Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- August 28, 2018

Image: Kurdish fighters from the People's Protection Units (YPG) run across a street in Raqqa, Syria July 3, 2017. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

Daniel Byman, National Interest: Why States are Turning to Proxy War

Often proxy war promises to hit the political sweet spot between doing too little and too high a cost. In reality, however, it is an imperfect form of warfare.

The Syrian Civil War is the world’s bloodiest conflict, and much of the blame can be laid at the feet of Syria’s neighbors and the world’s major powers. So far, France, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the uae, the United Kingdom and of course the United States have all intervened—and this long list of countries excludes the dozens of other coalition members that back U.S. efforts or otherwise played smaller roles. These states have bombed their enemies in Syria, provided money, arms and training to allied government or rebel groups, offered a safe haven to fighters, pressed their preferred cause at international fora like the United Nations, and otherwise used their power to help a local group that acts as a proxy for their interests.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- August 28, 2018

Is the US Supporting Kurdish Insurgents Against Iran? -- Xander Snyder. Geopolitical Futures

Navigating the Syrian endgame -- Carl Bildt, The Strategist

Will Iran’s hard currency market return to normalcy? -- Bijan Khajehpour, Al-Monitor

The Future Is Now: Iran's Drought Crisis Is Fueling the Country's Political Instability -- Matthew Reisener, National Interest

Ambitious UAE flexes military muscle -- Nael Shama, Reuters

Will Myanmar's military face justice over Rohingya 'genocide'? -- AFP

Why Washington and Seoul Need to Harmonize Their Approaches to North Korea -- Patrick M. Cronin, National Interest

Denuclearization stalled as Kim outplays Trump -- Andrew Salmon, Asia Times

Afghanistan gets a diplomat as its new national security adviser -- Ruchi Kumar, Asia Times

Can India Help the United States Against China? -- Oriana Skylar Mastro, Lawfare

Greece ends EU bailout period but decades of pain ahead as economy recovers -- Anne Bagamery, ABC News Online

Crypto solution provides little for troubled Venezuelans -- Richard Cook, Asia Times

“Fake News” and Unrest in Nicaragua -- Jon Lee Anderson, New Yorker

Details of the preliminary US-Mexico trade deal, at a glance -- Josh Boak, AP

Why Canada’s exclusion from US-Mexico deal raises obstacle -- Paul Wiseman, AP