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He is trying to reinvent himself as the voice of the umma (ie, Muslims everywhere) and also of the world’s poor.

Istambul, Sept. 8.– President Recep Tayyip Erdogan likes to cut to the chase. Others may think the multilateral dispute over territorial waters, continental shelves and hydrocarbons in the Eastern Mediterranean, which has brought Turkey close to war with Greece, is complicated. For Turkey’s leader, however, it is simply an “example of modern colonialism” by European countries, as he put it in a speech on September 1st. “The era of those who for centuries have left no region unexploited from Africa to South America, no community unmassacred and no human being unoppressed is coming to an end,” he added.

Mr Erdogan has long fulminated against the West to stir up patriotic support at home. Now, he is increasingly addressing a global audience, too. Having failed to reshape the Middle East in the wake of the Arab spring, Mr Erdogan is looking elsewhere for greatness. He is trying to reinvent himself as the voice of the umma (ie, Muslims everywhere) and also of the world’s poor.

He not only reshaped the economy and foreign relations—he also paved the way for future reforms

 Tokyo, Sept.4.– The record was beaten in late August. Then, just four days later, the record-breaker said that he was, too. After serving the longest continuous stint of any Japanese prime minister (as well as the longest time in the job overall) Abe Shinzo announced his resignation on August 28th.

Mr Abe blamed the abrupt decision, over a year before the rules of his Liberal Democratic Party (ldp) would have obliged him to step down, on an old digestive ailment. But many have cast his departure as an admission of defeat. The economy, which he has worked hard to revive after decades of listlessness, is swooning again because of covid-19.

The old tools of truncheon and syringe may keep them in power. But for how long?

Sept.2.– Nothing is as inspiring as seeing people take to the streets to demand their freedoms—and nothing is as terrifying for the dictators they are defying. In Belarus, among scenes that recall the revolts of 1989, people are turning out in their hundreds of thousands after a blatantly rigged election, heedless of the threat of state violence. In the Russian city of Khabarovsk tens of thousands march week after week to protest against the arrest of the local governor and the imposition of Moscow’s rules. Vladimir Putin is rattled. Why else is Alexei Navalny, an anti-corruption crusader and Mr Putin’s greatest popular rival for the Russian presidency, lying poisoned in a Berlin hospital bed?

Regimes that rule by fear, live in fear. They fear that one day the people will no longer tolerate their lies, thieving and brutality. They try to hang on with propaganda, persecution and patronage. But it looks increasingly as if Mr Putin is running out of tricks, and as if Alexander Lukashenko, his troublesome ally in Minsk, is running out of road.

Its deal with Israel is indicative of a quiet, yet savvy foreign policy.

How Israel and the Arab World Are Making Peace Without a Peace Deal ←click here   

Abu Dhabi, Aug.29.– It was not quite Anwar Sadat speaking before the Knesset, or King Hussein and Yitzhak Rabin clutching hands in the Rose Garden. That would not have been Muhammad bin Zayed’s style. The agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), announced on August 13th, was hashed out quietly by spies and sheikhs and unveiled largely on Twitter. It made the uae the first Gulf country and only the third Arab state to open formal relations with Israel. Yet it had all the pomp and circumstance of a tariff agreement.

Though long overshadowed by Saudi Arabia, Prince Muhammad, the uae’s de facto ruler (pictured in illustration), has turned his small country of 10m people into arguably the most influential Arab state. It wields soft power through Dubai, the region’s business hub, and firms like dp World, a shipping giant. A compact but capable army provides a sharper edge. Emirati money and media have backed coups and intrigue across the Middle East.