Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- November 1, 2017

North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, second from left, salutes as he and his uncle Jang Song Thaek, left, accompany the hearse carrying the casket of late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il during his funeral procession in Pyongyang in this photo taken by Kyodo on December 28, 2011. Kim Jong Un does not want North Koreans to know he was his father's third son, a high-profile defector said. Kyodo/via Reuters

Sofia Lotto Persio, Newsweek: Kim Jong Un Is His Father's Third Son—but He Doesn't Want North Koreans to Know About It

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is keeping his birthday and genealogy secret from the rest of the population, a North Korean defector said Tuesday.

Thae Yong Ho was North Korea’s ambassador to the U.K. before he defected to South Korea with his family last September, becoming one of the most prominent regime insiders to flee Kim’s authoritarian rule. Speaking to the Washington-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies, Thae shared insights on the North Korean leader’s psychology and motivations in relentlessly pursuing the country's nuclear development program.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- November 1, 2017

U.S. B-2 Bomber Exercises Are a Warning to North Korea -- Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics

Will US President Donald Trump’s Asia trip result in deals to rein in North Korea? -- Laura Zhou, SCMP

China Takes an Expansionist View of Geopolitics -- Zhixing Zhang, Stratfor

Is China withholding funds from Duterte? -- Bong S Sarmiento, Asia times

India Needs a More Robust Naval Presence in Asia -- Abhijit Singh, Lowy Interpreter

Kurds pursuit of an independent sovereign nation -- Fanny Facsar, DW

Historic moment as ‘Kurdish Mandela’ Barzani stands aside -- Sami Moubayed, Asia Times

Quick Take: Mohammed bin Salman -- Glen Carey, Bloomberg

Shia Unrest in Hezbollah's Beirut Stronghold -- Hanin Ghaddar, Washington Institute

Communism Turns 100: Nothing to celebrate. -- John Stossel, Reason

No, Europe Isn't About to Break Up -- Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg

What the Attack in New York Revealed About the Islamic State's Supporters -- Graeme Wood, The Atlantic

ISIS’s defeat in Iraq and Syria makes attacks like New York inevitable -- Zack Beauchamp, VOX

Winning the 'Cyberspace Race' -- Bob Dees, RCD

Why was Bergdahl in the Army in first place? -- Fayetteville Observer