Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials -- June 17, 2014

Piecing Together The Shattering Middle East -- David Ignatius, Washington Post

Let’s look at the reality on the ground in the Middle East: Iraq and Syria are effectively partitioned along sectarian lines; Lebanon and Yemen are close to fracturing; Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia survive intact but as increasingly authoritarian states.

In the current, chaotic moment, we see two post-imperial systems collapsing at once: The state boundaries drawn by the Versailles Treaty in 1919 to replace the Ottoman Empire can’t hold the fractious peoples together. And a U.S.-led system that kept the region in a rough balance has been shattered by America’s failed intervention in Iraq.

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Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials -- June 17, 2014

A Country Implodes: ISIS Pushes Iraq to the Brink -- Spiegel Online

Obama’s Favorite Think Tank: We Should Prepare to Bomb Iraq -- Josh Rogin, Daily Beast

The Islamic militants’ advance into Iraq -- Jonathan Power, Daily Times

Would US air strikes work against Iraq insurgents? -- Anna Mulrine, CSM

War-weary America not ready for another fight -- Nick Cohen, Gulf News

ISIS’s Savage Strategy in Iraq -- Lawrence Wright, New Yorker

Why some Iraqis would rather try their luck under ISIL -- Susannah George, Global Post

ISIS: This Too Shall Pass -- Mark Stout, War On The Rocks

UN Peacekeepers to Protect China's Oil Interests in South Sudan - Foreign Policy

China's Brewing Subprime Crisis -- William Pesek, Bloomberg

Let North Korea Collapse -- Sue Mi Terryjune, NYT

The West cannot afford for any more of Nigeria to be run by jihadists -- Olivier Guitta, National Post

The Russian Mistral: Can the Russian European Strategy be Countered? -- Stephen Blank, Second Line Of Defense

What Options Do Putin and Ukraine Have Left? -- Linda Kinstler, New Republic

New Evidence Ties Illegal Antiquities Trade to Terrorism, Violent Crime -- National Geographic