Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- August 20, 2018

James Phillips, National Interest: Iran's Economy Can't be Shielded from U.S. Sanctions

Tehran has no real defense against U.S. sanctions.

EU efforts to protect Iran from U.S. sanctions are doomed to fail, but could help undermine the effectiveness of sanctions.

The EU is trying to salvage the Iran nuclear deal by assembling a package of economic incentives to induce Iran to remain in the nuclear agreement. On June 6, the European Commission updated its Blocking Statute to prohibit EU firms from complying with American sanctions and protect European companies trading with Iran from secondary sanctions imposed by Washington.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- August 20, 2018

This Is Why Iran Won't Negotiate with Trump -- Mehdy Shaddel, National Interest

How North Korea works around sanctions -- Bertil Lintner, Asia Times

Possible Xi Jinping visit to North Korea raises concerns in Seoul -- Elizabeth Shim, UPI

Empty hotels, idle boats: What happens when a Pacific island upsets China -- Farah Master, Reuters

Taiwan is key to US power in Pacific -- Seth Cropsey, The Hill

US pulls its punch on new Myanmar sanctions -- Bertil Lintner, Asia Times

Managing Pakistan’s Bomb: Learning on the job -- Pervez Hoodbhoy and Zia Mian, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

Don’t cheer Greece’s bailout exit just yet -- Paul Wallace, Reuters

Greece is finally done with its epic bailout binge -- Ivana Kottasová, CNN

Western Sanctions on Russia’s Oil and Gas Sector: a Damage Assessment -- Tatiana Mitrova, Carnegie

Venezuela's plan to fight runaway inflation lacks key ingredients -- Larry Elliott, The Guardian

Venezuela is pegging its economic recovery to a cryptocurrency that’s widely considered a scam -- Kate Rooney, CNBC

Anti-Ortega protests in Nicaragua: Torture, blacklists and job dismissals -- Sandra Weiss, DW

Spy vs. President. The nation’s top former intelligence officials come together to issue a stunning rebuke to Trump. -- Fred Kaplan, Slate

In a warming world, the fight for water can push nations apart—or bring them together -- Zoë Schlanger, Naveena Sadasivam, Daniel Wolfe & David Yanofsky, Quartz