Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- August 27, 2015

ISIS has captured large swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq, including all of oil-rich Deir Ezzor. (File photo: Reuters)

Noah Feldman, Bloomberg: Oil Is Islamic State's Lifeblood

The battle for Baiji, site of one of Iraq’s major oil refineries, is heating up again. Since May, Islamic State fighters have been chipping away at the Iraqi government’s control. Now it seems possible that the empty city and the shuttered refinery could fall.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi visited the battlefield this week and emphasized the site’s strategic importance to retaking Mosul. What he didn’t say was that Islamic State’s offensive on Baiji is part of its grand strategy to develop domestic sources of revenue that would help make it a functioning state, instead of a would-be state attempting to achieve legitimacy by beheadings and religious fervor.

Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- August 27, 2015

Have US laws created an online haven for Islamic State propaganda? -- Taylor Luck, CSM

Is U.S. Analysis of Progress Against ISIS Skewed? -- Krishnadev Calamur, The Atlantic

Erdogan’s war backfires -- Kadri Gursel, Al-Monitor

Iran's Moderates Used Nuclear Deal to Save the Revolution -- Eli Lake, Bloomberg

Enforcing the Iran Deal: Another Gaping Hole -- Hillel Fradkin and Lewis Libby, Weekly Standard

Ex-Intelligence Chief: 'Pakistan Is at War Against the Afghan People' -- Interview Conducted By Susanne Koelbl, Spiegel Online

Russia's Brave New Crisis -- Maxim Trudolyubov, Moscow Times

Why Russia’s latest attempt at a land grab is a farce -- Paul Stronski, Reuters

Discovery of up to 50 bodies in truck highlights European migrant crisis -- Anthony Faiola, Washington Post

Guatemala’s Embattled President -- New York Times editorial

Obama's Failure to Learn in the Middle East -- Aaron David Miller, The Compass

The best defense of Obama’s foreign policy you will read this year -- Daniel W. Drezner, Washington Post

How Hugo Chavez Trashed Latin America's Richest Economy -- Justin Fox, Bloomberg

Should One U.S. Service Rule the Military’s Drones? -- Marcus Weisgerber, Defense One

Spy Agencies Are Like Old-School Porn — But That's Changing -- Jennifer Peters, Vice