经济学人BBC 201010

21/10

1. Mosul: Islamic State is 'a brutal opponent', says US general

Mosul has been under much spot light lately as the Kurdish Peshmerga forces and other fighter are tying to take it back since being captured by Islamic State in 2014. Behind the scenes,  U.S. special operations forces are participating in both airstrikes and on the ground.

2.The threat from Russia-How to contain Vladimir Putin’s deadly, dysfunctional empire

This article is another one of a kind mocking at Russia, which provoked thoughts on what the snobbish British think about their 30% currency depreciation and Brexit impact. Anyway, the three problems that Russia is facing:

1) Society

An aging population that is not supported by workforce due to low birth rate and is facing a shrinking manpower.

2) Economy

Persistently low energy prices and corruption have severely hurt the stateown energy companies and contracted Russia's GDP. Vladimir Yevtushenkov has been mentioned many times by the West media to depict a tyrant Putin.

3) Political

So as many other countries do,  Russia is assumed to shift focus of its people by waging wars and intentional nationalism propaganda.

Threatening nuclear weapons in Syria is Putin's attempt to get Russia treated like a superpower again.