Friday, May 22, 2015

Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials -- May 22, 2015



Joana Cook, The Telegraph: Will Isil destroy the Palmyra ruins?

Big Question: Will Isil actually destroy the ancient Palmyra ruins and if they do what will be the consequences?

On May 21, fighters from Isil seized control of Palmyra, a city recorded by Unesco as “one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient world.”

When I last saw Palmyra in 2008, it was midafternoon and a sandstorm was moving in – a wall of sand slowly crept towards us, darkening the sky. Today, a more sinister storm has seemingly descended on the site.

Isil has set its aims on Palmyra not just for the symbolic victory it would represent, but as part of a larger, calculated strategy which requires access and resources.

Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials -- May 22, 2015

ISIS in Palmyra -- Dexter Filkins, New Yorker

ISIL beheaded Dozens in Palmyra, but how Strategic is the City? -- Juan Cole, Informed Comment

What the Fall of Ramadi Means -- Patrick J. Buchanan, American Conservative

Isis's murderous rampage continues. So why is it the lost artefacts that make the headlines? -- Deborah Orr, The Guardian

Rift grows between nuclear haves, have-nots. What can be done? -- Howard LaFranchi, CSM

Why a forceful U.S. response to China’s artificial island-building won’t float -- William Johnson, Reuters

China Inc. Is Coming To America -- Enda Curran, Bloomberg

New Silk Road Could Change Global Economics Forever -- Robert Berke, OilPrice.com

Ethiopia goes to the polls: What's at stake? -- William Davidson, CSM

Why Poland’s presidential election may shake up the European Union -- Ola Cichowlas, Reuters

Britain resigns as a world power -- Fareed Zakaria, Washington Post

The Putin paradox: distrusted, feared, and yet revered -- Natalie Nougayrède, The Guardian

EU's Cynical Plan to Use Eastern Europe -- Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg

Will the Venezuelan State Fail? -- Carl Meacham, RCS

Clinton Told by Friend Blumenthal Benghazi Attack Was Terror -- Mark Drajem, Bloomberg

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