Comedy or Chocolate

This week, Loren, Radha, and Erin explore the world's many recent elections - in Israel, India, Indonesia, and Ukraine. They then return to Northern Ireland, not to talk about Brexit, but to unpack resurgent sectarian violence. The recent coup in Sudan rounds out a very sporty Keeping up Foreign Relations. Radha notes we're still waiting on a big trade summit with China before we dive headfirst into the Mueller report and speculate wildly on the ongoing counter-intelligence investigation(s). DoD remains opaque as ever, while DHS gets purged. Finally, a lively Pop Culture round-up to take our minds off all this mayhem.   Links Trade Enda Curran "How the US-China Trade War Reached A Turning Point," Washington Post, April 18, 2019 Jeff Cox, "US Trade Deficit Falls in February As Shortfall with China Decreases 28%," CNBC, April 17, 2019 DHS:  Ronald Brownstein, "Trump's Immigration Policies Unify White Republicans," Atlantic, April 11, 2019 Sudan Nandita Balakrishnan, "Sudan's Upheaval is the Latest Examples of a Gray Zone Coup," Washington Post, April 17, 2019 Mai Hassan and Ahmed Kodouda, "Sudan Ousted Two Autocrats in Three Days. Here's What's Next," Washington Post, April 15, 2019 Protests "Protests in Sudan Are Escalating. Here's What You Need to Know," Washington Post, April 10, 2019 "Generals Overthrew Sudan's President Bashir, But They Can't Agree On What Comes Next," Washington Post, April 16, 2019 Election "FP's Guide to the Indian Elections," Foreign Policy, April 18, 2019 Arys Aditya, "After Record One-Day Indonesia Election, Result Still Weeks Away," Bloomberg, April 20, 2019 Ilan Goldenberg, "The Future of the Two-State Solution is at Stake," April 08, 2019 Northern Ireland "Lyra McKee Murder: Journalist Shot Dead During Derry Rioting," BBC, April 19, 2019 "Petrol Bombs Thrown at Police in Derry As Journalist Kill," Guardian, April 19, 2019 Ed O'Loughlin and Richard Perez-Pena, "Lyra McKee, Northern Ireland Journalist, Is Killed in 'Terrorist Incident,' Police Say," New York Times, April 19, 2019 Bonnie Weir, "Brexit and a Border Town: Troubles Ahead in Northern Ireland?" New York Review of Books, April 11, 2019 Mueller Benjamin Wittes, "Notes on the Mueller Report: A Reading Diary," Lawfare, April 19, 2019 Joshua Geltzer and Ryan Goodman "Mueller Hints at a National-Security Nightmare," New York Times, April 19, 2019 Pop Culture Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - Teaser Spencer Kornhaber, "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Might Spark and Old Fight," April 12, 2019 Andrew Dyce, "Star Wars Already Made Rey a True Skywalker (You Just Missed It)," Screen Rant, April 20, 2019