Good Reads: America's Palestinian veto, war with China, and meet the Haqqanis

• Good Reads highlights the best reporting and analysis available on the top international stories of the day – and other key topics you shouldn't miss.

After all of last week’s hoopla, the flag waving and cheering in Ramallah, and the warnings of dire consequences from Tel Aviv, it is now time to study the details and the implications of the Palestinian Authority’s proposal for United Nations recognition as a nation state.

In New York, the Monitor’s Howard LaFranchi looks closely at the 15 members of the UN Security Council and shows that Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas’s speech on Friday may not have won over as many supporters as he needs.

Of the five permanent members, only the US is likely to use its veto against the proposal, but others, such as France and China might prefer a middle solution, such as nonvoting membership status, similar to that enjoyed by the Vatican.

Non-permanent Council countries such as Colombia may vote alongside the US against the proposal while Nigeria, Gabon, and Bosnia are also said to be wavering.

Riyad Mansour, a Palestinian representative of the UN, put a brave face on the situation: “This is an exercise in which there will be tremendous pressure on members of the Security Council, but we trust in our friends."

Speaking of 'friends'

In some foreign policy circles these days, China is portrayed as the Americans’ bête noire. Western officials often see China as a spoiler, particularly with its willingness to do business as usual with dictators and human-rights abusers. Meanwhile, complicating ties, is the fact that developing countries are increasingly looking to China as a model for rapid development, and as a defender of their rights against what they see as an overly intrusive West.

But could China and the US actually go to war?

In Foreign Policy magazine, Robert Haddick reviews a new book that contemplates just that; encouraging the US to broach a subject that has been largely off the tables in Washington. The book, “A Contest for Supremacy: China, America, and the Struggle for Mastery in Asia,” by Aaron Friedberg, focuses on the security challenges that China presents, and how China is able to simultaneously spar against and trade with the US.

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