Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- December 29, 2015

Bill Chappell, NPR: After Ramadi, A Look At What's Next In The Fight Against ISIS

Months after Ramadi was seized by ISIS fighters, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi traveled to the city that's now largely in government control and announced that Iraq's troops will liberate more cities and push ISIS out entirely in 2016.

"ISIS was defeated and hundreds of its criminal terrorists were killed" in Ramadi, the prime minister said, according to Iraqi News. He added that "2016 will be the year of the final victory and the end of ISIS presence in Iraq."

Ramadi's return to government control would continue a string of recent military successes against ISIS, but the group still holds Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul, along with Fallujah.

Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- December 29, 2015

The Importance of Retaking Ramadi -- New York Times editorial

The Ramadi Strategy -- Bloomberg editorial

Containing Isil militarily is one thing. Defeating it politically will take years -- Shashank Joshi, The Ttelegraph

Putin sees Assad chance to stay as U.S. pursues Syria settlement -- Henry Meyer and Bloomberg

Turkey’s Dangerous Game in Syria: President Erdogan is more eager to hold back the Kurds than he is to defeat ISIS. -- Stuart Rollo, WSJ

How Bush's War on Terror Ensnared Obama -- Eli Lake, Bloomberg

Saudi Economic Shake-up Shows It Is Planning for Cheap Oil -- Reuters

A Bad Year for Asian Democracy -- William Pesek, Barron's

Will 2016 Bring the Collapse of China’s Economy? -- Gordon G. Chang, National Interest

China's rollercoaster year -- Richard Javad Heydarian, Al Jazeera

"Comfort women": Japan's 70-year sex slavery controversy, explained -- Max Fisher, VOX

A Happy New Year for Europe? -- Carl Bildt, Project Syndicate

Russia can only use the United States as an excuse for so long -- John Lloyd, Reuters

Strongmen Strike Back in Burma and Venezuela -- Jackson Diehl, Washington Post

Brazil Faces a Modern-Day Plague -- Mac Margolis, Bloomberg

'Affluenza' teen caught, but will he get off easy? -- Mariano Castillo, CNN