Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- October 23, 2019

Turkey-backed Syrian fighters break down a door in Ras al-Ain on 19 October (AFP)

Richard Falk, Middle East Eye: What are the real reasons for Turkey's operation in Syria?

Turks are supportive of the offensive, so long as it is limited to border security and counterterrorism goals

Ever since things started to go badly wrong in Syria after the uprising prompted by the 2011 Arab Spring, the customary fog of war has morphed into an impenetrable black box.

None of the intervening political actors - Turkey, the US, Iran, Russia, Israel, UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia - calculated correctly, nor did the various non-state extremist groups associated with al-Qaeda and later the Islamic State (IS), and a variety of anti-Damascus Syrian insurgencies.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- October 23, 2019

Analysis: What does the Adana deal mean for Turkey and Syria? -- Ali Younes, Al Jazeera

Kurds Betrayal -- Gil Barndollar, RCD

Hit Turkey Where it Hurts — Help Armenia -- Robert Nicholson, Providence

Russia-Turkey deal shatters Syria Kurd dreams of self-rule -- Jean-Marc Mojon, AFP

China’s Economic Growth Slows to a 30-Year Low. But Is It the U.S. Trade War? -- Eamon Barrett, Fortune

China’s Own ‘Great Delusion’ -- Elliott Zaagman, RCD/Interpreter

Don’t be surprised when South Korea wants nuclear weapons -- Byong-Chul Lee, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

Russia Africa summit: What's behind Moscow's push into the continent? -- BBC

Russia as an Asia Pacific Power -- Dr. Elizabeth Buchanan, Second Line of Defense

Berlin Worried about IS Fighters Coming Home -- Spiegel Online

How did a protest over transport fares snowball into an uprising over Chile's future? -- Sean Mantesso, ABC News Online

Chile’s Protests Aren’t Like Other Latin American Protests -- Mac Margolis, Bloomberg

How Mexico Became a Failed State -- Manuel Suárez-Mier, Asia Times

How Hong Kong protests are inspiring movements worldwide -- William Yang, DW