids. That is his technique and it does work for him.”

Unsafe Abortion Rates Rising In Pakistan: As a country, Pakistan ranks near the top on several related lists: it has one of the world’s fastest population growth rates, one of the world’s highest abortion rates, and one of the world’s worst family planning records. Family planning researchers said abortion provisions in the deeply conservative Muslim country’s penal code are vague; the procedure is only allowed in very limited circumstances. Hospitals generally refuse to perform an abortion because most doctors believe it is illegal; even those who know it is allowable generally cite their own cultural beliefs for refusing to perform the procedure, leaving women at the mercy of back-alley providers. Pakistani women largely seek abortions because they don’t know about contraception, cannot obtain reliable contraception, or stopped using it after suffering complications. Researchers say most women who seek abortions are married, poor, uneducated, and already have children. One such girl married at 13; by age 19 she had given birth to four daughters and was pregnant again. Her husband threatened to leave her if she gave birth to another girl, yet he refused to use protection or to quit having sex with her. (NPR)

Roundhouse Kicking His Way To Your Heart: Martial artist, actor, and political conservative Chuck Norris is Hungary’s strongman leader Viktor Orban’s new BFF. Norris was in Budapest Monday for a fundraising auction put on by Hungarian Baptist Aid when he was warmly greeted by the prime minister. On Tuesday Orban posted a video of himself welcoming Norris on Facebook. Norris donated an autographed cowboy hat from his TV series “Walker, Texas Ranger” to the fundraiser. (WaPo)

Attack On China In Pakistan: China has been very active in Pakistan, spending some $62 billion on its “One Belt, One Road” initiatives there. But last Friday three militants attacked the Chinese consulate in the southern port city of Karachi, killing two police officers and two civilians at a checkpoint before being gunned down by security forces. It was the most significant strike against Chinese interests in Pakistan in years, and a rare moment of upheaval between the two countries who have deep economic and strategic ties. (NYT)

At Whose Service Is Your Service?: New Zealand has blocked Chinese telecommunications equipment maker Huawei from supplying technology for a next-generation mobile data network in the country. New Zealand’s intelligence agency rejected a proposal from Spark, one of its largest telecom carriers, to use Huawei gear in a planned 5G mobile network. Spark cited a government statement Wednesday that Huawei’s involvement would raise “significant national security risks”. The US has warned that Huawei’s ties to the Chinese government make its products vulnerable to snooping or interference, an accusation Huawei denies. Australia made a similar decision to ban Huawei last August. But other nations, particularly in the developing world, find Huawei’s affordability too good to pass up. On Tuesday Papua new Guinea said it would honor an agreement for Huawei to build domestic internet cables, rejecting a joint counterproposal from the US, Australia and Japan. (NYT)

– “Interview with Suspected 9/11 Recruiter: ‘I Didn’t Know Anything, With God As My Witness.’” (Spiegel)

– “What is the current state of the migration crisis in Europe?: Three years since the peak of the crisis, here is how things stand as tensions rise again” (Guardian)

Literally Using People As Pawns: The high-stakes game of political cat-and-mouse in the Black Sea continues between Ukraine and Russia, with Moscow apparently in the catbird seat. After Sunday’s seizure of three Ukrainian vessels and 24 sailors at the Strait of Kerch, still arguably international waters, the Kremlin announced Wednesday all 24 sailors will be detained for the next two months. Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko signed orders Wednesday imposing a 30-day period of martial law. 10 of Ukraine’s 27 regions share a sea or land border with Russia. The latter’s actions have invited widespread denunciation and calls for harsher sanctions, but President Vladimir Putin has accused the deeply unpopular Poroshenko of using the standoff as a way to boost his popularity at home prior to next year’s elections. “The incident in the Black Sea was a provocation organized by the authorities and maybe the president himself,” Putin said. That theory could be gaining some traction. One expert said: “Poroshenko wants to get a head start in his election campaign. He is playing the card of commander in chief, flying around in military uniform trying to project that he is the one in control.”

Under Ukrainian law, Poroshenko’s order must be published by the government’s newspaper, which could happen Thursday. It would be the first time Ukraine has imposed martial law in its ongoing conflict with Russia, which began in 2014 when Moscow annexed Crimea and supported pro-Moscow separatists in eastern Ukraine. More than 10,300 people have been killed in militia battles in the breakaway regions. Ukraine has also asked NATO to reinforce the Black Sea with battleships.

Additional read: “Russia Plans To Deploy More S-400 Missiles To Disputed Crimea Peninsula.: Russia is sending a new division of S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile systems to Crimea, in a new sign of heightened tensions.” (NPR)

The New Kid In Class Takes On The Bully: Mexico’s new president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador hasn’t taken office yet and already he’s between a rock and a hard place with President Trump over the thousands migrants in Tijuana who want to apply for asylum in America. Trump has said emphatically the migrants must stay in Mexico, although US law saysthat requesters can apply for asylum on US soil or at a designated point of entry regardless of immigration status. On Sunday a number of migrants tried to approach the border and US patrol agents fired tear gas at them. Lopez Obrador has spent his entire career fighting for humanitarian causes and defending the poor, so now he has a decision to make: will he defend the migrants’ pleas to be allowed into the US to apply for asylum, even if they ultimately get turned down, or will he give in to Trump’s demands and the economic imperative of maintaining good relations with the US? (NYT)

Chuck A Puck, Save A Life: Operators are standing by to take feedback on the decision that students attending Oakland University should “chuck a puck” at a shooter if they encountered one on their campus. The idea to hurl hockey pucks was offered by the university’s police chief, Mark Gordon, during a faculty active-shooting training session last March, held after the Parkland, Florida high school shooting that left 17 dead. The university, located near Detroit, Michigan, has a no-weapons policy, and a participant at the training asked Gordon what else people could use to defend themselves. 2,500 pucks costing 94 cents each were subsequently purchased — definitely a pricier option than snowballs. (NPR)

– “Cyber Monday was Amazon’s single biggest shopping day in the company’s history” (Fast Company)

– “Slowly but surely, the Amazon Prime backlash is coming: More people are calling on others to cancel their Amazon Prime subscriptions. Why’d it take us this long?” (Vox)

– “How to Wean Yourself Off Amazon This Holiday Shopping Season:Disagree with the power moves of Jeff Bezos’s retail monster? There are other e-commerce options that don’t come with smiling cardboard boxes.” (Ringer)

– “The Concept Creep of ‘Emotional Labor’: The term has become a central part of an important conversation about the division of household work. But the sociologist who coined it says it’s being used incorrectly.” (Atlantic)

– ”How to Maximize Your Browsing Privacy Using DuckDuckGo” (Lifehacker)

– “How Restaurants Got So Loud: Fashionable minimalism replaced plush opulence. That’s a recipe for commotion.” (Atlantic)

– “The people’s prince: His name has become synonymous with egotistic political scheming, yet Machiavelli’s work is effectively democratic at heart” (Aeon)

“Opportunities multiply as they are seized.” – Sun Tzu

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