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

Steven A. Cook, Politico: Is Turkey Really at the Table?

It claims to be part of the solution in fighting ISIL, but often it’s been part of the problem.

To Westerners, it might seem that Vladimir Putin was exaggerating in anger when, after a Turkish F-16 on Tuesday shot down a Russian fighter jet allegedly violating Turkish airspace, he referred to the government in Ankara as “terrorists’ accomplices.”

Americans aren’t used to thinking of Turkey—our NATO ally and most powerful backstop in the Muslim world—in this way. And surely Putin is just engaging in some saber-rattling. But as Turkey and Russia dispute the incident, it is casting a spotlight on one of the most troubling developments in the evolving struggle in the Middle East: When it comes to fighting the Islamic State and extremism more generally, Turkey—and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan—has become a significant part of the problem, rather than part of the solution.

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

Memo to Putin: Syria Is Turkey's Ukraine -- Marc Champion, Bloomberg

Defeating Islamic State — without a U.S. invasion -- L.A. editorial

A Thirty-Year War -- Alexander Görlach, The European

ISIS Video Vows War Against World: Islamic State Targets Include Mexico, China, Japan, Russia, US, Iran -- Michael Kaplan, IBTimes

Want to move your tank battalion to take on a threat? NATO’s got a form for that. -- Lucian Kim, Reuters

China’s Stranglehold on U.S. Defense Tech -- David S. Abraham, Daily Beast

Anxious Asian leaders eyes U.S. politics -- Frank Ching, The Globe and Mail

Now Comes the Hard Part for Aung San Suu Kyi -- Joshua Kurlantzick, Newsweek

The Priest, the Pianist, a Cat, and a DIY Sauna: One Week in Ukraine’s Forgotten War -- Jack Losh, VICE

Don’t trade away Ukraine -- Ihor Kozak, National Post

Migrants to Europe Have Suddenly Gone Missing -- Barbie Latza Nadeau, Daily Beast

'Party of Chavez' struggles before election (Video) -- Reuters

Why the CIA is smearing Edward Snowden after the Paris attacks -- Glenn Greenwald, L.A. Times

The Key to Henry Kissinger’s Success -- Graham Allison, The Atlantic

From Syria to China, U.S. Leaders Don't Know What America is For -- Robert W. Merry, National Interest