When the world's at stake,
go beyond the headlines.

This week the Bombshell crew preps for the eclipse from opposite corners of the world to ask why we haven’t all perished in the Fire and the Fury (alternate title for our next romance novel). Along with North Korea we talk India-China donnybrooks, military ‘options’ in Venezuela, and are somehow not overwhelmed by all the mayhem emanating from the White House. We go once more with feeling in Afghanistan, ask what Bannon’s departure will mean for foreign policy, and debate the Chiefs subtweets on Charlottesville. Loren heads off to Porto, Radha chases the totality, and Erin enjoys the second order effects of good cocktails.

Reading:

• Robert Windrem and Corky Siemaszko, ”North Korea Crisis: How Events Have Unfolded Under Trump,” NBC
• Robert Kelly, “Attacking North Korea Would Be a War of Choice,” National Interest
• Robert A. Manning and James Przystup, “Stop the South China Sea Charade,” Foreign Policy
• Nicola Smith, “India-China border brawl: Superpowers throw stones at each other as tensions heighten,” The Telegraph
• Ben Westcott, “Indian video mocks Xi Jinping after Chinese state media posts ‘racist’ clip,” CNN
• Declan Walsh, Raphael Minder, Eric Schmitt and Rukmini Callimachi, “Spain, a Leader in Foiling Attacks, Falls Victim to One Anyway,” New York Times
• Dan Deluce, “Inside Trumps’ Tortured Search for a Winning Afghanistan Strategy,” Foreign Policy
• Andrew Exum, “Why the Military Chiefs are Condemning White Supremacy,” The Atlantic
• Terrence McCoy, “The road to hate: For six young men, Charlottesville is only the beginning,” The Washington Post
• Alan Sepinwall, “‘Halt And Catch Fire’ Takes Another Leap In Its Final Season Premiere,” Uproxx

U.S. Army photo by Joshua Joyner