The Islamic State's Terrifying Strategy -- David Ignatius, Washington Post

WASHINGTON -- A centerpiece of President Obama's strategy for defeating the Islamic State is mobilizing tribal fighters to join the Iraqi military in retaking Anbar and other Sunni-dominated provinces. But new research shows the jihadists have been working since 2009 to gut the very Sunni tribal leadership on which Obama's rollback depends -- making the U.S. campaign much more difficult.

U.S. strategists want to create a "national guard" version of the tribal militia known as the "Awakening," which in 2007 and 2008 crushed al-Qaeda in Iraq, the predecessor of the Islamic State. But overlooked evidence shows that the jihadists have worked systematically to destroy the Awakening and assassinate tribal leaders who might challenge their rule.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- November 21, 2014

ISIS: The Unstoppable Juggernaut -- Paul D. Shinkman, US News and World Report

Are Mass Killings by IS Group Genocide? -- Sharon Behn, VOA

How ISIS Corporatized Terror -- Cam Simpson, Bloomberg Businesweek

The war against Islamic State: The tide may slowly be turning against the jihadists in Iraq and Syria -- The Economist

Seven unlikely events in the fight against Islamic State, and their likely outcomes -- Aki Peritz and Tara Maller, Reuters

US, Turkey still not in sync on Syria -- Deb Riechmann, AP

Bashar al-Assad looks more comfortable than ever. -- Jeremy Bowen, New Statesman

Q. and A.: The Difficulties in Reaching a Nuclear Agreement With Iran -- David Sanger, NYT

Ebola crisis in Liberia: 'One in two workers now jobless' -- BBC

Putin Would Risk Everything In A War With Ukraine -- Martin van Creveld, Worldcrunch

Ukraine crisis: Will war return? -- BBC

Russia’s lackluster economy means Putin simply can’t afford a new Cold War -- Geoffrey Smith, Fortune

Healing Colombia's Scars of War -- Wesley Tomaselli, OZY

Why the Surveillance State Lives On -- Michael Hirsh, Newsweek

What the War Classics Teach Us about Fighting Terrorists -- Colonel (Ret.) Philip Lisagor, Cicero magazine

Left or right: whose side is The Hunger Games on? -- The Telegraph