suits bOth countrie s. Erdogan wants tO lncre ase the distance betwe e n Washington and Ankara" something Russia is only t00 keen tO encourage on the time-honored principle that my enemy s enemy IS my friend. Russia's friendship with one 0f the region s other maJOr powers, lran, may have begun as an alliance Of outcasts—but it now appears formidable. Tehran has joined Moscow in taking control 0f the Syrian peace process, becoming JOint arbiters Of talks in Astana, Kazakhstan, in January that outlined a roadmap tO peace and a new constltution for Syria that will inevitably reflect Assad's military victories on the ground. Russian arms supplies—including an S -300 anti-aircraft missile system delivered last year—have helped Tehran keep up with mas- sive military spending by its regional rivals lsrael and Saudi Arabia. ln exchange, lran gave Russia temporary access tO itS Hamadan air base for raids on Syna and allowed Moscow t0 fire crmse missiles from warships in the Caspian Sea over its terntory en route tO Aleppo. And crucially, says Sir Richard Dalton, a former Brit- ish ambassador to lran, by keeping Assad in SKY FALL: Syrian power, Russia helped Tehran maintaln an aXIS rescue workers in ofresistance against lsrael and the U. S. the rebel-held town While lran has not been a し S. ally for decades, of Maaret a ト Nu- man react to what Cairo has long been a key military, intelligence activists said were and diplomatic partner for Washington. As the air strikes by the Russian air force. recipient Of the second-largest amount Of U. S. military aid, Egypt continued this partnership even when relations with Obama strained fol- lowing sisi's power grab in 2013. While Egypt has maintained close tles with Washington since then, Sisi has also acknowledged Moscow s new- found status by hosting an air drill for Russia last year—the Kremlin's first such exerclse in Africa. Last November, Egypt also signaled its support for Putin by becoming one 0f only four coun- tnes tO support Russia s resolution on Syria ln the United Nations. Moscow, in turn, has pushed to lift し N. sanctions on Libya, where Haftar, Sisi's ally, is still vying to become the country's military strongman. 。、 putin will undertake tO revoke [sanctions] , " Haftar tOld reporters after hi s video confe rence in January with shoigu on RuSSla S aircraft carner. putin has even achieved new levels of friendship with lsrael, Washington's closest 33 N E W 5 W E E K 0 2 / 17 / 2 017

transition headquarters, it did nothing tO stop them from advocat- ing for their clients remotely. And as one senior lobbyist notes, We did a 10t ofphone conversations ” with Trump transition staff. The challenge for the lobbying community is reorienting toward a Republican administration they were not prepared for, led by a man they'd renounced for most 0f the campaign.While HiIIary deep roots in Washington. Sitting members 0f Congress are up for the top posts at the Depart- ment 0fJustice, the Health and Human Services Department and the CIA. "These are not all peo- ple from outside Washington, says LOtt. Even most Of the so-called "outsiders, ” like Rex Tillerson, the former CEO of Exxon Mobil who is now sec- retary 0f state, have ample D. C. ties. Mywife served on the board with Tillerson ” at Ford's Theatre, the historic venue where Abra- ham Lincoln was shOt, says LOtt. Other board members include new Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, whO is married tO Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell; lris WeinshaII, who's married tO McConnell's Democratic counter- part, Chuck Schumer; and leading lobbyists Heather Podesta and Jim Dyer. And that's just one snapshot Of the way politics, special inter- ests and socializing tend tO merge in this city. The new resident 0f1600 Pennsylvania Avenue shows little sign ofdisrupting those networks. If Trump brings any re alchange to Washington influence peddling, it's likelyto be an acceleration of the industry's transformation. The stereotypi- cal smoke-filled rooms are no longer the primary domain for lobbying, although backroom deals still occur. More and more, pitches are made LOBBYISTS SAYTHEY HAVE HAD LITTLETROUBLE GAINING ACCESS TO THE TRUMP TEAM. Clinton s campaign tallied more than $ 7.5 million in donations "bundled," or collected, by lobbyist supporters, Trump reported exactly zero donations from lobbyist bundlers. And the Repub- lican nominee raised just $ 140 , 000 ー a tiny sliver Of the $ 150 million in contributions he hauled in—from political action com- mittees, a typical conduit for corporate cash. Several prominent corporations pulled out 0f funding the Republican National Con- ventlon after Trump secured the nomination last summer. NOW the entirety of corporate America and K Street is trying to make nice, donating millions tO Trump s transition committee and mauguration. Numerous lobbyists alSO initially served on Trump s transition team, until they were purged as part Of a November reorganization. And companies are eagerly highlighting any con- nections they have cultivated with the Trump White House. Mottur points out that one Of his partners at Brownstein Hyatt, former Republican National Committee Chairman Jim Nicholson, was a Trump supporter during the campalgn and is close tO White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus. Mottur boasts Of a tweet that Trump sent out to his millions of followers in December, with a picture of Nicholson standing beside the president-elect at the Army-Navy football game ・ Turns out, there are plenty ofpeople coming intO Trump's White House that K Stre et knows well. LOtt, co- chair Of the Public Policy Practice at Squire Patton Boggs, says three 0fhis former Staff memb e rs are working on the transltlon , including the staff director, RICk Dearborn, who is now deputy chief of staff for policy at the White House. Vice President Mike pence, a longtime congressman, and priebus alSO have 第 R. 丁はいーいい、 十 YOU DON'T KNOW ME, AL: Even the new secre- tary Of state, TiIIerson, who came from Exxon MobiI, has deep ties to the D ℃ . power elite. N E W S W E E K 42 0 2 / 17 / 2 0 17

N E W W 0 R L D / G U N S THE BULLET VIRUS Research says gun violence iS a disease, and it's gone viral GUN VIOLENCE is gutting the United States, and the wound is increasingly visible. More than 11 , 000 Americans are killed in assaults involv- lng guns annually, with at least 50 , 000 more injured. Among people between the ages 0f 15 and 24 , mne Of every 100 , 000 lives end due tO a gun homicide. About 65 ofevery 100 , 000 peo- ple in this age group are injured by gun assaults eve ry ye ar. ln the mid-1980s, public health experts began referring t0 youth gun violence as an epidemic, and some experts tOOk that notion further, insist- ing itisn t 〃たど a disease, lt isa disease, an infectious pathogen akin t0 the one re sponsible for AID S. Until now, that assertion has remained 1 れ ore POi- gnant analogy than biting re ality. But a new study provides the first evidence gun violence behaves exactly like a blood-borne p athogen ・ Andrew Papachristos, a Yale University SOCi01- ogist whO studies crime, knew that if gun viO- lence was a disease, it should spread along a predictable path. And that path, he suspected, was social contagion, the same route taken by HIV and hepatitis C. Those pathogens travel by b100d rather than bullets, but outbreaks occur among networks ofpeople wh0 know each other. Pap achristo s po stulate d that subj e cting gun ⅵ 0- lence t0 a traditionalepidemiologic study would reveal whether it indeed behaves like a b100d - victims in 2016. Combing the records of the borne pathogen. 1 れ ore than 1.2 million arrests between 2006 To conduct his study, Papachristos and col- and 2014 , they identified people who knew BY leagues at Harvard University turned t0 Chi- each 0ther by focusing on co-offenders—people 」 ESSICA WAPNER cago, which had more than 4 , 300 shooting arrested for the same cnme. They then homed 当 @jessicawapner 4 0 D0[)Tff 辨き新 NEWS ・ WEEK 48 02 / 17 / 2017

Newsweek ー N T E R N AT ー 0 N A L DEPUTY EDITOR Bob Roe CONTR 旧 UTING DESIGN DIRECTOR Priest + Grace Jim lmpoco INTERNATIONAL EDITOR Matt McAllester FOREIGN EDITOR Claudia Parsons GLOBALEDITOR-IN-CHIEF ED 灯 0 A し INTERNATIONAL EDITION MANAGING EDITOR Kenneth Li 0 曰 NION EDITOR Nich01as Wapshott EXECUTIVE EDITOR ART DIRECTOR CULTURE EDITOR CONTR 旧 UTING EDITORS Max Fraser Matt Cooper Marganta Noriega Joanna Brenner J0hn Seeley TRAVEL EDITOR NEWS EDITOR DIGITAL STRATEGY EDITOR SOCIAL MEDIA PRODUCER VIDEO PRODUCER REPORTERS Lucy Clarke -Billings Teddy Cutler Mirren Gidda Jack Moore SPECIALCORRESPONDENTS Nama Bajekal Corey Jackson lsabel Lloyd Owen Matthews Tom Shone Matthew Sweet R. M. Schneiderman Nicholas Loffredo Teri Wagner Flynn Graham Boynton Graham Smith Siobhån Morrin VaIeriia Voshchevska Jordan SaviIIe Tufayel Ahmed Anthony Cuthbertson Conor Gaffey JOSh Lowe Tom Roddy Damien Sharkov NichoIas Foulkes Adam LeBor CONTR 旧 UTING WRITERS Ryan Bort Nina BurIeigh Emily Cadei Janine Di Giovan111 Kurt Eichenwald Jessica Firger Michele Gorman AbigailJones Max Kutner Douglas Main Leah McGrath Goodman Alexander Nazaryan Bill Powell Josh Saul Roberto Saviano Zach Schonfeld Jeff Stein John WaIters Lucy Westcott Stav Ziv PUB 凵 SHED BY Newsweek LTD, ADIVISION OF IBT Media Group LTD CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFF ℃ ER Dev Pragad PRESIDENT AIan Press CHIEFOPERATING OFF ℃ ER Gregory Witham GENERAL MANAGER Dave Martin GENERAL COUNSEL Rosie McKimnue CHIEF FINANCIALOFF ℃ ER Amit Shah DIRECTOROFCOMMUN ℃ ATIONS Mark Lappin HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER Rob Turner ADVERTISING COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR Jeremy Makin SENIOR SALES DIRECTOR Chantal Mamboury DIRECTORS, 旧 TAILORED Pamela Ferrar1, Richard Remington GROUPADVERTISING DIRECTOR Una Reynolds Kim Sermon NEWSSTAND MANAGER Samantha Rhodes SUBSCRIPTION FULFILMENT MANAGER Tom Nichols SUBSCRIPTION MARKETING MANAGER MARKETING + CIRCULATION Chris Maundrell SALES MANAGER

CHEWING THE FAT: Russian President VIadimir Putin, right, shares a meal with lranian President Hassan Rouhani, left, and Azerbaijan's President llham AIiyev in Baku, Azerbaijan. 十 4 On the mornlng ofJanuary 11 , Libyan Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar climbed up the compamonway Of an aircraft carrier floating 0 代 the Mediterranean port of Tobruk. As a marine band played and an honor guard presented arms, an admiral in a white full-dress uniform greeted Haftar, WhO was a semor commander in the し S. -backed rebel forces that ousted the dictator Muammar el-Qaddafi, in 2011. After the welcoming ceremony, the 73-year- Old Haftar, an American citizen whO for many years lived in the United States, was escorted below decks for a secure video conference With the Middle East's most energetic foreign power broker. The offlcial topic was battling terror. But both sides knew the unoffcial agenda was something else: hOW tO bOOSt Haftar's power as he tries to defeat a weak, U.N. -backed government in TriPOli. Haftar has close ties in Washington, but his hosts in January were not American. Rather, he was aboard the Admiral Kuznetsov, Russia's only aircraft carrier, and hiS interlocutor was Russian Defense Minister Sergei Sh0igu. Like a growing number 0f leaders in the MiddIe East, Haftar has a new set Of friends in Moscow. After three decades on the sidelines, Russia IS once agalll a major player in the regl()n. ln the last six months alone, the country has altered the course Of the Syrian civil war and taken control Ofthe peace process, forged a close relationship with Turkey 's strongman Pre s- ident Recep Tayyip Erdogan and has been courting traditional し S. allies such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and even lsrael. And over the past tWO years, Russian President Vladimir Putin has received the leaders of Middle Eastern states 25 times—five more than former し S. president Barack Obama, according t0 a N ビル引怩 analysis ofpresidential meetings. For decades, Washington has tried tO plant democracles in much Of the world, including the Middle East. But that plan appears to have withered under Obama and current し S. President Donald Trump. With the imperfect exception 0f Tunisia, the Arab Spring did not bring democracy t0 the Middle East. lt instead allowed instability and extremism tO flourish in countrie s including Egypt, Libya and Syria. "OBAMA'S ENTIRE POLICY IN THE MIDDLE EAST HAS FAILED. ” NEWSWEEK 26 02 / 17 / 2017

ln on co-offenders who'd been shOt at some researchers did not have data on education point in their lives, whether fatally or not. If level, employment status and substance abuse, gun violence spreads like a pathogen, they rea- factors that "may put you at greater risk or inoc- soned, then becoming a gunshot victim is akin ulate you, says Papachristos. But even with tO becommg contagiously infected: Once you these limitations, Cohen emphasizes that the have" gun violence disease, you re probably study is important because it showed violence behaves "much like a disease. going tO give it tO someone else. The largest social network identified included Slutkin acknowledges the obvious difference 138 , 163 people. That network accounted for between violence and viral or bacterial diseases: more than 11 , 000 shootings affecting 9773 peo- "There is not an infectious particle," he says. But ple, whether as victim, perpetrator or bOth. he believes violence iS infectious, entering a hOSt Having identified a network ofgunuolence, the not through the respiratory or circulatory sys- researchers used a mathematical model tO exam- tems but through the brain. ine whether the spread adhered to known patterns Slutkin founded Cure Violence, a nonprofit Of SOCial contagion. Ben Green melded conta- organization that addresses violence by inter- gious-disease models with those tracking hOW vemng at POintS Of contagion, such as immedi- informatlon moves across SOCial networks. The ately following a shooting, to quell the rage that model assumed that closeness mattered—"You re fuels retaliation. But the notion Of violence as GUNS KILLFRIENDS: more likely to influence a frie nd than a friend of an infectious disease has not been embraced Researchers found that one gun a friend," says Green—and that exposure risk, the general public. He believes this study violence victim ex- me aning a gun violence VICtim infecting someone could bring wider acceptance Of the infectious poses tWO friends, else, diminished over time. and they pass disease theory and an accompanymg adoption the virus along tO According t0 the results, published in January in Of new approaches tO addressing gun violence. their friends. JAMA 加川 M 記なⅲら 63percentofgunviolence Cure Violence focuses on intervemng at POintS 十 cases were due tO SOCial contagion. AS Green explains, this rate indicates that shooting victlms were exposed tO gun CE YOU "HAVE ” GUN O violence by SOCial contagion more than by any 0ther ね ctor. ” ln other words, LENCE DI SEASE, YOU'RE VI shooter and vlctim could be connected PR BAB LY GOING TO GIVE by tracing their social network (though they may not have known each other). IT O SOMEONE ELSE. The model reve aled gunshot episodes proliferating through a cascade ofpeo- ple whO knew each other—one VlCtim exposes tWO friends, WhO become VIC- tims and then expose their friends. "The gun vio- Of risk, such and as counseling victlms and lence epidemic IS eve n more epidemic-like than their closest friends family immediately follow- \DtVANTf NMWO we've thought," says papachristos. ing a shooting event. Papachristos enVISlons a The Chicago shootings included in the study government-supported rapid response trauma occurred, on average, every 85 days, lending specialists that would be dispatched across further support tO the notion Of gun violence social networks tO halt the spread. as an infectious disease. Those 85 days suggest Papachristos has replicated the model in seven an incubation period, the time between a hOSt citie s, and his next studie s will examine the influ- ence ofother contacts ln an individual's network— becoming infected and a symptom appearing ・ Repeat gunshot events Often occur within hours, child welfare agencies, me ntal he alth counselors says Gary Slutkin, infectious disease physician and the courts, among others—on the spread of at the University Of lllinois and adviser tO the v101ence and traits, such as re silience, that protect people in at-risk networks wh0 don't get shot. World HeaIth Organization, who was among the first public health experts tO see violence as He hopes the present study will transform a pathogen. But the short time frame in which hOW we V1ew perpetrators Of gun violence: not Just as cnminals but as sufferers Of a poten- people moved from being a friend of a new VIC- tially fatal disease. That understanding, says tim tO a victim themselves—just a few months— was surprising. an important finding, Papachristos, clarifies the need for preventive and treatment measures beyond what the crim- says Slutkin. inal justice system can 0 代 er. "ThiS person IS a Although age, race, gender and gang mem- bership are accounted for in the studY' the victim, ' he says, we need to save their life. " ロ NEWSWEEK 49 02 / 17 / 2017

consumers pull the plug on cable TV and get their grants—spoke up in ways business leaders rarely news from Faceb00k and Snapchat feeds. do. Google co-founder Sergey Brin joined a pro- Such economics have hurt mainstream JOur- test at San Francisco s airport. Apple CEO Tim C00k said,"lt's not a policy we support. " Netflix nalism. How could they no Fewer people doing more work, Often contributing tO print, video CEO Reed Hastings called the ban on immi- and online outlets at a frenzied pace. Last fall, grants SO un-American it pains us all. a Gallup poll showed that 32 percent 0fthe pub- These people know how to reinvent entire sec- lic and only 14 percent 0f Republicans trust the tors. We need them to step up and get intO the mainstream media. The devastating dynanucs mainstream media business and dO tO it what tech Of economics and polarization have left cen- entrepreneurs have done tO m()V1e maps, taxis trist Journalism with a dwindling fan base while and countless Other businesses: lnvest 1 れ one more people embrace the bias-stoking wings. talent and 21St- century thinking intO a vital insti- NO wonder we can't talk to one another. tution. C00k's Apple has $ 237 billion in cash on The job 0f the press is to be the public's advo- hand, and could single-handedly fund some new cate, tO ask questions Other people can t, tO work way tO produce and market gre at journalism from t0 find out what's really happening and t0 clearly, now until the first news bureau opens on Mars. Faceb00k's Mark zuckerberg may have his hands unemotionally tell people the facts. At its core, good journalism is really about giving us a way on the most powerfullevers for journalism in his- tO talk tO one another about things that matter. t0 Ⅳ . Same for Brin and Larry Page at Google. But tO get there again will require a better busi- And profitable journalism is no fairytale. Ama- READ THE NEWS ness footing, and a new way ofthinking. This is zon CEO 代 Bezos bought The Ⅳ 4 ⅲ g 知れ PO 立 TODAY, OH BOY … for $ 250 million in 2013 and invested $ 50 million where the techies come in. The easiest way After Trump caused havoc with his blitz of intO operations last year. While in the journal- tO break through the noise on Face- ism world that's like a homeless guy wmning the executive orders, tech founders and CEOs— book 0 「 Twitter Powerball jackpot, tO Bezos, it s a week's worth many ofthem first- or second-generation immi- is to be as inflam- matory and biased Of interest in his passbook savings account. But as possible. money is only part Ofit. Bezos brought in a team 十 0f engineers, revamped the 記 s app and web- site and recast the company as a "media and technology company. ” The ~ 0 立 is setting records for subscriptions and is profitable. Advertisers seem tO like being associated with integrity. WHEN WI LL TRUM P DEMAND THAT A ぐ十第 NEWSPAPERNOTBE CLOSED TO SAVE JOBS? ノ Mass marketers want to reach the broad middle. lt can get dicey for them tO wind up next tO an Alex Jone s rant about the Ob ama administration faking the killing 0fOsama bin Laden. AS we've learned in the internet era, a free press gets you nothing by itself. Without credibility, it's n01Se ーー 0 ら worse, propaganda. A ønew business model that restores the press s credibility can work in this tech age, and it ん to work. The smartest, most powerful people in tech owe the ir enormous succe SS tO a stable, thnvmg America. Reinventing journalism 1S an urgently needed way they can pay back that debt. ロ NEWSWEEK 47 02 / 17 / 2017

! P A G E ー -0 N E / R E F U G E E S HOMELESS AWAY FROM HOME Trump s executive order has le れ thous ands of S omali refugees stranded ⅲ camps that are about tO close year from 110 , 000 t0 50 , 000. The policy, which AFTER DECADES scraping by in dusty refugee is short on details on hOW tO implement such camps in Kenya, Muhumed M0hamed Abdi was sweeping changes, caused widespread confu- finally on his way out. He had fled the fighting SIOn and ignited protests at airports around the that erupted in Mogadishu, the capital 0f Soma- world. As ofpress time, the fate 0fTrump's pol- lia, after rival militias overthrew the government ICY was unknown and refugees were awaiting in 1991. After more than tWO decades Of waiting further rulings from America s courts. in refugee camps, he and his family 0f four had On February 3 , a federal judge in Seattle issued secured seats on a flight due tO leave Nairobi for a ruling that temporarily blocked Trump's order, Missouri on January 30 ; the U. S. had accepted prompting a rush by visa holders and refugees them under the し S. refugee resettlement t0 get tO the United States. The U. N migration program. The 38-year-01d had sold 0 代 every- agency, lnternational Organization for Migra- thing he owned in Dadaab, the sprawling camp tion (IOM), says the U. S. State Department has complex where hundreds ofthousands 0fSomali since guidance that refugees WhO were on refugees have lived since the early 1990S , and their way t0 the U. S. before Trump's order will arrived in Nairobi, ready tO start a new life. be able tO enter until February 17. lt is not clear But on January 29 , the day before his flight, Abdi learned that he and his family weren't going how many will actually be able t0 come: Of the approximately 19 , 000 refugees whose plane to America after all. TWO days later, they were tickets were cancelled after the order, IOM is told they would be going back t0 Dadaab. Abdi, hoping between 1 , 800 and も 000 people will be speaking from a translt center where dozens Of refugees were stranded, said it was disaster. able tO enter the U. S. in the next two weeks. Nor is it clear whether this will include Abdi, who Abdi and his family are among the tens of could not be reached by phone, or others from thousands 0f people around the world whose camps like Dadaab. "we are urgently trying t0 futures have been thrown into disarray by U. S. President Donald Trump's January 27 execu- get them lined up so they can take advantage of this window," says Leonard Doyle, an IOM tive order that put the U. S. refugee program on hold for 120 days; barred individuals from SIX spokesperson in Geneva. As individual refugees deal with the shock Muslim-maJority nations, including Somalia, created by Trump s order, SO t00 are hOSt from entering the country for 90 days (and Syr- BY ians indefinitely) ; and slashed the number of nations trying tO figure out hOW tO cope with KRISTA MAHR refugees tO be resettled in the United States this the increased burden the decision will place on 当 @kristamahr NEWSWEEK 20 02 / 17 / 2017

十 KNITTED TOGETHER: DenzeI Washington and Viola Davis as husband and long-suffering wife in Fences. RADAR HeIIo, Ho WITH LONG blue hair, Miku is 「 ge ツ a crowd- saucer eyes and a sourced creation. Crypton Future gave her a basic saccharine voice, Hatsune backstory—she is 16 years Miku ( b 可 0 Ⅳ ) is one 0f 0 旧 and from 」 apan's 」 apan's most popular POP northernmost island— stars. She has played SO 旧 - but her personality was out concerts, supported invented by fans, whO Lady Gaga on tour, and began posting videos 0f her starred with the American singing ever more quirky actress ScarIett 」 ohansson and personal compositions in a Sha ーれ P00 commercial. on Nico NiCO Douga, a Herlatest show, Still Be popular Japanese website Here—a collaboration similar to YouTube. With American musician The 」 apanese are w 可ト Laurel H 0 and British disposed toward ⅵは u choreographer Darren characters—the Shinto Johnston—comes tO belief is that everything London ⅲ February. But f0 「 that exists, animate 0 「 anyone thinking 0f lining not, has a soul—but the up fO 「 an autograph, don't advantages Of working with bother. Hatsune Miku is a manufactured Star have not real. a wider appeal. According Miku is a computer to the HO 〃 y Ⅳ 00d Reporter, animation created 10 Simon F ⅵ厄「 , the British years ago by the Japanese producer behind Pop 旧 0 れ is company Crypton Future investing in Pulse Media, to front a singing EvoIution, a company synthesizer app- Users that specializes in digital would compose their own animation. Virtual divas songs with the software, don't demand pay raises, or then watch and listen develop wrinkles. HOW d0 as Miku—whose voice iS the three Japanese symbols sampled from a 」 apanese used to write "Hatsune actress, Saki Fujita— Miku" translate? "The first performed them on their sound of the future.' ” PC screens- Since her birth in August 2007 , she has DANIELLE DEMETRIOU ロ voiced more than 100 , 000 songs and acquired 2.5 Sti 〃 Be There: Barbican, London, million Facebook followers. Feb. 26 ; BARBICAN.ORG/UK HEACTS AS IF THE WHOLE PRODUCTION DEPENDS ON HIS PERFORMANCE. WHICH IN AWAY IT DOES. That the film doesn't seize bulk ofthe symbolism. N0t up completely is largely least the fences ofthe title— down tO Washington's standing in for the barriers infinite zest, some nicely ofrace and family, and the prowling cinematography frighteningly porous border from Charlotte Bruus between life and death. Christensen and a quiet, Death is a fastball coming plain-spoken performance on the inside corner, says from Davis that builds Maxson, wh0 engages toward a stunning rebuke in occasional soliloquies ofher husband's silver- notionally addressed t0 tongued selfishness. "what the Grim Reaper. You about mylife?" she cries, gotta take the crookeds with the straights," says his all snot and fury, in a scene that loses a little strength elder son, Lyons (Russell from having been featured Hornsby), continuing the SO heavily in the trailers. baseball theme. By the time But there's no doubting Rose has chimed in about thiS woman S st01Cism and her dreams for house fatigue, nor her brimming I can sing in, ” and Cory about the "empty spaces heart. DaviS deserves all the awards coming her in their existing home, way for this performance: the script has severed lt's a fastball with wicked itS connection tO street spin. —TOM SHONE ロ vernacular and iS fast approaching full symbolic gridlock. Nobody outside 0f the theater talks like this. Releases continue worldwide tO Feb. 26 : FENCESMOVIE.COM 7 / 2 017 N E W 5

diplomatic bargaining chips t0 exchange for softening ofWestern sanctions imposed after the 2014 annexatlon Of Crimea—or for future use ln negotiations with the West. First and foremost this is a question Of regaining our strategic influence," senator Oleg Morozov, a Of S Federation Council international affairs committee, tells Ⅳビルルた . Or, as Dmitri Trenin, director Of Moscow's Carnegie Center, puts it: The goal Of [Putin's] foreign policy is to restore Russia as a global major power. For him t0 be able to operate in the Middle East, in competition with the U. S. , is a badge 0f [being] a major power. That is what Russia did in Syria. But perhaps more important than either Of these goals—and a motivation little understood in the West—is Moscow's desire tO protect Russia from radical lslamist terrorism, the fear ofwhich helped Putin ascend t0 power during the brutal wars in Russia s North Caucasus in the 1990S. Russia's homegrown insurgencies shaped its pol- itics SO that the Kremlin—and many Russians— favors order over personal nghts and freedoms. After watching the し S. try to import democracy t0 lraq and Libya a decade later, only tO see them crumble intO civil strife, putin saw a stark choice: Outside powers could side with strong regimes, however ruthless they might be, or the world will witness what he called "the destruction Of state systems and the rise Of ter- ronsm. As ISIS grew more influential in Syria, so did Putin's mlstrust ofWestern efforts tO combat the militant group. ln mid-September 2015 , Russia s security servlces announced that there were at least 2 , 500 Russian nationals fighting for ISIS. ln putin's eyes this was enough tO make the survival and success Of Assad'S a matter ofnational security for Russia. Our 1 れ alll a11 れ in Syria iS tO make sure that our citizens wh0 went out there [t0 fight with ISIS] never come says Vyacheslav Nikonov, a Duma member. For Russia, intervention in the MiddIe East is a matter of defending our own security. AII the rest is details. Defensive or not, Russia s return tO the Mid- dle East has proved a stunning, sudden suc- cess—and a setback tO American power and prestige ・ Up until recently the U. S. had no real diplomatic or military rival in the Middle East. NOW, as Donald Trump begins his presi- dency with promses of wiping out ISIS, there are Russian planes in the air and troops on the ground in Syria; battleships 0 代 the coast 0f Libya; and Moscow's friends occupy—or are in line tO occupy—presidential palaces from TriPOli tO Damascus. Any time Trump makes Western military actlon in Libya and Yemen helped produce failed states that are still mired in civil wars.Washington's backing 0fSyrian rebels and insistence that autocratic President Bashar al-Assad shouldn't stay in power allowed syria's CiVil war tO drag on, or even intensify—fueling the rise ofthe lslamic State militant group (ISIS). And a two-state solution between lsrael and the Palestinians—a longstanding goal of U. S. for- elgn policy—now seems further away than ever. After Obama's two terms, last year s historic lran nuclear deal, which curbed Tehran s nuclear pro- gram ln return for lifting sanctions, remams as the lone regional success story—and even that 100kS shaky under the new administration. Obama's entire policy in the Middle East has failed," says Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the committee on foreign affairs in Russia S lower house 0f parliament (the Duma). "The power- lessness and the lack ofresults are evident. Observing America s setbacks, the Krem- lin sensed an opportunity. For Moscow, the advantages Of regaining some Of the SOViet Union s old influence in the Middle East are manifold: Russia can contlnue empire- building and projecting its growing global influence and military heft; it can alSO gather 1 THE NUMBER OF T 工 MES R E C E 工 V E D L E A D E R S 0 F M 工 DDLE STATES P U T 工 N H A S EASTERN S 工 N C E JANUARY 2 015 NEWSWEEK 27 02 / 17 / 2017