Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- October 8, 2014


The Middle East In Chaos -- Reuel Marc Gerecht, Weekly Standard

The great medieval historian Ibn Khaldun centered his understanding of history on asabiyya, which is perhaps best translated as esprit de corps mixed with the will to power. In his masterpiece, the Muqaddima, or Prolegomena, the Arab historian saw as the primary locus of asabiyya the tribe—a smaller unit than the ethnic group, and the most powerful military unit in Islamic history until the Mameluks perfected the use of slave soldiers. The concept of asabiyya is helpful in trying to understand the Middle East today, after the second Iraq war (2003-09) and the Arab Spring (2010-12) together unhinged a dying political order throughout the region.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- October 8, 2014

Without a ground force and an end point, the war against Isis will be a farce -- Malcolm Fraser, The Guardian

U.S. powerless to stop ISIS taking Syria town? -- CBS/AP

U.S. air campaign against Islamic State isn’t achieving its aims -- Washington Post editorial

Will Syria Be Obama’s Vietnam? -- Frederik Logevall and Gordon M. Golsdstein, NYT

Turkey's fear of a reignited Kurdish flame -- Mark Lowen, BBC

Is the world still afraid of Iran? -- Rachel Shabi, Al Jazeera

Candidly speaking: The Obama administration’s unprecedented outburst against Israel -- Isi Leibler, Jerusalem Post

Can There Be Peace in Yemen? -- Mohamed Elshinnawi, VOA

In Yemen, 'no one is in charge' -- Peter Salisbury, Al Jazeera

Forget the Middle East and Focus on the Asia-Pacific -- Ali Wyne, National Interest

Ramzan Kadyrov: The Man Between Putin and ISIS -- Anna Nemtsova, Daily Beast

Catalonia is a far bigger threat to Europe than Scotland was -- Matthew Lynn, Market Watch

What does Colombia's future hold? -- CNN

The Insiders: Panetta, Gates and Clinton are trying to tell us something about Obama -- Ed Rogers, Washington Post

Google Chairman: 'We're Going to End Up Breaking the Internet' -- Dustin Volz, National Journal

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