Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- May 18, 2018

President Bashar al-Assad of Syria and Russian President Vladimir Putin. © Mikhail Klementyev/Russian presidential press service/TASS

John Mueller, National Interest: The Price for Peace in Syria Is Cooperation with Assad

Two unpleasant propositions about the lengthy civil war in Syria have been substantially absent from current policy discussions. It seems time to bring them forward and to take them seriously.

The first acknowledges that the forces of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad have pretty much won the war. As journalist Robin Wright noted recently, Assad has managed to “consolidate his hold over the majority of Syria” and now “controls all the major cities.” Grandstanding bombings devised to encourage the regime to kill with bullets and shrapnel rather than with gas are exercises in futility. As she concludes “Assad is . . . winning the war and the reality is that the military strike will not change that.”

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- May 18, 2018

Gaza demonstration: peaceful protest or Hamas-led attack? -- AFP

Iraq election: results should act as a wake-up call that Iraqis want an emphatic move away from sectarianism -- Mohammed Al-Jumaily, National Interest

Jerusalem’s Ramadan Is Different This Year -- Emma Green, The Atlantic

The Iran Deal Exposes Europe’s Weaknesses as a Global Power -- Judah Grunstein, WPR

How Trump Can Deal with North Korea's Pre-Summit Outburst -- Robert E. Kelly, National Interest

Is Indonesia Newly Under Attack? -- Aisyah Llewellyn, The Diplomat

India is freaking out about rising oil prices -- Rishi Iyenga, CNN

Peace is war in Myanmar -- David Scott Mathieson, Asia Times

China's Economy Is Too Frail to Force Open -- Christopher Balding, Bloomberg View

China Has Decided Russia Is Too Risky an Investment -- Maximilian Hess, Foreign Policy

Germany’s illusions about Putin and Russia -- Ingo Mannteufel, DW

Putin’s ‘Five Year Plan’ and Other Sinister Echoes of the Soviets -- Anna Nemtsova, Daily Beast

Italy — what happens next? -- Jacopo Barigazzi and Giulia Paravicini, Politico

The East-West Divide in Europe’s History Wars -- Georgiy Kasianov, Carnegie

Venezuela’s sham May 20 election will not save Maduro - it will only prolong his agony -- Andrés Oppenheimer, Miami Herald