China Reform Monitor: No. 1166
China objects to THAAD in ROK;
Afghan Taliban denies China hosting secret talks
 
China objects to THAAD in ROK;
Afghan Taliban denies China hosting secret talks
 
One step forward, one step back in the info war with Russia;
Obscuring traces of involvement in Ukraine
 
Is the Islamic Republic of Iran a country or a cause? For decades, the question is one that has bedeviled Western observers. Foreign politicians and diplomats long have struggled to reconcile the Iranian regime’s radical rhetoric and destructive international behavior with its pragmatic participation in numerous treaty arrangements, and its prominent role in various multilateral forums.
Finally, a constitutional deal in Nepal;
ISIS and Taliban square off in Afghanistan;
India strikes militants across border in Myanmar;
China mining for rare earths in the Indian Ocean;
Carter in Delhi  
If, as Marx taught, history repeats itself "first as tragedy, then as farce," then Washington's latest reported concession proves that U.S.-led nuclear negotiations with Iran have moved from the tragic to the farcical.