Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- August 4, 2017

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron at the G7 summit in Sicily, May 27, 2017. Alessandro Bianchi, Reuters

John Lloyd, Reuters: Europe’s leaders struggle over a Trump strategy

“We have to understand, that we Europeans must fight for our own future and destiny,” said Angela Merkel. This was the German chancellor speaking to a crowd of supporters in May, after a testy few days of a G7 summit that included reports in German news media that Donald Trump had called her country “very bad” for selling so many cars to the United States - and which saw the U.S. president emerge as the only G7 dissenter on combating climate change.

If her comments were colored with dislike for her fellow leader - she has had a strained, occasionally insulting relationship with Trump from their first meeting in March - Merkel was also attempting to turn a bad transatlantic relationship into a win for Europe. It’s a new situation for Europe’s politicians. As the director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, Mark Leonard, notes: “Trump is the first American president since the EU was created not to be in favor of deeper European integration.” Merkel’s subtext now is that the Union must come together not with the support of the U.S., but because of its hostility.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- August 4, 2017

You Can Thank Leakers for New Russia Sanctions -- Eli Lake, Bloomberg

Will Europe Rebel Against U.S. Sanctions? -- Curt Wills, National Interest

Can General Kelly Save the Trump Presidency? -- Daniel McCarthy & Jacob Heilbrunn, National Inteerst

With Trump’s Hands Tied, Putin Is Free to Act -- Maxim Trudolyubov, Moscow Times

ISIS’s Days in Syria Are Numbered, but Does Trump Have More Wars to Fight There? -- Juan Cole, The Nation

Addressing Iranian Influence in Iraq -- Giorgio Cafiero, LobeLog

Iran’s Top Export to Latin America: Radical Islam -- Emanuele Ottolenghi & Michaela Frai, RCD

Can the Doklam Dispute Be Resolved? The Dangers of China and India's Border Standoff -- Michael Auslin, Foreign Affairs

Five Fast-Track Options For Blunting North Korea's Missile Threat To America -- Loren Thompson, Forbes

Why China’s army stocks are flat despite PLA’s growing might -- Zi Yang, Asia Times

A coming crisis over Taiwan? -- Andrew Tan, East Asia Forum

Kidnapping makes Vietnam persona non grata in Germany -- David Hutt, Asia Times

How Long Can Michel Temer Last as President of Brazil? -- Yasmeen Serhan, The Atlantic

Venezuela's Maduro Fledgling Dictatorship -- Tom Jones, Raddington Report

Government Money Is Ruining Soccer -- Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg