ace wild realtor

ace wild realtor Hwangwonjeong Pavilion and Geoncheong at Gyeongbok Palace in December 2012 / Robert Neff Collection By Robert Neff Homer Hulbert arrived in Jemulpo (now part of modern-day Incheon) on July 4, 1886. He was one of three American teachers hired by the Korean government to teach at the Royal College in Seoul. Their trip to Seoul and their subsequent adventures in Korea are interesting stories, but those will have to wait for another time. Since tomorrow is Christmas, however, it seems appropriate to recount the Christmas party of 1887, held at the home of Horace Underwood — an American missionary. Before this party, Christmas celebrations in Seoul were small and rather spartan. Underwood, however, was determined to make this one special. In a letter home, he explained that even in Korea, he could arrange a simple yet memorable dinner using flowers and produce from his garden, along with the many gifts he received from Korean acquaintances and government officials. Read More Christmas in Korea in 1880s: politics and parties: Part1 Kim Dong-jin and Homer Hulbert’s cabinet / Courtesy of Hulbert Memorial Society As was the custom in Seoul, each guest brought one of their servants to assist in serving the dinner and cleaning up afterward. To make the evening more memorable, Underwood enlisted Hulbert to design the menu cards. Each card featured “two Korean dragons facing each other and their tongues running out into the initials [and] their long bodies going down on both sides of the page ending in arrow-headed tails.” Printed in the center were the words “Merry Christmas 87” and “a la Koreanne,” with a little piece of Korean silk cord, butterflies and flowers serving as an elegant finishing touch. It appears all of the Americans in Seoul attended this party, except George C. Foulk, a naval officer temporarily assigned to the American Legation. Foulk, disgusted at being caught up in the vortex of Korean political intrigue, spent Christmas “in a purely Korean way” with a tiger hunt in the Bupyeong area of modern-day Incheon. Though he failed to bag a tiger, he succeeded in calming his nerves and returned to Seoul in time to partake in the New Year festivities. It is unclear what, if any, gifts were exchanged among the party-goers, but it is likely that King Gojong sent presents to the Western diplomats and many, if not all, of the missionaries. These gifts typically included fruits, chestnuts, walnuts, pork, beef, fish and hundreds of eggs — sometimes even live animals such as pigs and chickens. Other items included rolls of cloth, fans and various knickknacks. Many Westerners regifted these presents — perishable goods were often passed on to their Korean servants, while silk and fans became popular gifts for family and friends back home. Read More The perfect gift for the holiday Elaborate decorations partially marred by the passage of time / Robert Neff Collection At times, the royal family was especially generous, providing more valuable and unusual gifts. The Korean queen once gave Rose — wife of Lucius Foote, the first American minister to Korea — her “most cherished worldly possession,” the palanquin that had conveyed her back to the palace after the unsuccessful coup attempt in 1882. When the Footes left Korea and returned to San Francisco in early 1885, this palanquin accompanied them. Sadly, Rose passed away later that same year, and the fate of the palanquin has been forgotten. At some point in the 1900s, King Gojong presented Hulbert with a beautiful mother-of-pearl inlaid cabinet. When Hulbert returned to the United States, he brought the cabinet with him and cherished it for the rest of his life. According to Hulbert family records, the cabinet was originally a gift from Korea to China but was later returned to King (or Emperor, depending on the date) Gojong. The Korean monarch then gifted it to Hulbert. Unlike Rose’s palanquin, the fate of the cabinet is well-known — it remained with the Hulbert family. Drawers covered with mother-of-pearl designs / Robert Neff Collection According to Kim Dong-jin, the chairman of the Hulbert Memorial Society, he first saw the cabinet in 1989 during a visit to Hulbert’s descendants in New York. While he found it beautiful, he did not pay much attention to it at the time. As the years passed, the cabinet faded from his memory until early October of this year, when Kimball A. Hulbert, a great-grandson of Homer Hulbert, offered to donate the cabinet to the Hulbert Memorial Society. The offer was readily accepted. At considerable expense, the cabinet was shipped by air to Korea, arriving in late November. A note found in the cabinet describing its history / Robert Neff Collection When asked why this cabinet was so valuable, Kim’s eyes sparkled with excitement and pride. He revealed that three experts — museum curators and researchers — believe it to be a national treasure due to its rarity and artistic value. The cabinet was crafted between 1890 and 1900 in Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province. Only three cabinets of this design and quality are known to exist: two in Korea (including this one) and one in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow. Kim suspects that the cabinet in Russia was received as a gift in 1896, either when King Gojong sought asylum in the Russian Legation in Seoul or when the Korean delegation attended the coronation of Russian Czar Nicholas II that same year. The Hulbert Memorial Society plans to register its cabinet as a National Cultural Treasure and hopes to temporarily display it in a Korean museum until the society is able to build its own Hulbert Memorial Hall. The passage of years has worn heavily upon the cabinet. The wood has cracked in several places, and it will require restoration. This restoration, however, will be bittersweet. As I examined the cabinet, I could feel history when I opened its wooden drawers — the musty scent emanating from them was like a breath from the past. Restoration will undoubtedly erase these subtle remnants of the senses — a loss that cannot be replaced. Crabs and flowers on one of the cabinet’s doors / Robert Neff Collection There is another treasure associated with Hulbert: Kim Dong-jin. For several decades, Kim has devoted himself to researching and championing Hulbert’s legacy. According to Kim, he first became aware of Hulbert nearly half a century ago while he was a college student. He read Hulbert’s book, “The Passing of Korea,” and was “moved by (Hulbert’s) depth of understanding about Korea and his unique assessment of the value of Korean ethics.” Inspired, Kim founded the Hulbert Memorial Society, believing that Hulbert was “quite undervalued in Korea” and should be recognized as “the paramount historic figure in Korea’s enlightenment period.” Somewhat shyly, Kim admitted that there was much more he wanted to say, but time constraints during our interview prevented him from elaborating. However, The Korea Times has published interviews with Kim in the past, and those articles can be easily found online. Read More Passion for underappreciated hero, Homer Hulbert Next month, to coincide with the anniversary of Hulbert’s birth on Jan. 26, 1863, Kim will publish Hulbert’s biography in English. He hopes that Hulbert’s life story will serve as “an example of a righteous life for people across the globe.” For Americans, in particular, Kim hopes it will inspire them to appreciate and value a “genuine hero” who has largely been forgotten. Robert Neff has authored and co-authored several books, including "Letters from Joseon," "Korea Through Western Eyes" and "Brief Encounters."Donald Trump is returning to the world stage. So is his trolling‘Modern slavery’: Indonesians in clutches of scam syndicates

AP News Summary at 5:32 p.m. EST

Trump has promised again to release the last JFK files. But experts say don’t expect big revelationsNEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s recent dinner with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his visit to Paris for the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral were not just exercises in policy and diplomacy. They were also prime trolling opportunities for Trump. Throughout his first term in the White House and during his campaign to return, Trump has spun out countless provocative, antagonizing and mocking statements. There were his belittling nicknames for political opponents, his impressions of other political figures and the plentiful memes he shared on social media. Now that's he's preparing to return to the Oval Office, Trump is back at it, and his trolling is attracting more attention — and eyerolls. On Sunday, Trump turned a photo of himself seated near a smiling first lady Jill Biden at the Notre Dame ceremony into a social media promo for his new perfume and cologne line, with the tag line, “A fragrance your enemies can’t resist!” The first lady’s office declined to comment. When Trudeau hastily flew to Florida to meet with Trump last month over the president-elect's threat to impose a 25% tax on all Canadian products entering the U.S., the Republican tossed out the idea that Canada become the 51st U.S. state. The Canadians passed off the comment as a joke, but Trump has continued to play up the dig, including in a post Tuesday morning on his social media network referring to the prime minister as “Governor Justin Trudeau of the Great State of Canada.” After decades as an entertainer and tabloid fixture, Trump has a flair for the provocative that is aimed at attracting attention and, in his most recent incarnation as a politician, mobilizing fans. He has long relished poking at his opponents, both to demean and minimize them and to delight supporters who share his irreverent comments and posts widely online and cheer for them in person. Trump, to the joy of his fans, first publicly needled Canada on his social media network a week ago when he posted an AI-generated image that showed him standing on a mountain with a Canadian flag next to him and the caption “Oh Canada!” After his latest post, Canadian Immigration Minister Marc Miller said Tuesday: “It sounds like we’re living in a episode of South Park." Trudeau said earlier this week that when it comes to Trump, “his approach will often be to challenge people, to destabilize a negotiating partner, to offer uncertainty and even sometimes a bit of chaos into the well established hallways of democracies and institutions and one of the most important things for us to do is not to freak out, not to panic.” Even Thanksgiving dinner isn't a trolling-free zone for Trump's adversaries. On Thanksgiving Day, Trump posted a movie clip from “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” with President Joe Biden and other Democrats’ faces superimposed on the characters in a spoof of the turkey-carving scene. The video shows Trump appearing to explode out of the turkey in a swirl of purple sparks, with the former president stiffly dancing to one of his favorite songs, Village People’s “Y.M.C.A." In his most recent presidential campaign, Trump mocked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, refusing to call his GOP primary opponent by his real name and instead dubbing him “Ron DeSanctimonious.” He added, for good measure, in a post on his Truth Social network: “I will never call Ron DeSanctimonious ‘Meatball’ Ron, as the Fake News is insisting I will.” As he campaigned against Biden, Trump taunted him in online posts and with comments and impressions at his rallies, deriding the president over his intellect, his walk, his golf game and even his beach body. After Vice President Kamala Harris took over Biden's spot as the Democratic nominee, Trump repeatedly suggested she never worked at McDonalds while in college. Trump, true to form, turned his mocking into a spectacle by appearing at a Pennsylvania McDonalds in October, when he manned the fries station and held an impromptu news conference from the restaurant drive-thru. Trump’s team thinks people should get a sense of humor. “President Trump is a master at messaging and he’s always relatable to the average person, whereas many media members take themselves too seriously and have no concept of anything else other than suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome,” said Steven Cheung, Trump’s communications director. “President Trump will Make America Great Again and we are getting back to a sense of optimism after a tumultuous four years.” Though both the Biden and Harris campaigns created and shared memes and launched other stunts to respond to Trump's taunts, so far America’s neighbors to the north are not taking the bait. “I don’t think we should necessarily look on Truth Social for public policy,” Miller said. Gerald Butts, a former top adviser to Trudeau and a close friend, said Trump brought up the 51st state line to Trudeau repeatedly during Trump’s first term in office. “Oh God,” Butts said Tuesday, “At least a half dozen times.” “This is who he is and what he does. He’s trying to destabilize everybody and make people anxious,” Butts said. “He’s trying to get people on the defensive and anxious and therefore willing to do things they wouldn’t otherwise entertain if they had their wits about them. I don’t know why anybody is surprised by it.” Gillies reported from Toronto. Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report.

ANDRE ONANA should leave Manchester United if he fails to arrest his nightmare run of form. That is the verdict of former Old Trafford misfit Massimo Taibi, who went down in Red Devils folklore for a massive howler against Southampton’s Matt Le Tissier in 1999. 4 Andre Onana should leave Man Utd Credit: Getty 4 A number of errors have been forthcoming in recent weeks including allowing a goal straight in from a corner Credit: Getty 4 The verdict comes from ex-United goalie Massimo Taibi Credit: PA:Press Association 4 Taibi was famous for allowing a Matt Le Tissier shot to squirm under him in 1999 Cameroonian keeper Onana, 28, has had plenty of flak following a string of errors since his arrival from Inter Milan in July 2023. The bloopers culminated in a Boxing Day shocker when he was beaten direct from a Matheus Cunha corner in the defeat at Wolves. And ex-keeper Taibi, 54, reckons Onana might be better off resurrecting his career away from United. He said: “I’d be straight to the point and tell him, ‘Andre, you are one of the best keepers in Europe but in the Premier League, you are under- performing. READ MORE IN FOOTBALL RED RAGE Jim Ratcliffe has gone 'too far' with latest Man Utd decision, fume fans "Block out criticism, do some soul-searching, press the reset and go again. And if things don’t change by June, move on’. “I think subconsciously the United environment isn’t ideal for him and when a marriage is showing cracks, it’s pointless to continue. “Sometimes things don’t work out at a team and it’s best to go separate ways, which would not be a failure. "For me he’s a strong goalkeeper who finds himself in a situation where he can’t show his skills because he is not cut out for the English game. Most read in Football OLALA Rangers target's ex-boss talks him up to choose Scotland over Serie A interest BACK IN BUSINESS Ex-Gers star linked with managerial return just 13 days after being sacked SLIDING DOORS I became huge Rangers 9-in-a-row hero but Celtic wanted me to join them first 'HOW'S GRUMPY?' New MOTD host Kelly Cates reveals greeting in first interview with Sir Alex BEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKER S “He’s only suited to the Prem when it comes to his ball-playing ability and structure.” Taibi — who allowed Le Tissier’s long-range shot to go through his legs, into the net — believes Onana would excel in Italy or France. Francis Ngannou tackles Andre Onana to floor moments after Man Utd's win over Bodo-Glimt Ahead of tomorrow’s visit from Newcastle, he added: “Andre’s a better fit for an Italian or French team. For English football you need a goalkeeper who is more imposing, regularly comes off his line using his fists and with a different saving technique. “In his place I’d not have left Inter, where he was a big-shot. He made a calculated risk thinking he would slot in seamlessly at Manchester United but it backfired. “But even though he hasn’t lived up to expectations he remains a top keeper, one of the best in Europe.” Andre Onana sensationally told to QUIT Man Utd by ex-star after nightmare errors EXCLUSIVE by ALESSANDRO SCHIAVONE MASSIMO TAIBI has warned error-prone Manchester United keeper Andre Onana it is “one hell of task” to come back from the dead once people have written you off. Ex-Red Devils keeper Taibi, 54, even joked the under-fire Cameroon ace should pop up with a GOAL every now and then to bury the memory of his howlers. In two defeats this month, Onana was at fault for a Morgan Gibbs-White goal from long range for Nottingham Forest and for conceding directly from a corner kick from Wolves’ Matheus Cunha. Taibi, infamous for letting a harmless shot from Southampton legend Matt Le Tissier squirm under his body and in at Old Trafford in 1999, said: “He can only erase a mistake from collective consciousness with ten to 15 top performances. “If his howlers are still be a major talking point it’s because he has done nothing to wipe them away. “A keeper sets himself apart as mentally he is normally the strongest. If a striker misses five chances he still gets acclaimed but a goalkeeper who drops a clanger will be crucified for months. “To get out of that is possible — but it is one hell of a task. It’s normal some things stay inside Onana as he’s human. It can affect him but shouldn’t knock him down completely. “A keeper can’t play at the top level if he doesn’t have the ability to let things wash over him — composure is crucial.” Onana, signed in a £47.2million deal last year from Inter Milan, made a number of high-profile blunders last season. He let a weak Leroy Sane shot beat him in a 4-3 loss to Bayern Munich, made a dreadful pass that led to a red card for team-mate Casemiro against Galatasaray, and allowed a weak Mathias Jensen shot to go under his body against Brentford. Taibi said: “Last year he had a poor season but it looked as if he’d recovered. “But sometimes when you get off to a bad start at a new club, even if then you play many blinders, the first mistake you make again they rub it in your face. “At every cock-up, people will point the finger at him due to the amount of errors he made last year. The roots of this season’s problems go all the way back to last term when his stock fell.” Taibi reckons a goal he scored with a header for Reggina in 2001 has helped fans forget his 1999 shocker. He said: “I get remembered for the goal I scored for Reggina otherwise I’d only be remembered for my United howler. A keeper who scores is out of the ordinary, especially in the 2000s. “Higuita is remembered for his scorpion kick and nobody remembers Chilavert for his saves but only for scoring free-kicks. “While Zenga, the best goalkeeper in the world for many years, is often remembered for that Caniggia error at Italia 90. It’s the tough law of a goalkeeper that you cannot change.” Onana has copped lots of flak but Taibi says he is messing up in a particular way. The Italian explained: “We can only talk about a ‘clanger’ if you get off your line and miss the ball or when you let a long-ranger squeeze through your hands and when you drop an easy shot. “But his are positional mistakes. For the corner, he should have stood a bit further forward. “He may have underestimated the trajectory of the ball because it’s unlikely to put the ball where Cunha has from that position. “And for Gibbs-White, he saw that he was getting his shot away and therefore anticipated the movement and when he saw the ball it was too late. “This normally would not have been picked on if he had played ten to 15 great games. But given he’s under heavy scrutiny, mistakes like this are magnified.” Onana, 28, often alternates worldie saves with his bloopers. Taibi warned: “Pulling off a miraculous save is easier than making a routine one as it’s you who makes it look easy when you collect the ball. "But for miraculous ones, if you succeed you’re a genius and if you don’t it’s not your fault anyway. “Keepers sometimes underestimate the so-called ‘easy’ ones. Slipping is avoidable if you’re more careful and maybe he’d have saved it had he made a backwards step. “It’s easier to keep out an impossible shot than being focused for 95 minutes! A split-second distraction can be fatal.” And Taibi joked United fans would “hit” him if they were to meet. He added: “I should never concede through my legs but I slipped while I was diving. If I hadn’t it would never have nestled through the way it has. “I’ve never been back to Old Trafford since I left and never met Le Tissier again. “I’d like to return one day but I don’t think the fans would recognise me. Well let’s hope so as if they do they will hit me! “My only regret is they made me look like someone who left because he failed. I had a four-year contract and nobody pushed me out. "I had private problems, my wife walked out on me, returning to Italy with my two kids on Christmas Eve. “I made a rushed decision based on how lonely I was. If I had my time again I’d have faced my problems in England. “Being branded a ‘flop’ and the worst keeper in Premier League history irks me even today as it’s a wrong assessment. “You cannot judge a keeper on four games, of which two were good performances! I played for Manchester United, you only do so if you were a great player.” Man Utd ratings vs Wolves By Ken Lawrence WOLVES landed a shock Boxing Day knockout as Manchester United's struggles continued. The 2-0 defeat means Ruben Amorim has won just two of the seven Premier League games he has taken charge of. United find themselves 14th in the table and today were not helped by Bruno Fernandes' red card and Andre Onana letting one in direct from a corner. Here is how SunSport rated the performances... ANDRE ONANA: 4 He needed to make an agile save from Jorgen Strand Larsen in the first half, but badly misjudged the flight of Cunha’s corner for the opening goal - his claim that he was obstructed by Matt Doherty was rejected. LENY YORO: 5 Recalled but booked after only four minutes for a foul on Cunha, so he was walking on eggshells and was tested by Wolves throughout. Subbed just after the hour mark. HARRY MAGUIRE: 6 The England defender did his best to keep United in the game when they were under pressure for long periods - at least he helped to stem the tide until the dying seconds and had a header on target in stoppage time. LISANDRO MARTINEZ: 6 Teamed up well with Maguire to stop Wolves from winning this more easily, he stood his ground and produced some important challenges in the latter stages before Wolves caught him on the break with the last action of the game. NOUSSAIR MAZRAOUI: 5 Tenacious and determined, but was one of several players given a torrid time by the best player on the pitch - Cunha. MANUEL UGARTE: 5 Dispossesed too easily at times, struggled against a lively Wolves attack and was eventually taken off as one of Amorim’s subs following Fernandes’ red card. KOBBIE MAINOO: 5 Looked a threat early on, created some good openings, but he was booked after the break as United looked short on ideas. Faded and was subbed. DIOGO DALOT: 6 Brought a tremendous save from Jose Sa in the first half in what was a rare bright spot for United - but he had no major influence on a poor team display. AMAD DIALLO: 5 Lacked awareness of his team-mates sometimes and looked a shadow of the player who turned the Manchester derby around less than two weeks ago. BRUNO FERNANDES: 3 Sent off early in the second half for a second yellow after a challenge on Nelson Semedo, but the captain had cut a frustrated figure before that. RASMUS HOJLUND: 5 Became visibly annoyed at times at a lack of service from his team-mates, he had no joy up front and was subbed with 10 minutes left. SUBS Casemiro (for Mainoo, 63 mins): 6 Christian Eriksen (for Ugate, 63 mins): 6 Antony (for Yoro, 63 mins): 6 Alejandro Garnacho (for Amad, 79 mins): 5 Joshua Zirkzee (for Hojlund, 79 mins): 5The deals went bad By Naira Eshaal There is an increase in the rise of electricity prices every day. There are many families who are looting and plundering the people day in and day out. The per unit price of an electric unit has exceeded Rs 70. The issue of electricity prices creates a panic in the hearts and minds of the people. There is more than 46000 MW electricity capacity in Pakistan. 28,811 MW electricity is generated from thermal sources while 10635 MW is produced from water sources, 1838 MW from wind. 360 MW from nuclear sources and 822 MW is produced from solar energy. Half of the electricity is produced by IPPs and according to some analysts these IPPs are the actual apple of discord. Some experts even draw an analogy of these plants with the East India Company. Just like East India Company had established its foothold in like manner, these proved to be the blood suckers for Pakistan’s economy. There are 42 IPPs in Pakistan. All these are thermal units. The first company was Hub Power Company. According to the agreement it was said that whether Pakistan buys electricity or not, as per power capacity of the plant the Government of Pakistan will pay to the owner as per the dollar rate. In the coming days whatever agreements were made with the IPPs, per-unit and capacity payment burden went on increasing. The circular debt exceeded Rs 2300 billion which is the result of the capacity payment to these power plants. Many families own these power plants. On one side is the fact that most of them have an involvement in politics and on the other side is the miserable condition of the masses of Pakistan. Machinery and fuels are getting expensive. 340 million units are provided free to the government and the government servants. Much of the electric theft is there. Many rich people and industrialists are involved in this. KESC is given a huge subsidy by the government. Often the people are protesting because of exorbitant electric prices. Industries are getting closed because of expensive electricity. Domestic use and industrial use of electricity has also seen a decline. The government is facing a great crisis in paying to these IPPs. According to 2023 reports Pakistan received at 0.87 percent of its electricity from solar power. Now it has been raised to two or three percent. The Coal project has been lingering on for 50 years. In such a situation it is no wonder that HUBCO has said that in Pakistan the use of electricity is getting less and less. According to HUBCO in 2023 electricity use saw a reduction to the tune of one sixth. Now HUBCO will make use of one fifth of its total capacity but it will get the payment to its maximum capacity as per agreement. There were wrong policies in Pakistan. No one thinks in the collective interest of Pakistan. Individual interests have been pervasive. The result is that such fallacious agreements are drafted which only benefit their owners and the loss is borne by the people. However, since these agreements are backed by sovereign guarantees, if the government finishes them then no international company will come to Pakistan in future and there will be a loss of credibility. In comparison to Vietnam and Bangladesh, in every plant in Pakistan there was over invoicing four times as compared to the wind plants there as regards their capacity. These plants mostly operated on thermal plants despite the fact that Pakistan had vast coal reserves. The diesel and imported coal on which these plants operated was also in dollars. It led to a strange vicious circle. Today it is known to everybody that the fuels these IPPs imported did not produce the electricity accoedingly. The maintenance and insurance has been borne by the government of Pakistan. These IPPs received huge subsidies and Rs 12.17 trillion tax relief was given to these plants. Keeping in view all these facts it is evident that these IPPs caused a colossal loss to the economy of Pakistan. The licenses in their agreement reveal that capacity payment is dependable. The government of Pakistan can audit this capacity. The plants which have been operative since 1994, their audit must be done. These power plants can be retired early also. The demand for electricity can be increased by installing more and more industry. Businesses are getting closed in our country because of the high dollar rate and tedious and prolonged procedures. The government should give people facilities to start their business and install production houses and factories. The question arises whether, of the five IPPs which are going to be closed, will there be some recovery of the money they received in the name of maintenance, purchase of fuel and tax relief. Or in the name of national interest will all be forgiven and forgotten? The writer is a freelance columnist Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() );The sudden fall of Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad has rattled Moscow, warn Russian analysts, particularly psychologically. The Kremlin’s 2015 military intervention in Syria was Moscow’s first such post-Soviet operation outside its own region. Its perceived success drove a lot of Russia’s subsequent diplomatic efforts in the Middle East. Now it has come crashing down. The Kremlin will need to absorb the likely loss of two military bases in Syria, and accept the devastating setback it means for another ally, Iran. But this is far from the first time Moscow has faced a debacle in its Mideast relations. Soviet-sponsored Syria lost two wars with Israel in 1967 and 1973, necessitating replacement of its military arsenal. Egypt canceled a treaty of friendship with the USSR in 1971, and kicked all Soviet advisers out of the country. Moscow’s disastrous war in Afghanistan in the 1980s poisoned its relations with the Muslim world. “We’ve got a long history of dealing with these countries, and we’re quite accustomed to seeing them defeated militarily,” says Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser. “So, the mood in Moscow [over the loss of Syria] is calm enough. It’s a bad setback, but we can get past this.” The collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, which Moscow had helped to prop up for almost a decade, has dealt a serious setback to Russia’s global ambitions. But Russian foreign policy specialists insist it’s not a ruinous one. As they grapple with the rapid demise of Mr. Assad’s rule, Russian analysts say that the Kremlin will need to adjust to the shifting balance of power in the Middle East. That includes absorbing the likely loss of Russia’s two military bases in Syria, and accepting what analysts call the crushing defeat of Kremlin ally Iran. The psychological blow to Russia is also serious, they warn. The Kremlin’s 2015 military intervention in Syria was Moscow’s first such post-Soviet operation outside its own region. Its perceived success drove a lot of Russia’s subsequent diplomatic efforts in the Mideast, as well as its recent inroads into Africa . Igor Korotchenko, editor of National Defense, a Moscow-based security journal, says he’s still cautiously optimistic that Russian global influence can survive the loss of Syria, and perhaps the Kremlin can even forge a practical relationship with any new Syrian regime that emerges. “Let’s wait and see how things play out,” he says. “Russia is still a player in the region, maintaining good relations with countries like the UAE, Egypt, and Qatar. We never put our stakes on one person, and we have sufficient resources to pursue our goals” without a foothold in Syria. For now, the victorious Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) forces have not touched the Russian Embassy or military installations – Iran’s Embassy in Damascus was trashed on the first day – even though Mr. Assad and his family have been granted asylum in Russia. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that Moscow was in contact with the new Syrian authorities in an effort to safeguard Russian assets. “We need to base our actions on the realities that exist at this moment on the ground,” he said. Russia reached out to the Taliban after the United States’ failure in Afghanistan, canceling its “terrorist” designation and discussing a broader normalization of relations; experts say Moscow may wish to make a similar outreach to HTS. But it will be much harder given Russia’s staunch backing of Mr. Assad and its armed efforts to suppress the Syrian opposition over the past decade. Whatever may happen, the blame game is already in full swing in the Russian media. Some are pointing at Turkey, which allegedly sidestepped the Astana peace process and went behind Russia’s back to sponsor the HTS rebel offensive that overran Damascus last weekend. Others say Israel’s successful war against major backers like Iran and Hezbollah made Mr. Assad’s fall inevitable, even though Moscow kept providing air support to the bitter end. Some accuse Mr. Assad himself of self-isolating and refusing all attempts to find a broader social compromise. “Assad didn’t take Russian advice,” says Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser. “He was told many times that he needed to initiate some real political reforms, include members of the opposition in government, reconcile with Turkey, and curb the excesses of his security forces. He didn’t listen. “So, Assad was already distanced from Russia. At the end, he was taking advice from Iran and his own family, not from us,” he says. Despite the Putin-era aura of success, this is far from the first time Moscow has faced a debacle in its Middle East relations. Soviet-sponsored Syria lost two wars with Israel in 1967 and 1973, necessitating replacement of its military arsenal. Egyptian President Anwar Sadat canceled a treaty of friendship with the USSR in 1971, and kicked all Soviet advisers out of the country. Moscow’s disastrous war in Afghanistan in the 1980s poisoned its relations with the Muslim world, and even contributed to the collapse of the Soviet state. “We’ve got a long history of dealing with these countries, and we’re quite accustomed to seeing them defeated militarily,” says Mr. Markov. “So, the mood in Moscow [over the loss of Syria] is calm enough. It’s a bad setback, but we can get past this.” Unlike the former Soviet Union, which based its foreign policy on ideological calculations, Vladimir Putin’s Russia tends to take a pragmatic and transactional approach, seeking advantage where it can, says Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of Russia in Global Affairs, a Moscow-based foreign policy journal. “The Middle East is a region where you can’t expect any lasting success,” he says. “The big loser in this turn of events is Iran, and the winners are Israel and Turkey.” As for Russian relations with Ankara, he says, “Of course Moscow is angry, because the Turks knew about the HTS offensive and didn’t say a word to us about it. But that’s how Russian-Turkish relations work in general: A very low level of trust, but we try to find common ground and work together where we can.” Moscow’s formerly good relations with Israel will grow even worse with the implosion of Russian military power in Syria. “Israel is becoming much stronger as a regional power,” says Mr. Markov. “Russia needs to think about how to deal with Israel in these new conditions, where it is a clear winner.” Mr. Lukyanov argues that the fall of Mr. Assad illustrates a completely new trend in world affairs, in which regional players take the lead and the influence of their great-power sponsors diminishes. The main actors in the Syrian drama are relatively independent ones, including Israel, Turkey, Iran, and even HTS. The U.S. and Russia are still on the stage, but are not driving events and, Mr. Lukyanov says, are increasingly irrelevant. “It’s a seismic shift, in which outside powers are steadily losing influence and local actors are taking the lead,” he says. “Russian capacities are shrinking, but so are American ones. In future, regional powers will be the most important players, formulating their priorities in a regional way.” Russia already made the choice to put its own local interests first, declining to divert any resources from its war in Ukraine to help Mr. Assad. “Moscow needs to think about the implications of this,” Mr. Lukyanov says. “Maybe the race for global influence is obsolete, and Russia needs to reformulate its ambitions in terms of being an effective regional power.”

How major US stock indexes fared Tuesday, 12/10/2024Sudan army reports killing 460 paramilitary fighters