Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- August 23, 2017

Pepe Escobar, Asia Times: Korea, Afghanistan and the Never Ending War trap

While the US-backed 'Hunger Games' in South Korea plow on, a 'new strategy' for Afghanistan is really all about business. But China is already there

There are more parallels between an unfinished 1950s war in Northeast Asia and an ongoing 16-year-old war in the crossroads between Central and South Asia than meet the eye. Let’s start with North Korea.

Once again the US/South Korea Hunger Games plow on. It didn’t have to be this way.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- August 23, 2017

Trump's Afghan Strategy Is Different, and Braver, Than Obama's -- Meghan L. O’Sullivan, Bloomberg

Trump Goes from Afghanistan War Skeptic to True Believer -- Christopher A. Preble, National Interest

Why Are We Losing in Afghanistan? -- Daniel Byman, Lawfare

As Trump Announces Afghanistan Strategy, Here’s What the War Has Cost -- Yuval Rosenberg, Fiscal

Times

Talks Reassure Israel That U.S. Wants Iran Out of Syria -- Eli Lake, Bloomberg

Understanding Kim Jong Un’s nuclear game plan -- Peter Apps, Reuters

US sanctions China, Russia companies for helping North Korea -- David Brunnstrom and Doina Chiacu, Asia Times

How Kim Jong-un Saved the World from North Korea -- Sergey Radchenko & Campbell Craig, National Interest

North Korea: Bad History -- Leon V. Sigal, 38 North

The Dark Side of China's Tech Boom -- Eugene Chow, The Diplomat

The Achilles Heel of Putin’s Regime -- Anders Åslund, Project Syndicate

Catalonia’s Fight for Independence Turns Nasty -- Mark Nayler, The Spectator

The New Nuclear Danger -- Joschka Fischer, Project Syndicate

Can Anything Stop Rural Decline? Small towns across Japan are on the verge of collapse. Whether they can do so gracefully has consequences for societies around the globe. -- Alana Semuels, The Atlantic

As global hostilities rise, Trump is no help -- Peter Apps, Reuters