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 The U.S. military faces a two-decade struggle to help bring stability to Africa, where the lack of an overall government strategy is complicating operations, according to the general in charge of special operations on the continent. – Stars and Stripes
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 Cruel weather is not the main reason hundreds of thousands of people in rural Somalia are on the brink of starving to death. Rebels from the extremist al-Shabab group are blocking vital aid from reaching villages, compounding the effects of the poor rains. – Washington Post
 Josh Rogin reports: In their Oval Office meeting in March, President Trump told German Chancellor Angela Merkel that the Ukraine crisis was Europe’s responsibility and that the United States wouldn’t get heavily involved, according to two officials briefed on the discussion. Only two months later, the Trump administration is reversing course and planning to re-engage on Ukraine in a significant way. – Washington Post
Stephen Blank writes: Whenever we betray our values by thinking we can make a deal that advances our immediate self-interest, we end up paying a much greater cost to defend our interests and those values. Helping Kyiv defend itself is not only the right thing to do, it is the strongest manifestation of “self-interest rightly understood,” as Alexis de Tocqueville might have put it, and needs to be seen as such. – Atlantic Council  Six years after the revolution that brought down Tunisia’s dictator of 23 years, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, the protests reflect mounting frustration at the broken promises of the country’s new democratic leaders to bring tangible improvement to poorer regions like this one. Yet the protesters are themselves a sign of change in the country, as are the challenges confronting the government. The demonstrators are representative of a new generation that has come of age in relative freedom, only to face the prospect of long-term unemployment. – New York Times
 Ostpolitik for Korea? German reunification was preceded by West Germany’s policy of direct engagement, or Ostpolitik, and a version of it will start to play out on the Korean Peninsula, writes Yoon Young-kwan. South Korea’s new leader, Moon Jae-in, looks set to follow his mentor Kim Dae-jung, who during his 1998-2003 presidency pursued a non-violent “Sunshine Policy” with the North. READ THE STORY HERE
 China-Indian Ocean expansion: Beijing’s latest Silk Road plan envisions a port, pipelines and special economic zone that is meant to transform Myanmar’s Kyaukpyu backwater into a modern entrepot to rival Hong Kong and Singapore, reports Eli Meixler. The hub, like similar emerging “string of pearls” projects in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India, is aimed at fortifying Beijing’s position in the Indian Ocean and could also one day host Chinese naval vessels. READ THE STORY HERE Asia-pivot to China: Aung San Suu Kyi’s meeting with Xi Jinping at the Belt and Road summit this month punctuated what was already shaping up to be a good year for China-Myanmar relations. Asia Times reports that since US relations Myanmar soured and China was quick to fill the void, it indicates a larger Asia-wide strategic setback for Washington. READ THE STORY HERE
 Korea heats up: Amid news of yet another North Korean missile test, the US is sending a third aircraft carrier strike group to the Western Pacific. Asia Times reports that the deployment comes as China tightens border controls with North Korea, in an apparent attempt to show the US they are getting tough on Pyongyang. READ THE STORY HERE
 Stephen Hayes writes: Although ISIS has lost ground, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's loyalists continue to operate in Libya. As does Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and its more covert network. Authorities in the United Kingdom believe that Salman Abedi, the terrorist bomber in Manchester, may have traveled to Libya for training. Abedi's brother and father were arrested there. In January, the United States bombed two training camps in Libya thought to be tied to the Islamic State's "external plotters"—operatives targeting Europe and beyond. – The Weekly Standard
 Christopher Caldwell writes: Things are changing. Having ended its self-imposed ban on arms-dealing in 2014, Japan is now selling anti-submarine reconnaissance systems and patrol vessels to Malaysia and Vietnam, and boats to the Philippines. Abe has considered amending Japan's pacifist postwar constitution—for the first time—to permit its "self-defense forces" to become a full-fledged military. Until some new defense arrangement can be devised, the waters and airspace in which four of the world's half-dozen largest militaries operate (China, Russia, and North and South Korea) are going to be defended by the United States if they are defended at all. – The Weekly Standard
MOTHERLAND LOST, THE COPTIC CRISIS OF MODERNITY; Egyptian Islamists & The Slaughter of Christians5/26/2017 
Gunmen kill at least 26 Christians in Egypt bus attack
Gunmen in Egypt killed at least 26 people on a bus carrying Coptic Christians today. The bus was traveling to the St. Samuel Monastery, which is about 140 miles south of Cairo. Officials said there were eight to ten attackers, all dressed in military uniforms. Egypt has seen violence targeting Christians in recent months, including twin suicide bombings in April. Pope Francis visited Egypt last month to show his support for Christians in the country. After the pope’s visit, however, the Islamic State’s Egyptian affiliate vowed to escalate attacks against Christians in Egypt. 
 Algerian president names new prime minister
Algerian President Abdel-Aziz Bouteflika named Housing Minister Abdelmadjid Tebboune as the country’s new prime minister on Wednesday. The appointment comes in the wake of the victory by Bouteflika’s National Liberation Front (FLN) and its ruling coalition in May 4 parliamentary elections. Those elections were marred by low turnout amid concerns of a corrupt political system and sluggish economy.  
 Beijing guiding Pyongyang? As North Korea fires more missiles in its drive to build and test rockets to reach the US mainland, one issue largely overlooked is that satellites are among methods used to guide such weapons to their targets. Peter J. Brown writes that Pyongyang doesn’t have a satellite navigation network, raising speculation that if it is using such a guidance system then is it tapping into China’s? READ THE STORY HERE
 Duterte facing crisis: The Philippine leader says he will resort to any means necessary, including nationwide martial law, to counter the rising threat of Islamic State-linked militancy, reports Richard Javad Heydarian. Duterte is facing a security crisis after the Maute group, also known as the Islamic State of Lanao (ISL), laid siege to the city of Marawi, the largest in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. READ THE STORY HERE Philippine troops engaged Islamic State-linked militants in pitched clashes on Thursday around the southern city of Marawi as the military deployed tanks to secure vital installations in a battle that has become a major test for President Rodrigo Duterte’s government. – New York Times U.S., NATO: Montenegro Needs Help to Fend off Russians
By Senator John McCain, The Cipher Brief: “But there’s no doubt that the Russians recently tried to overthrow the government with a coup. That shows how important they believe Montenegro is.” PHILIPPINES: Duterte Declares Martial Law in Southern Philippines By Jim Gomez & Teresa Cerojano, AP: “Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte warned Wednesday that he’ll be harsh in enforcing martial law in his country’s south as he abruptly left Moscow to deal with a crisis at home sparked by a Muslim extremist siege on a city, where militants burned buildings overnight and are feared to have taken hostages.”  Countering China's Submarine Operations in South Asia
By Abhijit Singh, Lowy Interpreter: “The expansion of PLA Navy submarine activity in South Asia is quite in keeping with a powerful navy's need to familiarise itself with alien operating conditions. The pattern of Chinese submarine visits reveals that the PLA Navy has been incrementally raising the complexity of its deployments, sending both conventional and nuclear submarines to learn more about the Indian Ocean's operating environment.”  The Trump administration said Monday it was extending by six months temporary protections for Haitians displaced by the devastating 2010 earthquake, but signaled it will end the program and send home most of the 58,700 affected Haitians living in the U.S. after that. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
With cash running low and debts piling up, Venezuela’s socialist government has cut back sharply on food imports. And for farmers in most countries, that would present an opportunity. But this is Venezuela, whose economy operates on its own special plane of dysfunction. At a time of empty supermarkets and spreading hunger, the country’s farms are producing less and less, not more, making the caloric deficit even worse. – Washington Post The crisis in Venezuela, which was already awful, is somehow getting worse, with protests against the government of President Nicolás Maduro now entering their eighth week and a death toll of at least 49. – Foreign Policy’s The Cable The anti-government protesters who have poured on to Venezuela’s streets in the past two months lack basic staples such as bread, rice, flour and medicine, but the one thing they have in spades is creativity. – Financial Times Venezuela possesses 5,000 Russian-made MANPADS surface-to-air weapons, according to a military document reviewed by Reuters, the largest known stockpile in Latin America and a source of concern for U.S. officials amid the country's mounting turmoil. - Reuters Editorial: Eventually Venezuela may need help brokering a deal for elections and the orderly transfer of power. For now, however, the Maduro regime, tutored by Cubans from Fidel Castro’s hard-line camp, appears intent on installing a dictatorship by force. The United States should make clear that anyone who collaborates in that effort will be a target for sanctions. – Washington Post  South Korean defense officials said on Monday that the missile the North launched on Sunday was a medium-range ballistic missile that cannot fly far enough to strike American military bases in Guam, as analysts had feared. – New York Times
Experts say atomic history — especially that of the American program, the world’s most successful, which other nations often seek to mimic — can help distinguish North Korea’s credible accomplishments from bluster and empty threats. – New York Times North Korea’s military has 300 to 400 attack drones capable of carrying biological and chemical weapons that could reach the South Korean capital of Seoul within one hour, according to a high-level defector from the isolated regime ruling Pyongyang. – Washington Times Two days after North Korea tested another missile that could one day carry a nuclear payload, a human-rights activist in Norway has convened a large conference to game out best practices for regime change without a clash of modern weapons. Philanthropist and human rights crusader Thor Halvorssen urges a flood of information to the North Korean people as the best way to liberate the world’s most infamous totalitarian country. – Washington Times The head of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces expressed concerns on Tuesday about North Korea’s progress in building a long-range, nuclear-tipped missile capable of striking the United States. – Stars and Stripes South Korea's military fired warning shots at a suspected drone from North Korea on Tuesday amid tension over Pyongyang's latest missile test which drew international condemnation and a warning from China. - Reuters China's imports of North Korean goods in April fell below $100 million to the lowest in nearly three years, data showed on Tuesday, after China stopped buying coal from the isolated country and as calls mount for further economic sanctions. - Reuters  Nicaragua is denying that a recently activated land-based satellite station donated by Russia has the purpose of spying on the region or the United States. – Defense News
Mexico’s conservative opposition National Action Party (PAN) and the leftist Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) have called for a “broad alliance” for the 2018 presidential elections in an attempt to oust the ruling PRI party and halt maverick leftist Andrés Manuel López Obrador. – Financial Times Editorial: It’s good that Mr. Peña Nieto immediately and strongly condemned Mr. Valdez’s murder, but that is clearly not enough. Recommendations of the CPJ report should be embraced, and the chronic failure of the judicial system in investigating and prosecuting crimes must be addressed. A good place to start is making a priority of finding those who shot Mr. Valdez and those who ordered it. – Washington Post  Sudan’s president, indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes including genocide, has been invited to a summit in Saudi Arabia alongside President Trump, a Sudanese government spokesman said Tuesday. – New York Times
Rebels attacked the South Sudanese town of Yei on Tuesday, killing at least four government soldiers, the state governor said. - Reuters Red Cross workers have found 115 bodies in Central African Republic's diamond-mining town of Bangassou after several days of militia attacks, the president of the aid group's local branch said on Wednesday. - Reuters Supporters of a jailed Christian sect leader attacked the prison holding him in Democratic Republic of Congo's capital, freeing him and about 50 other inmates early on Wednesday, the government said. - Reuters Report: Boko Haram is reeling under the pressure of Nigerian military operations, but its mobility and relatively low-cost operations in poorly governed territory will likely allow it to mount attacks despite dwindling resources. - Foundation for Defense of Democracies (PDF)  Julia Ioffe writes: The point is, when Russia says it wants to cooperate with America on fighting terrorism, it is making a complex, and largely cynical, self-serving argument. But to realize that, one would have to understand the history and origins of this argument. The Obama administration mostly did, and it angered the Russians to no end. In Trump, the Russians have finally found an American president who will take their offer at face value and not ask too many questions. They also found an American president who simply wouldn’t know that, since 2014, counterterrorism cooperation with the Russians has been a one-way street. – The Atlantic
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