– Esquire – Thomas P.M. Barnett analyses the revolutions in the Arab world.

– New Yorker – Jon Lee Anderson asks can a ragtag civilian army defeat a dictator?

– New Yorker – Dexter Filkins asks can protesters find a path between dictatorship and anarchy in Yemen?

– New York Times – CJ Chivers assesses the state of the Libyan rebels.

– New York Times Magazine – The sudden, bloody transformation of normal citizens into rebels.

– New Yorker – Jon Lee Anderson gives an excellent look at the war on the ground in Libya.

See also: Who Are The Rebels?

– Defense Technology International – Excellent look at the war in the air in Libya.

– StrategyPage – Excellent analysis of the current situation on the ground in Libya.

– National Interest – A surprisingly optimistic global strategic assessment from Robert D. Kaplan and his brother.

– Newsweek – Niall Ferguson writes that most rebellions end in carnage and tyranny. So why are Americans cheering on the Arab revolutionary wave?

– Daily Telegraph – For 500 years Western civilisation was full of self-belief, but now, historian Niall Ferguson argues its dominance is coming to an end.

– Washington Post – Robert D. Kaplan writes that with the toppling of autocratic regimes in Egypt and Tunisia – and other Arab dictators, such as Libya’s, on the ropes – some have euphorically announced the arrival of democracy in the Middle East. But something more subtle may develop.

– New York Times – Thomas Friedman on just how difficult a democratic transition will be for the Middle East.

– Newsweek – Niall Ferguson on Obama’s Egypt debacle and the vacuum it exposes.

– Esquire – Thomas P. M. Barnett on why the “China Century” will be the shortest on record

– New York Times – Robert D. Kaplan writes that the West stands captivated by Tunisia, where a month of peaceful protests by secular working- and middle-class Arabs has toppled a dictator, raising hopes that this North African country of 10 million will set off democracy movements throughout a region of calcified dictatorships. But before we envision a new Middle East remade in the manner of Europe 1989, it is worth cataloguing the pivotal ways in which Tunisia is unique.

– The Diplomat – Maritime strategy seems increasingly focused on the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf. It risks leaving the Navy vulnerable in the Pacific.

– New York Review of Books – Ahmed Rashid writes on the current situation in Tajikistan.

– Washington Post – Robert D. Kaplan mourns the end of the American Empire.

– Foreign Policy – An interview with Robert D. Kaplan on his new book Monsoon.

– Wall Street Journal – After 500 years of Western predominance, Niall Ferguson argues, the world is tilting back to the East.

– The Australian – Robert D. Kaplan says that the Indian Ocean is set to be the central theatre of conflict and rivalry for the US, China and India.

– Reuters – In the Indian Ocean, international warships keep watch against Somali pirates, but in the long run, newly arrived forces from India, China, Russia and elsewhere may be as much rivals as allies.

– Wall Street Journal – Beijing is moving aggressively to counter the U.S. ability to project power in Asia. Its goal: bring our allies under its sway.

– New York Times – When three Chinese scientists plunged to the bottom of the South China Sea in a tiny submarine early this summer, they did more than simply plant their nation’s flag on the dark seabed.