Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- April 6, 2017

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives for the opening session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on March 3, 2017.Jason Lee / Reuters

Isaac Stone Fish, The Atlantic: Xi Jinping May Be Less Powerful Than He Seems

As Donald Trump sizes up the Chinese president, he may be surprised by what he finds.

Once, on a visit to China in August 2015, I heard an odd theory about one of the most powerful men in the world. Xi Jinping, the president of China, would prefer to travel overseas more, but he dreaded doing so, according to the theory. Why? Because he feared deplaning in Beijing and seeing the other six members of the Politburo Standing Committee, China’s top ruling body, lined up to meet him. “Thank you for your service,” each man would say solemnly, shaking Xi’s hand and looking him in the eye. Then, in this nightmarish scenario, military police would arrest him, and he would spend the rest of his life under house arrest.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- April 6, 2017

Trump and Xi Could Break the System -- Michael Schuman, Bloomberg

6 Reasons U.S.-China Relations Are Headed For Trouble -- Harry Kazianis, RCW

Trump and Xi meeting is no ‘sunshine summit’ -- Brett M. Decker, USA Today

All Mapped Out: How China’s Charting Its Course as a Superpower -- Brendon Hong, Daily Beast

Why China’s Asian neighbours are so nervous over the Xi-Trump summit -- South China Morning Post

Why doesn’t China rein in North Korea? A collapse of the regime in the North would pose thorny problems for China -- The Economist

The North Korean nuclear threat keeps growing. Here's how to really deal with it -- Nicholas Eberstadt, FOX News

Storm Clouds Over Korea -- Joschka Fischer, Project Syndicate

Bashar al-Assad: after Idlib is the president's luck running out? -- Simon Tisdall, The Guardian

Trump's Tightrope in Syria Is Getting Shakier -- Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg

Syria’s Civil War Produces a Clear Winner: Hezbollah -- Maria Abi-Habib, Wall Street Journal

The Long-Goodbye to Afghanistan – Should It Get Longer? -- Bennett Seftel, Cipher Brief

Britain: An Economy on the Brink -- Simon Head, New York Review Of Books

Brussels is Letting Bosnia’s Reform Agenda Slip Away -- Bodo Weber, Balkan Insight

A shift is emerging in Eastern Europe -- George Friedman, Geopolitical Futures

Giving Trump North Korea Policy a Chance -- Dennis Wilder, Cipher Brief

Russia Investigation Must Also Probe Surveillance Leaks -- Bloomberg editorial

Trump gives Defense chief Mattis running room in war-fighting -- Jim Michaels , USA TODAY