Message from John Feffer Director, FPIF

The impeachment hearings began this week in Washington, DC with opening salvos from both Democrats and Republicans, plus testimony from two top-level government officials in charge of Ukraine policy.

Or, at least, they were supposed to be in charge of Ukraine policy. As it turns out, both the president and his errand boy Rudy Giuliani had hijacked Ukraine policy to serve Trump's reelection campaign.

Everybody but the Republican Party and the president's ardent supporters believe that this hijacking is an impeachable offense. Unfortunately, that's more or less who controls the Senate. But there's always the possibility that the impeachment hearings turn up something so ghastly that even the members of the president's personality cult will reconsider their religious affiliation.

This last weekend was the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. In my World Beat column this week, I consider the possibility that this iconic event set into motion a set of developments that has ultimately produced a Trump presidency (among other assorted ills).

Also this week at Foreign Policy In Focus, columnist Walden Bello embarks on a multi-part examination of China as a global power, beginning with an assessment of its use of force.

And Ryan Michael Kehoe looks at the role literature plays in fostering empathy across various divides around the world.

John Feffer

Director, FPIF