Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- February 1, 2018

Susanne Koelbl, Spiegel Online: What Comes after War in Syria?

The regime has largely won the war against the insurgents and thoughts are slowly shifting to Syria's future. But the country still has a long path ahead before it can find peace.

At 11:47 a.m. on a clear day in November, the air in the Bab Sharqi neighborhood doesn't smell of victory but of dust and smoke, as a mortar shell strikes behind Jenney Loutfi's office. "The terrorists are in Jobar," says Loutfi, referring to a neighborhood only about a kilometer away from her desk in the welfare agency of the Syrian Catholic Church. "As the crow flies," the 27-year-old says, stressing that this is what matters when it comes to mortar shells.

The shell slammed into the roof of the mosque behind the "Eastern Gate," or Bab Sharqi, one of the seven entrances to the old city. "Why are they firing at us? There are only civilians left here," asks Loutfi. What she doesn't know is that the government is waging a campaign of heavy airstrikes on the rebels here in southeastern Syria, and that the attack on the old city represents the trapped rebels' last gasp before their inevitable defeat.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- February 1, 2018

Ankara uses Afrin campaign to showcase Turkish-made weapons -- Zülfikar Doğan, Al-Monitor

Turkey Cripples Its Own Development -- Faisal Al Yafai, The National

Analyst: Winter Olympics could make Korean history -- Elizabeth Shim, UPI

Fears of US ‘bloody nose’ attack on North Korea on the rise -- Andrew Salmon, Asia Times

Unraveling the Mess in North Korea -- Jay Ogilvy, Stratfor Worldview

US 'invested in a failed strategy' in Afghanistan -- Shereena Qazi, Al Jazeera

China-UK spat brewing over May’s Belt and Road caution -- Richard Cook, Asia Times

Do the Americans know who they’re fighting in Afghanistan — or why? -- Jason Burke, Spectator

Egypt's Allies Shrug as Sissi Ensures Sham Election -- Frida Ghitis, World Politics Review

Macron Leads France Back into Diplomatic Limelight -- Julia Amalia Heyer, Spiegel Online

Is the Czech Republic moving closer to China and Russia? -- Keno Verseck, DW

The Last 48 Hours Have Been Good for Putin -- Steven L. Hall, The Cipher Brief

Sea Cables in a Thawing Arctic -- Elizabeth Buchanan, The Interpreter

The Long Shadow of A.Q. Khan: How One Scientist Helped the World Go Nuclear -- Catherine Collins and Douglas Frantz, Foreign Policy

El Rancho High School teacher knows nothing of America’s military, sacrifice -- Army Capt. Tyler Merritt, Military Times