Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- October 23, 2017

Paul Mason, The Guardian: Catalonia, Lombardy, Scotland … why the fight for self-determination now?

In Spain and Italy, the answer is clear – a mixture of austerity and central government failures has prompted regional dissatisfaction. Elsewhere, the reasons are more complicated, but they’re not going away

Woodrow Wilson used it to dismember the empires of old Europe; Vladimir Lenin promoted it with the aim of destroying imperialism; the UN wrote it into article 1 of its founding treaty. The right of peoples to self-determination has been a principle in international law since Versailles and confirmed as the basis for negotiations on issues as varied as Kashmir in 1948, Vietnam in 1973 and the state borders of eastern Europe in 1990.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- October 23, 2017

Poland Pushes Back Against Putin’s Special War -- John Schindler, Observer

Moscow nears ‘mission accomplished’ in Syria -- Sami Moubayed, Asia Times

A Blueprint for Minimizing Iran's Influence in the Middle East -- John Allen &Michael O'Hanlon, National Interest

Iraqi Kurdistan’s Crisis: A Failure of Strategy -- Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi, American Spectator

Here's How to Pull Turkey Back From the Brink -- James Stavridis, Bloomberg

War on the Korean Peninsula: Targeting a Better Peace -- Albert Palazzo, Lowy Institute

Who killed Kim Jong Un’s half brother? Here’s what we know -- Eric Talmadge, AP

Donald Trump's Big Trip to Asia: What Can Washington Do to Reassure ASEAN? -- Michael Mazza, National Interes

US woos India into 100-year alliance against China -- M.K. Bhadrakumar, Asia Times

China-Japan ties are about to get worse -- William Pesek, Asia Times

Crisis, What Crisis? Banks Pile Back Into China -- Mark Whitehouse, Bloomberg

China Decides It’s Time to Talk About Chinese Debt -- Jacob L. Shapiro, Geopolitical Futures

Here Is The IMF's Global Financial Crash Scenario -- Zero Hedge

Think the U.S. Has a Facebook Problem? Look to Asia -- Bloomberg editorial

America Has Built the Most Comfortable Civilization in the World -- Sarah Hoyt, PJ Media

All the president's men and women: Trump-like leaders proliferate -- Jim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY