Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- February 27, 2017

Javid Ahmad, National Interest: Will President Trump End the 'Total Disaster' War in Afghanistan?

America's continued silence on Afghanistan is dangerous.

The Afghan war, now in its sixteenth year, has arguably become one of the world's most consequential conflicts. The steady stream of news from Afghanistan is as relentless as it is depressing. More important, the eerie silence in Washington, DC to discuss the future course of Afghan conflict—and America’s role in it—is deafening. President Donald Trump, now the third U.S. president to lead the Afghan mission, has called the war a “total disaster,” which the United States should abandon altogether. Trump, who has claimed to have a foolproof plan to defeat the Islamic State, has not yet discussed his strategy for fighting America’s longest war. The silence, however, does not qualify as an improvement from the policy of the Obama administration, whose excessive caution while dealing with Afghanistan and arbitrary deadlines for withdrawal of U.S. troops made the Afghan campaign more challenging.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- February 27, 2017

The Politics of Historicide -- Richard N. Haass, Project Syndicate

The Iranian-Saudi Arabian conflict: Does the West have a skewed view? -- Joseph Croitoru, DW

Kim Jong-nam: What is South Korea's take on the killing? -- Stephen Evans, BBC

Will China push Trump to talk to North Korea? -- Katie Hunt, CNN

The Guardian view on South Korea: scandals and successes -- Guardian editorial

A Politician and an Ex-Hitman Take on Philippine Leader -- Katrin Kuntz, Spiegel Online

South Sudan's Famine Is China's Chance to Lead -- Bloomberg editorial

Why Everybody Suddenly Has a Ukraine Plan -- Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg

Two years after Boris Nemtsov's assassination, repeated protest is illegal and 'no-one is safe' -- Lisa Millar, ABC News Online

Killer, kleptocrat, genius, spy: the many myths of Vladimir Putin -- Keith Gessen, The Guardian

Italy - splitting into oblivion -- John Lloyd, Reuters

Martin Schulz Might Just Beat Merkel. But Can He Save Europe? -- Josephine Huetlin, Daily Beast

A refugee flood? Pull yourself together, Canada -- Scott Gilmore, Macleans

The problem with the claim that President Trump is on a 'dictatorial path' -- Linda Feldmann, CSM

Why does President Trump want to add $54 billion to the defense budget? -- J Walker Glascock, Christian Science Monitor