Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials -- January 17, 2011

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates reviews the People's Liberation Army Honor Guard as part of an arrival ceremony honoring Gates' visit to the Bayi building in Beijing, Jan. 10, 2011. Gates met with Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie and his staff at the ministry, where they held a press conference. DOD photo by U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Jerry Morrison

Underestimating China -- James Holmes & Toshi Yoshihara, The Diplomat

Denigrating Chinese maritime prowess is a longstanding habit in the US naval establishment. Officers and analysts reared during the Cold War found it hard to shed the image of China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) as a backward force composed of patrol boats, short-range fighters, and small submarines that hugged the coast.

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Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials

Is Tunisia the first domino to fall? -- Claire Spencer, The Telegraph
Could 'Tunisia effect' topple more Mideast regimes? -- Shashank
Arab world discontent -- Mail & Guardian
Tunisia: economic implications -- Financial Times
Tunisia: A media led revolution? -- Noureddine Miladi, Al Jazeera
Tunisia: Will there be a domino effect? -- BBC
Analysis: Tunisia - first popular uprising in Arab world -- Zvi Mazel, Jerusalem Post

The Way Out of Afghanistan: Don't Militarize Diplomacy -- David Miliband, Time Magazine
Are we Really Winning as Violence Escalates in Afghanistan? -- War On Terror News
Obama Is Losing in Afghanistan -- Jed Babbin, American Spectator

The Arab world's horrific new trend: self-immolation -- Blake Hounshell, Foreign Policy

Hillary Speaks Loudly and Carries Off Big Shtick -- Abe Greenwald, Commentary Magazine

An Assassination’s Long Shadow -- Adam Hochschild, New York Times

What the U.S. and other democracies must make clear to China -- Michael J. Green and Daniel M. Kliman, Washington Post

Rise of the Hans: Why a dominant China could spark tribal warfare. -- Joel Kotkin, Foreign Policy

Obama's China Summit Woes -- Leslie H. Gelb, Daily Beast

Next shock will be high food prices -- Paul Sheehan, Sydney Morning Herald