Global Briefing, April 21, 2011: Gimme Shelter

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Troublemakers — Damascus claims subversives out of Lebanon are inciting unrest in Syria, says Nicholas Blanford in a dispatch from Wadi Khaled. But his visit to the border seems to provide evidence that the traffic is the other way around.

Killed in Action — Two photojournalists were killed in Libya yesterday. The New York Times‘ C.J. Chivers has a must-read account; TIME’s Bobby Ghosh remembers Chris Hondros; Paul Moakley honors Tim Hetherington.

Arab Renaissance — “For the first time in more than 500 years, the convulsions rippling across the Arab world cannot be blamed on Ottoman conquest, European imperialism, American hegemony, or Israeli bullying,” writes Parag Khanna for Foreign Policy. The time for Arab unity is now, he says.

Reinventing War — The Wall Street Journal looks at Russia’s attempt to transform its old-school army into a lean, mean, modern-war-fighting-machine.

Lest We Forget — In an op-ed for the Washington Post, Robert Park, the Christian evangelist once detained for six weeks North Korea, urges the international community to take seriously the country’s ‘forgotten genocide.’

Disasters Past — Over at AJE, Yuliya Tymoshenko (she of the braids) reflects on the lessons of Chernobyl, 25 years on. The “real lesson is not about nuclear-plant safety,” she writes. “It is about official arrogance and indifference to suffering, and a cult of secrecy that allows information to be shared only among a narrow elite obsessed with stability.”

East Gone West — China’s rich have their eyes on the door, reports the Wall Street Journal.  Half of the “high net worth” individuals surveyed said they’d consider leaving, in part to secure their wealth.

Gimme Shelter — In the Independent, John Sentamu, the Archbishop of  York, recalls escaping Idi Amin’s brutal regime in 1973. “I was received in Britain with great compassion and care,” he writes.  “I would like to think that those genuinely needing protection today find that Britain is no less committed to help.”