Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- February 18, 2015

Reid Standish, Passport/Foreign Policy: After Debaltseve, What Comes Next in the Fight for Eastern Ukraine?

When German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François Hollande returned from Minsk over the weekend, there was a fragile hope that the cease-fire agreement they secured might halt fighting in eastern Ukraine. That hope was smashed this week in Debaltseve, a rail junction between the rebel-held cities of Donetsk and Luhansk.

On Wednesday, Ukrainian forces retreated from the city, which has been the scene of intense fighting. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko did his best to put a positive spin on things. “Debaltseve was under our control, it was never encircled,” he told reporters before departing for a visit to the front lines. “Our troops and formations have left in an organized and planned manner.”

Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- February 18, 2015

Russia marches on uninhibited in eastern Ukraine -- Washington Post editorial

Putin's Staying Put (for Now) -- Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg

China Is the Big Winner in the Conflict Between Russia and the West -- Ian Bremmer, Time

Will the West, Egypt intervene in Libya's civil war? -- Mattia Toaldo, Al Jazeera

Could Libya's ISIS Suck Egypt into Endless War? -- Mustafa Fetouri , Contributor for Al-Monitor

Why Egypt may be hard-pressed to fight Islamic State on two fronts -- Louisa Loveluck, CSM

Italy Fears ISIS Invasion From Libya -- Barbie Latza Nadeau, Daily Beast

Is Islamic State shaping Boko Haram media? -- BBC

How Many “ISIS-Affiliated” Groups Are Really ISIS? Does It Matter? -- Joshua Keating, Slate

We Won the War in Afghanistan...And Then Lost It -- David Axe, Real Clear Defense

Delhi shouldn’t ditch Sri Lankan Tamils -- M K Bhadrakumar, Indian Punchline

Japan’s Abe flexes his political muscle -- Michael Auslin, AEI

How Bad Is Venezuela's Economic Chaos? -- Nathaniel Parish Flannery, Forbes

Is the US Behind the Most Sophisticated Cyber Attacks to Date? -- Franz-Stefan Gady, The Diplomat

White House summit on extremism is useless chatter -- Stephen L. Carter, Bloomberg News