Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- March 29, 2017

Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Dewey transits the South China Sea. (Photo: Handout/Reuters /Newscom)

Dean Cheng, Daily Signal: Trump Signals New US Approach to China With Tough Actions

Two developments in the past few weeks suggest that America’s China policy is on a cusp.

The more publicly discussed event involves the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Dewey, which conducted a freedom of navigation operation near Mischief Reef in the Spratlys island group.

This is the first freedom of navigation action conducted by the Trump administration. It is the first true freedom of navigation conducted since at least 2012.

By contrast, the Obama administration had undertaken a handful of “innocent passage” activities in the South China Sea, which failed to demonstrate the critical issues at stake.

Read more ....

Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- March 29, 2017

Rethinking the Next China -- Stephen S. Roach, Project Syndicate

Explainer: how and why Islamic State-linked rebels took over part of a Philippine city -- Oliver Holmes, The Guardian

ISIS in Southeast Asia: Philippines battles growing threat -- James Griffiths, CNN

North Korean Missile Launch May Be Testing Rivals, Not Technology -- Foster Klug & Hyung-Jin Kim, AP

Why Russia Can’t End the North Korea Crisis -- Xander Snyder, Geopolitical Futures

How Islamic State clings on in Libya -- The Economist

AP Explains: Iraq’s slow grind to retake IS-held Mosul -- AP

Iran’s Islamic Evolution Through the Ballot Box -- Marc Champion and Ladane Nasseri, Bloomberg

Who are the new jihadis? -- Olivier Roy, The Guardian

How the world reacted to Merkel's pivot to Europe -- Lewis Sanders IV, DW

New world order? Angela Merkel signals doubt about global partnerships: ANALYSIS -- Greg Jennett, ABC News Online

Nato has become a loveless marriage -- Edward Lucas, CAPX

NATO Without America? -- Kori Schake, American Interest

Smartest Way to Deal With Russia? Ignore Putin -- Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg

How Libyan crises could fuel Islamic extremism -- Jason Burke, The Guardian