Thursday, October 27, 2016

Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- October 27, 2016

Iraqi special forces soldiers drive in a desert near Mosul, Iraq October 25, 2016. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

Mohamad Bazzi, Reuters: In the battle for Mosul, Syria could be the real loser

Four days after Iraqi government forces and allied Kurdish troops began advancing on the city of Mosul, Islamic State militants launched a surprising counterattack nearly 100 miles away. Dozens of fighters besieged the oil-rich city of Kirkuk before dawn on Oct. 21, setting off gun battles, suicide bombings and sniper attacks.

After two days of fighting, most of the assailants were killed, captured or had blown themselves up. Nearly 100 others were also killed, most of them members of the Kurdish security forces. As the militants went on their rampage throughout Kirkuk, they broadcast a message from the loudspeakers of a local mosque: “Islamic State has taken over.”

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- October 27, 2016

The Risk of a Humanitarian Disaster in Mosul -- Jessica Brandt, National Interest

Mosul and Aleppo: A tale of two cities -- James Denselow, Al Jazeera

The coming shift: Hillary Clinton's plans for Israel and Iran -- Michael Wilner, Jerusalem Post

The Final Collapse of Obama's Syrian Policy -- Joseph V. Micallef, Military.com

Is Japan Trying to Contain China? -- Ted Galen Carpenter, National Interest

China Revels In Philippines’ About-Face, But Will It Last? -- Yun Sun, Breaking Defense

A look at southern Thailand's decades-old conflict -- Ate Hoekstra, DW

Taiwan-Japan Ties Deepen Amid Chinese Assertiveness -- Lauren Dickey, James Town

NATO, EU trying to improve Libya's legacy -- Teri Schultz, DW

Nato and Russia playing dangerous game with military build-up -- Luke Harding, The Guardian

The War by Other Means in Eastern Ukraine -- Stratfor

Venezuela crisis enters dangerous phase as Maduro foes go militant -- Andrew Cawthorne, Reuters

Venezuela: Maduro Fails Democracy Test, But Is He A Dictator? -- Ronal F. Rodríguez, World Crunch

Brazil's Generation of Discontent -- Catherine Osborn, Foreign Affairs

How Should Culture Affect Foreign Policy? -- Steven Cook, The Atlantic

1 comment:

RRH said...

While the focus -ridiculously so- has been on Russia's take, the Chinese are smelling the rancid stink of the U.S. election too.


http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-10/27/c_135784744.htm


"Yet the election is not all bad, particularly in that it has revealed some inborn defects of the so-called liberal democracy preached by the United States.

The electoral politics in the United States, which plumbed new depths of nastiness this year, has once again demonstrated that the Washington way is not the only way, not to mention the best way.

The diverse nations around the world should choose their own paths of development based on their respective historical backgrounds and new realities.

Now is the moment of reckoning."