Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- November 17, 2017

François Godement, European Council On Foreign Relations: The real possibility of conflict with North Korea

Conflict with North Korea is too often assumed to be an all or nothing issue, with nuclear Armageddon as the inevitable result.

In a hurricane, there is a peaceful lull when the eye of the storm arrives, but it is just an illusion. This is where we are with North Korea.

We think we have been seen the worst: Pyongyang tested an H-bomb and launched missiles over Japan; America has flown its bombers off North Korea’s coast; and both sides have traded insults and threats.

Now the eye of the storm has arrived. We hear that American and North Korean diplomats are in contact, and Trump is talking up China’s positive but unspecified role. But any sense that this crisis has been averted is illusory.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- November 17, 2017

Saudi Arabia's Expropriations Should Scare Investors -- Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg

Saudi-Iran dispute unlikely to take Israel to war: analysts -- AFP

Israel Isn't Going to Fight Saudi Arabia's Wars -- Amos Harel, Foreign Policy

China debunks theory Saudi Arabia wants regional war -- M.K. Bhadrakumar, Asia Times


Congress moves bill jeopardizing Iran nuclear deal -- Bryant Harris, Al-Monitor

'Totally destroyed': East Aleppo a year after battle -- Saba Aziz, Al Jazeera

Can France’s Macron bring Lebanon back from the brink? -- Sylvie Corbet and Angela Charlton, AP

Zimbabwe's new liberation struggle -- CSM Editorial

Cambodia bids farewell to democracy -- David Hutt, Asia Times

The new geopolitics of trade in Asia -- Mireya Solís, Brookings

Here’s what Russians think: Brexit is your creature – don’t blame it on us -- Alexey Kovalev, The Guardian

Why social democrats have become irrelevant -- John Lloyd, Reuters

Where Is the Russia Investigation Going? -- Jacob Heilbrunn & Paul J. Saunders, National Interest

Chile’s election marks a swing in Latin American leadership -- CSM

What is SpaceX's secret Zuma mission about? -- James Dean, USA Today/Florida Today