Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- March 20, 2017

Peter Bergen, CNN: Will Iraq survive victory over ISIS in Mosul?

Sulaimani, Iraq (CNN)In a tea room in Sulaimani's old bazaar that's dense with the smoke of scores of cigarettes, bunches of grizzled, middle-aged men -- some wearing traditional Kurdish baggy trousers, other wearing suits without ties -- are arguing furiously about the great question of the day:

What happens to Iraq after ISIS loses the key Iraqi city of Mosul?
For the moment, the Iraqi army, Kurdish peshmerga forces, Shia militias and Sunni tribal units are all united in fighting ISIS. But even in Sulaimani, an Iraqi-Kurdish city close to the border with Iran that is one of the most stable corners of a very unstable Middle East, there is considerable worry about what comes next. As a senior Iraqi government official put it to me: "This is the $64,000 question."

Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq, is where almost three years ago ISIS declared its self-styled caliphate.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- March 20, 2017

Why Raqqa won’t be the end of the road for ISIL -- Hassan Hassan, The National

Islamic State prepares for life after Mosul as Iraqi morale runs low -- Paul Rogers, Conversation

The winds of war are blowing on Israel’s borders -- Alex Fishman, YNet News

On the 40th anniversary of Kamal Jumblatt's death, is trouble brewing again in Lebanon? -- Robert Fisk, The independent

North Korea’s History of Violence -- Kyle Mizokami, War Is Boring

As US loses patience, North Korea holds a chemical card -- Bertil Lintner, Asia Times

Out of time in North Korea -- Richard Haass, The Strategist

North Korea's nuclear threat: Where do the US and China go from here? -- Michael Holtz, CSM

THAAD, China, and Korea in a nutshell -- Semoon Chang, Korea Times

What a Macron Presidency Would Mean for France -- Therese Raphael, Bloomberg

The Man in the Kremlin Must Be Smiling -- Mark Kelton, Cipher Brief

Trump's Wiretap Claims Are Bogus. But He's Still Onto Something. -- Eli Lake, Bloomberg

How alleged Trump-Russia ties have affected the administration – so far -- Helen Coster, Reuters

Cutting Foreign Aid Makes America Less Safe -- Bill Gates, Time

Trump Voters Stand by Their Man -- Francis Wilkinson, Bloomberg

President Trump: Four Scenarios -- Peter Jennings, RCD/The Strategist