Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- May 14, 2019

Martin Chulov, The Guardian: Iran-US tensions are reaching new heights – and neither is likely to blink

Long-term standoff threatens to turn into crisis after alleged sabotage of two Saudi tankers

A festering four-year war, crippling sanctions, threats to maritime oil trade and a US naval battlegroup steaming for the Persian Gulf. Such developments were troubling enough, before two Saudi tankers were reportedly sabotaged off the UAE coast on Sunday – a development set to ratchet tensions between Tehran and Washington to new and combustible highs.

With Riyadh claiming significant hull damage to its ships and the UAE claiming the damage was done inside its territorial waters, what last week was a looming standoff is now a real-time crisis with potent implications for both global energy security and regional stability.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- May 14, 2019

How Iran is mishandling the fallout of the US sanction -- Nikolay Kozhanov, Al Jazeera

Is Trump Yet Another U.S. President Provoking a War? -- Robin Wright, New Yorker

Analysis: Persian Gulf tensions, unclear threats raise risks -- Jon Gambrell, AP

Oil Seems Remarkably Relaxed as Global Tensions Rise -- Liam Denning, Bloomberg

Will China play a role in lessening US

pressure on Iran? -- Mohsen Shariatinia, Al-Monitor

Tariffs: Donald Trump's trust in trade war tactic is big electoral gamble -- David Smith, The Guardian

Donald Trump’s trade war and souring relations with North Korea hamper China’s efforts to reach out to its neighbours -- Catherine Wong &
Lee Jeong-ho, SCMP

Trump has been right about China for decades while the entire establishment got it wrong -- Steve Hilton, FOX News

Cambodia's Hun Sen launches risky military maneuvers -- David Hutt, Asia Times

How Far Will Erdogan and the AKP Go to Hold Onto Power in Turkey? -- David O’Byrne, WPR

Erdogan Just Committed Political Suicide -- Henri Barkey, Foreign Policy

Cameroon’s Separatist Movement Goes International -- Gareth Browne, Foreign Policy

What’s Really Behind Greece’s Demand for World War Two Reparations? -- Alexis Papazoglou, New Republic

Zelenskiy's First Big Test -- Basil Kalymon, Atlantic Council

In Venezuela, Geopolitics Obscure the True Prize: Oil -- Max Hess, Moscow Times