Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- October 24, 2014

Militant Islamist fighters on a tank take part in a military parade along the streets of northern Raqqa province June 30, 2014. Credit: Reuters/Stringer

Iraq And The U.S. Are Losing Ground To The Islamic State -- David Ignatius, Washington Post

Jalal al-Gaood, one of the tribal leaders the United States has been cultivating in hopes of rolling back extremists in Iraq, grimly describes how his home town in Anbar province was forced this week to surrender to fighters from the Islamic State.

The extremists were moving Wednesday toward Gaood’s town of Al-Zwaiha, the stronghold of his Albu Nimr clan just east of the Euphrates River. The attacking force had roughly 200 fighters and about 30 armed trucks. Al-Zwaiha’s defenders were running out of ammunition and food and wondered whether they should make a deal with the marauding jihadists.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- October 24, 2014

The anti-ISIS coalition - military plans and political risks -- Ben Barry, International Institute for Strategic Studies

Syria will not get resolution while the opposition bickers -- Hassan Hassan, The National

Turkey’s New Kurdish Problem -- Mustafa Akyol, NYT

Turks, Kurds, Americans: the Kobani riddle -- Pepe Escobar, RT

Obama gives Syria’s Assad another pass on chemical weapons -- Washington Post editorial

Learning a New Afghan President’s Style -- Azam Ahmed, NYT

Adam Smith To Xi Jinping, Wealthy Nations Need Good Laws -- Wang Yong, World Crunch

Ethiopia, 30 years after the famine -- David Smith, The Guardian

The Future of China and Russia: Can a David Fracture a Goliath? -- Walter C. Clemens, Jr., The Diplomat

Special Report: Why Ukraine's revolution remains unfinished -- Richard Woods, Reuters

Can an election calm the crisis in Ukraine? -- Balázs Jarábik, The Guardian/Eurasia Outlook

Has Putin Already Won in Ukraine? Sure Looks That Way -- Carol Matlack, Bloomberg Businessweek

Russia Tones Down the Rhetoric as Its Economy Struggles -- Rob Garver, The Fiscal Times

Swedish Hunt For Russian Sub Recalls Cold War -- Christopher Harress, IBTimes

Ottawa Shooting Is Latest in Growing List of Attacks Linked to Extremism -- Shreeya Sinha, NYT

This is not supposed to happen in Canada -- Andrew Cohen, CNN