@MLClark Relying on you for insight regarding the Ecuador assassination and Colombia. Hopefully this doesn't escalate into conflict.
Oh it won't! Two years ago a Colombian exmilitary group assassinated the president of Haiti, and the culprits were found and extradited. This time they found the people zippity quick. Colombia is a state with many dissident paramilitaries and active cartels (a bit like what parts of the US want the country to turn into!), so the mere act of Colombians being involved doesn't constitute an attack between state governments. Fascinating stuff, with a lot of moving parts.
@MLClark Thank you for the explanation. I keep thinking about how World War I started.
So basically it would be like one of our lunatic militias being hired to murder a Mexican presidential candidate.
Funnily enough, one of my podcast series (forthcoming Sept 4) reflects on the story told around the start of WWI. There's a myth of coherent states & preceding stability that doesn't hold if you look at where the assassination took place.
But more on that later!
This is one reason I left Canada; amid the stark binaries of N Am'n politics, I wanted to live in a place that challenged my thinking about social contract theory & political possibilities.
Colombia most certainly has!