Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- February 9, 2018 (Evening Edition)

Mr Pence (L) and North Koreans Kim Yong-nam (C) and Kim Yo-jong (C) studiously ignored each other at the opening ceremony

BBC: Winter Olympics 2018: Who is winning the propaganda battle?

Two unusual guests marked the beginning of the Winter Olympics in South Korea - North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister and the father of a US student who died after being jailed in North Korea.

Kim Yo-jong and Fred Warmbier are the faces of their respective countries' propaganda efforts amid tension over North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.

On a day that was supposed to be about sport, their presence was one of many diplomatic subtexts.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- February 9, 2018

Let the Games Begin! Asia’s third Winter Olympiad kicks off -- Andrew Salmon, Asia Times

5 takeaways to remember from the 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony -- Rachel Axon, USA Today

Where does this end? Dangers if US leaves Syria -- or stays -- Nick Paton Walsh, Ghazi Balkiz and

Scott McWhinnie, CNN

Hijab Protests Expose Iran’s Core Divide -- Robin Wright, New Yorker

Turkey and Iran: On a Collision Course -- Jacob L. Shapiro, Geopolitical Futures

Turkey's objectives are not quite what they seem in Afrin -- Hassan Hassan, The National

The U.S. Needs to Rethink What Winning in Afghanistan Looks Like -- Nicholas Grossman, NRO

China’s latest move in the graveyard of empires -- Pepe Escobar, Asia Times

Kenya's Crisis of Legitimacy -- Matt Carotenuto, RCW

Corsica is a test of the French Republic’s authority -- Tom Wheeldon, CAPX

There's a Crack Between the U.S. and Europe Over China -- Hal Brands, Bloomberg

Putin’s Opposition Stabbed, Bludgeoned, Burned, Even Attacked With Poison Gas -- Amy Knight, Daily Beast

Ukraine's Top Spy Is Pleased With Trump -- Eli Lake, Bloomberg

Justice Without Borders for Venezuela -- Ricardo Hausmann, Project Syndicate