Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- December 22, 2017

Diego Torres, Politico: 5 takeaways from the Catalan election

Ciudadanos and Carles Puigdemont have reasons to celebrate. Mariano Rajoy does not.

BARCELONA — Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy bet on a quick snap election in Catalonia as a way to bring order to the restive region. It didn’t pay off.

Catalan separatists retained their absolute majority in the regional parliament in an election on Thursday that followed a chaotic referendum, a unilateral declaration of independence and Madrid stepping in to take control of the region.

The centrist, pro-unity Ciudadanos scored a bittersweet victory that saw it become the biggest group in the chamber but unable to form a government, while former regional President Carles Puigdemont’s group was the leading secessionist force.

Here are five takeaways from the election.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- December 22, 2017

Catalan election: separatists win most seats, Ciudadanos the most-voted party -- El Pais

3 ways the election changed Catalan politics -- Xavier Cuadras-Morató, Politico

Catalan vote fails to clarify Spanish region’s future -- Barry Hatton and Aritz Parra, AP

US: There is no military solution to end war in Yemen -- Al Jazeera

As global power shifts, Japan mulls new alliances and weapons -- Doug Tsuruoka, Asia Times

Can Diplomacy With North Korea Ever Work? -- The Diplomat

10 ways North Korean leader Kim Jong Un freaked out the world in 2017 -- Jim Michaels, USA Today

Democracy Is Not the Cure for Terrorism -- Steven A. Cook, The Atlantic

President's Narrow Survival Is Good News for Peru -- Mac Margolis, Bloomberg

Donbass Blues, The Forgotten Conflict In Eastern Ukraine -- Pierre Avril, World Crunch/Figaro

Tie Lethal Aid for Ukraine to an Admission that NATO Made a Mistake -- John R. Deni, War On The Rock

China plans to break petrodollar stranglehold -- Pepe Escobar, Asia Times

Chinese hackers go after think tanks in wave of more surgical strikes -- Ars Technica