Despite what you might gather from recent reports, democracy is not “in crisis” because Russia (a country facing a massive HIV epidemic) or China (a country facing huge looming demographic problems) has a better economic or political model.

Even with its economy still recovering from the collapse of oil prices in 2014 Kazakhstan is laying the groundwork for a self-sufficient domestic arms industry that may soon export its wares. In December 2017 the defense minister met with the French ambassador, Philippe Martinet, to sign a “military cooperation agreement.”

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President Donald Trump said he has “no idea” whether money from Kazakhstan was invested in Trump SoHo, a condominium hotel in lower Manhattan, while meeting with the country’s authoritarian president.

President Donald Trump hosted the president of Kazakhstan on Tuesday at the White House, where the official agenda included Afghanistan and nuclear nonproliferation.

‘Whataboutism’ would seem to be the rising topic of the week, as this column considers irrespective of whether President Donald Trump is any far more deplorable than his the latest predecessors.