Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- November 9, 2015

Nico Hines, Daily Beast: FSB Agents Disguised as Drug Testers ‘Sabotaged’ the Olympics, Blockbuster Report Says

There’s a reason that Russian athletes did so well in the Sochi and London Olympic Games: they were pumped full of drugs—all under the watchful eye of the Kremlin.

LONDON — The Russian security forces were behind a massive drug-cheating program that “sabotaged” the London Olympics in 2012, according to a stunning report by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

It has long been suspected that Russian athletes used performance-enhancing drugs. But the allegations published Monday claim that Russia’s FSB—the successor to the KGB—teamed up with state apparatchiks to intimidate and bribe officials into covering up a plot to help Russian athletes win Olympic medals.

Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- November 9, 2015

Russia’s sports doping scandal: Why this one may be different -- CSM Editorial

How Sinai became a magnet for terror -- Emma Graham-Harrison, The Observer/The Guardian

Turkey and Qatar: Close Allies, Sharing a Doomed Syria Policy -- Giorgio Cafiero & Daniel Wagner, National

Turkey’s Troubling ISIS Game -- Roger Cohen, New York Times

Islamic State’s capital could be better off under Islamic State, unless… -- Aki Peritz, Reuters

Is a new Syria chemical weapons massacre looming? -- Brooklyn Middleton, Al Arabiya

What are the Shiites dying in Syria for? -- Hussain Abdul-Hussain, NOW

How Iran became the first beneficiary of Russia's Syria Intervention -- Rodger Shanahan, Interpreter

Mustard gas in Syria: What happened to the ban on chemical weapons? -- Maddy Crowell, CSM

Myanmar’s Transition -- Nisid Hajari, Bloomberg

China and Taiwan: Normal is the new normal -- Salvatore Babones, Al Jazeera

China Sails Into a Sea of Troubles -- Gideon Rachman, Financial Times

Ukraine After Local Elections: Putting Out Fires -- Balázs Jarábik, Moscow Times

The continuing Soviet collapse -- John Lloyd, Reuters

4 takeaways from Croatia’s parliamentary election -- Andrew Macdowall, Politico

The dispensable French: France has less and less influence in the EU, and fears to use what it still has -- The Economist