1213-2006f - FOREIGN PRESS REVIEW (FPR) - ‘Relevant news, views, comments and analysis from all around the world’ Compiled by Şanlı Bahadır Koç U.S. / Britain / Turkey / Magazines / Think-tanks / Blogs / Misc /Books / Quickread / Numbers / Reports - FPR Table - Subscribe to FPR

H1 Los Angeles Times Pentagon plans to send more U.S. troops to Iraq Military officials argue that an intensified effort, including a confrontation with Sadr, may be the only way to provide a chance for victory.

Financial Times COMMENT: The way to Iraq is through Iran Iran is in a stronger position than the US – and Iran knows it, writes Anatol Lieven

Pentagon to share jet fighter technology Britain’s threat to pull out of the $276bn Joint Strike Fighter programme appeared to have been lifted after the Pentagon agreed to give the UK sensitive defence technology.

COMMENT AND ANALYSIS: Fraught at the frontiers: why Europe is losing faith in its most successful policy

The falling dollar Economists’ Forum: Brad Setser, Andrew Smithers, Michael Dooley, Fred Bergsten and others

PBS Experts Still Divided After Iraq Study Group Recommendations

Guardian A matter of crude politics Dilip Hiro: Conspicuous by its absence from the ISG report was any mention of Iraq's oil reserves. That does not mean the US has lost interest in them.

Saudi plan offers a lifeline Simon Tisdall: Fearful that the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority could collapse under the weight of its violent contradictions, Israeli leaders are refocusing on the 2002 Saudi peace plan as a way of inducing the Palestinians back into substantive negotiations

SPIEGEL INTERVIEW WITH GERMANY'S FOREIGN MINISTER "Splitting Iraq Would Lead to Terrible Bloodshed"

Christian Science Monitor Bush's rethink on Iraq He is crafting the 'way forward' by consulting everyone from Iraqi politicians to retired generals to historians.

John Hughes: US may talk to Syria, but not Iran

Iraq battle lines fracture mixed middle-class neighborhoods Tribal animosities are flaring anew just as security forces seem stretched too thin to react.

CSIS Winning in Afghanistan: How to Face the Rising Threat Anthony Cordesman, More

George Perkovich Washington’s Iraq Dilemma: Why Engaging Iran Is a Good Idea

WP Beyond Baker-Hamilton One Approach to a Last Try at Stability in Iraq By Barry R. McCaffrey,

Military to Request More Troops

Final Arab Human Development Report (AHDR)

PBS Experts Still Divided After Iraq Study Group Recommendations

Brent Scowcroft interview.

Dan Drezner Is offshore balancing possible in the Middle East

Democracy in America Bring back the League of Nations

At best useless and at worst dangerous By Amir Taheri

EurasiaNet

Daily Star Revisiting the debate on America's pro-Israel lobby
By Rami G. Khouri

CFR Steinberg: Israel Sees Diplomatic Proposals in Baker-Hamilton Report a Rerun of ‘Failed’ Policies of Past

"U.S. Army Intelligence Activities," Army Regulation 381-10, 22 November 2005 (2.7 MB PDF).

H2 Washington Institute The Iraq Study Group Report and the PKK: Dealing with an American Problem by Soner Çağaptay

Independent – Leader Leading article: An impasse, but not an impossiblity The major countries of the EU must make it clear to Athens as well as Nicosia that they will not accept the whole union being held hostage to this sectoral interest.

PostGlobal Four experts examine Turkey-Greece relations.

FT EUROPE: Turkish PM gloomy as EU restricts negotiations

IHT Turkey assails EU's decision to partially suspend entry talks The decision on Turkey set the scene for a European summit meeting Thursday where EU enlargement will figure prominently.
EU acts against Ankara for failure to open ports to Cyprus

RFE Turkey: EU Applies The Brakes On Ankara's Membership Bid

Trade boom to continue with US Turkish-American trade has doubled since 1999

Washington realist Turkey's Sour Grapes

NYT New Faces in Fabled Istanbul

WP Istanbul Tumult on the Water The morning rush between Europe and Asia on the Bosporus Strait is best endured sipping a glass of Turkish tea and watching the waterbound mayhem through a spray-splashed window.

13 Aralık 2006 Basın Özeti

Türkiye'nin tek seçeneği AB değil MİHAİL İVAD

ABD'ye güvenilir mi? Avni Özgürel

ALİ BAYRAMOĞLU Asker-sivil gerginliği: İlkeler ve sorumlular

Taha Kıvanç

TAHA KIVANÇ Bir hâdise var

FEHMİ KORU Anayasa ve hükümet

Fehmi Koru İki anahtar

NAZLI ILICAK

Ömer Lütfi Mete Komutan kendini ne sanıyor?

Rauf DENKTAŞ AB tarafsız olamaz

Sadi SOMUNCUOĞLU
Devletle meydan savaşı!..

Google News Kurdish Kurdish Media

The establishment of an independent Kurdistan: A winning strategy By N McTyre

Baker-Hamilton’s Report is a Resume for Disaster KurdishMedia.com - By Eamad Mazouri

Our people are anxious, where are the Kurdish leaders? - By Dr Kamal Mirawdeli

How to resist Baker-Hamilton dangerous recommendations? By Mala Bakhtyar

A letter to Dr Barham Salih

Baker-Hamilton Report: A dire warning to the Kurdish leadership By Dr Hussein Tahiri

The Iraq Study Group report, Good deal for our enemies’ Bad deal ...
Kurdish Aspect

Irak'ta Federalizm... Gerilim Dolu Bir Karar

SUNNIS, SHI'A, AND THE BIG, BAD PKK By Mizgîn

MEMRI Hizbullah Rooting Itself in Southeast Turkey

Gonul asks Baghdad not to impose 'unrealistic' future on Kirkuk

Google News Greece - Cyprus

Helikopter ihalesinde karar çıkmadı

ATAK’ta ibre ABD’li Apache’ye döndü

Savaş helikopteri ihalesi sona erdi

Genelkurmay: Sözde gündem oluşturuluyor

Arınç Büyükanıt’la ne konuştu

Eser Karakaş Limanlar ve Gümrük Birliği

Kıbrıs için karar vermek M.Ali Kışlalı

Şamil Tayyar MİT’in itirafı

HAKAN ALBAYRAK Suriye bizim iç politikamıza girer

İBRAHİM KARAGÜL 'Ülkemi bombalayın' diyen lider ve milyonların sesi!

Almanya'da Türkiye Tartışması

Serdar Turgut Sezer ve politika

American Conservative They Only Look Dead Neoconservatives lobbied for an unnecessary war and are getting blamed. But they have made comebacks before. by Scott McConnell

EurasiaNet Nagorno-Karabakh Gains a Constitution, But Little Clarity for Future

H3 "Türk halkı Ralston'ı dışlamasın" Washington, PKK ile Mücadeleden Sorumlu Özel Temsilci emekli Orgeneral Joseph Ralston'ın, Kuzey Irak'taki çabalarının sürdüğünü belirterek, Ankara'nın Ralston'a kapıyı kapatmamasını istedi.

ABD’den PKK girişimi

Ralston, Baser agree on timeline for PKK fight

Sezer: Erken seçim olmalı, baraj inmeli . Haberin Devamı>>>

Büyükanıt: Demokrasiye bağlılık yemini ettik

Genelkurmay: 'Bir komutan' mahreçli haberler yönlendirme amaçlı

Gül: Köşk ve Genelkurmay politika yapıyor

Ahmet Hakan Bu ikiliye dikkat!

Cüneyt Ülsever Tamamen içimize kapanıyoruz!

M Ali Birand AB,Türkiye’den vaz geçemedi …

Cengiz Çandar The moment for European compromise and Turkish self-deception

Denklemde Kıbrıs

M. Ali Birand AB dışişleri bakanlarının kararını değerlendirdi

Ağar Ulusalcı platforma kızdı: Demokrasi dışı tutumlara heveslenmeyin

Demirel, ulusalcı oluşuma destek verdi

İç Basında Türk Dış Politikası

Dış Basında Türkiye-AB İlişkileri - Dış Basında Güncel Türkiye Bülteni

Dış Basında Irak BBC Turkish 0700

Dış Basında Türkiye Turkish Press Review Google News Turkey Turquie Türkei TurcoPundit

'AB'nin vizyonu yok, Türkiye'ye haksızlık yapıldı'

Erdoğan, Clinton'la yemek yiyecek

Gül: Büyükanıt, üzüntüsünü iletti

Yeni kriter getirilmeyecek

'İslam dünyasına kötü mesaj verildi, her iki taraf için de olumsuz sonuçları olacak'

AB ile ilişkilerin dozunu mağdur taraf belirler

'Avrupa Birliği öldürmedi ama sıtmaya razı etti'

[HABER ANALİZ] AB'den yine Türkiye klasiği: Yapıcı muğlaklık

Finlandiya bir fasıl açılması için bastırıyor

Taha AKYOL Top, Merkel'de

Cengiz Çandar Tüm yazıları AB ile katılım süreci yerine “kriz statükosu”na...

İsmet Berkan - Kıbrıs: Kutunun dışında düşünmek

Fikret BİLA Türkiye direndiği alanda güçlü değil

Hasan CEMAL AB'ye düşen nedir?

Güneri CIVAOĞLU Çankaya güzergâhı

Haluk Şahin - Erken seçim ve AB'nin altın golü

Murat Yetkin - 'Liman krizi'nden çıkarılacak dersler

ABDÜLHAMİT BİLİCİ - Paşam sen çok yaşa, ama Rogers Planı'nı da unutma!

MUSTAFA ÜNAL - Liman manevrası…

TAMER KORKMAZ - Perdenin Arkası

Gül, vekillere bilgi verdi

Rumlara karşı Kuzey rüzgarı

Germany's difficult task: Ending isolation of Turkish Cypriots

Rum tacizi böldü Kıbrıs'ta Rum yönetiminin güneye geçen Türklere karşı uyguladığı sistemli baskı ile ırkçı Rumların taciz ve şiddet eylemleri, iki halkın ortak bir devlet çatısı altında bir arada yaşaması umudunu sona erdirdi ... Haberin Devamı>>>

Bilal Çetin Liman krizi ‘küllendirilmeye’ çalışılıyor...

Blair: Türkiye’ye sırt çevirmek stratejik hata

İngiliz bakan KKTC deyince Rum köpürdü

İlnur Çevik We have to get used to living with the EU

[Yorum - M. Naci Bostancı] Kimliklerin zırhını kuşanmak

[Yorum - Dr. Ümit Kardaş] Türkiye solunu arıyor (1)

Ege Cansen Faizi kim ödüyor kim alıyor

Uğur Gürses - Büyümenin perşembesi!

Mustafa Aysan - Çevre ve ekonomik büyüme

Hurşit GÜNEŞ Talep, politikalarla mı frenlendi?

Güngör URAS Üretimde büyükler kazanıyor, küçükler ağlıyor

Ercan Kumcu 1950’lerden beri ithalat artışı olmadan büyüme olmuyor

Deniz Gökçe Büyüme felaket mi?

Saruhan Özel Ya ekonomi duraklarsa?

Leader Pushes Spain to Left, Rejecting Calls to Slow Down

MAUREEN DOWD Will Hillzilla Crush Obambi? Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Hussein Obama both straddle two worlds, trying to profit from both.

H5 Washington Post Most Favor Iraq Study Group Plan, Poll Finds War-weary public appears hungry for ideas that represent change, but political leaders are uncertain whether proposals would improve situation.

Beyond Baker-Hamilton One Approach to a Last Try at Stability in Iraq By Barry R. McCaffrey,

Dying for 'Maybe' By Richard Cohen, James A. Baker III, the renowned foreign policy realist, looked realism in the eye -- and blinked. The Iraq report recommended many things, but shied from the most realistic one of all: Get the hell out as soon as possible.

The GOP's Iraq Two-Step By Harold Meyerson, Where do the Republicans' likely 2008 presidential candidates come down on Iraq?

Military to Request More Troops Iraq, Afghanistan wars sharply decrease readiness of units rotating back to the United States.

Bush Delays Speech on Iraq Strategy Address on Policy Shift Postponed Until After Turn of Year

U.S. Commander Says Withdrawal Won't Be Soon

Succeeding In Kosovo By: Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Çeku

Don't Write Off Democracy By Janusz Reiter, Twenty-five years ago today, communist generals declared martial law in Poland. Many Poles, to whom the creation of Solidarity over a year earlier had given hope of freedom, saw this as an end to their dreams. In reality, as we now know, this was the beginning of the end for communism.

66% Think U.S. Spies on Its Citizens 52% in Poll Back Hearings on Handling of Domestic Surveillance

Figures in Spy Poison Probe Are Old Friends

Men have long-standing bonds with exiled enemies of Putin, who are the favored suspects in Moscow

H6 Guardian The breakup of the Soviet Union ended Russia's march to democracy Stephen Cohen: Putin's Russia can only be understood in the light of the national collapse triggered by the dissolution of the USSR.

A matter of crude politics Dilip Hiro: Conspicuous by its absence from the ISG report was any mention of Iraq's oil reserves. That does not mean the US has lost interest in them.

Saudi plan offers a lifeline Simon Tisdall: Fearful that the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority could collapse under the weight of its violent contradictions, Israeli leaders are refocusing on the 2002 Saudi peace plan as a way of inducing the Palestinians back into substantive negotiations

Leader Undeniably offensive
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad himself was the power behind the Tehran conference on the Holocaust that has rightly been giving the Islamic Republic such negative media exposure in the west.

Move to bring genocide case against Ahmadinejad
Outgoing US ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, is backing a call for Iran's president to be charged with inciting genocide.

Iraq bombs kill at least 71 Shia
Over 200 wounded in Baghdad blasts that targeted men looking for work.

Pinochet is gone, but his methods are still with us Adnan Siddiqui and Victoria Brittain: A new report collating first-hand accounts gives us the clearest view yet of the torture going on in the US's secret prisons.

Our enemies will burn in hell with us, says Karzai
The Afghan president Hamid Karzai warned that his country's enemies 'will burn in hell with us' if Nato fails to stop Taliban

Calls for Olmert to resign after nuclear gaffe
PM admits on TV that Israel has atomic weapons.

H7 British Middle East Policy: The Counterterrorism Dimension MERIA

CNN: Bush Is ‘Very Seriously’ Considering Sending More Troops To Iraq

White House: Bush's new Iraq policy largely decided

PBS Experts Still Divided After Iraq Study Group Recommendations

Brent Scowcroft interview.

Dan Drezner Is offshore balancing possible in the Middle East

Democracy in America Bring back the League of Nations

At best useless and at worst dangerous By Amir Taheri

Rumsfeld on Iraq report: 'I haven't read it'

The Baker-Hamilton Recommendations: Too Little, Too Late? by Leon Hadar

ISG Whispers the Truth With Its Hands Over Its Ears by Matthew Yglesias

American Conservative They Only Look Dead Neoconservatives lobbied for an unnecessary war and are getting blamed. But they have made comebacks before. by Scott McConnell

Washington Times Speak with Gen. Jones Iraq may or may not be fixable. However, Afghanistan can be turned around if we act now. Unfortunately, Afghanistan has become the forgotten war and a war that cannot be lost if the West is to be secure.

An Afghan study group of one By Harlan Ullman

ISG report, circa 1943

By Paul Greenberg

Iraq Study Group Report a Misleading Fantasy - Youssef Ibrahim

Time To Face Facts About Surging Iraq War Costs By: Kevin Hassett | Bloomberg News

Le Monde Canards boiteux, par Daniel Vernet

Time Laying the Groundwork for a 'Cabinet Reshuffle' in Iraq

Wolfowitz Clashes With World Bank Staff, Appoints GOP Advisers

Heritage Foundation Kofi Annan's Legacy of Failure

H8 Google News Iraq Iran Syria Mideastwire.com - NPR Iraq

Final Arab Human Development Report (AHDR)

Daily Star Don't let the Iranians play an official role inside Iraq
By Iason Athanasiadis

BBC Bush delays fresh Iraq strategy

The US president postpones his announcement of a new American strategy for Iraq until early next year.

Growing pressure
The US president is caught between Iraq and a hard place

Iraqi alliance
Key leaders move to isolate radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr

McClatchy Showdown highlights cleric's tenuous grip on power

UPI Eye on Iraq: Musical chairs in Baghdad

Iraq's Sunni VP Slams Nations Shi'ite-Run Security

Ahmadinejad May Be Heading for His First Major Political Defeat, by Amir Taheri, Arab News

Iran: Israel 'will end like USSR'

Boston Globe Editorial Iran's great pretender

Clerics posing threat to Ahmadinejad Hard-line Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad faces a potential setback at the hands of the nation's traditional conservatives in elections Friday for a government oversight body that will one day choose a successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

CFR Two Iranian Elections: One Local, One Lofty

US Will Not Allow Syria To Reassert Authority Over Lebanon: Rice A full transcript of Rice's interview

Rice: Direct Talks With Iran, Syria Not on US Agenda

Chris Nelson on Amb. Turki's sudden departure 08:47 AM

Analysis: Gadhafi riding high on oil

Musharraf’s Kashmir Offer
Council on Foreign Relations

H9 Ha’aretz - German Chancellor says military option 'not on the table' for Iran

Editorial  Iran grows strong, the world yawns

How many does the world really have?  

Report: Russia to start shipping nuclear fuel to Iran next March

Daily Star Revisiting the debate on America's pro-Israel lobby
By Rami G. Khouri

Le Monde Israël et la bombe

CFR Steinberg: Israel Sees Diplomatic Proposals in Baker-Hamilton Report a Rerun of ‘Failed’ Policies of Past

Ambiguity isn't what it used to be
Jerusalem Post

Daily Alert.org - EJC Israeli Press Review – Google News Israel –

Israel eyes alliance with Sunni Arab states

Iran Pledges $250 Million to Hamas-Led PA

BBC PM dismisses Israel nuclear row

Israel's PM reiterates his country's position of nuclear weapons ambiguity amid a row over an apparent slip-up.

Unorthodox Jews
What are rabbis doing at Tehran's 'Holocaust denial' conference?

Justin Raimondo 12/13/2006 Israel, Alone

Yedioth Ahronoth 'Israel not compared to Iran'
In first American response to Prime Minister Olmert's indirect admission that Israel possesses nuclear weapons, State Department spokesman says there is no change in Israel's policy. Gulf states: Impose sanctions on Israel

Jerusalem Post Vice Premier Peres: Ambiguity has achieved its goal Peres accused of violating ambiguity in Sept. when he said that Ahmadinejad should "bear in mind that his country could be destroyed, too."

Right on: A plea to American Christians
[ MICHAEL FREUND

NPQ Jimmy Carter: ISRAEL'S APARTHEID SYSTEM IS AS PENETRATING AS SOUTH AFRICA'S; IRAQ WAR HAS ENHANCED IRAN'S POWER; PINOCHET SUCCUMBED TO U.S. HUMAN-RIGHTS POLICIES

State Dept: No Change in Policy Over Israel's Nukes

IsraPundit Carter and Baker

H10 Christian Science Monitor Bush's rethink on Iraq He is crafting the 'way forward' by consulting everyone from Iraqi politicians to retired generals to historians.

John Hughes: US may talk to Syria, but not Iran

Iraq battle lines fracture mixed middle-class neighborhoods Tribal animosities are flaring anew just as security forces seem stretched too thin to react.

Germany's role grows as agenda-setter

Chancellor Merkel gets high marks as Germany prepares to lead the EU next year and host the G-8 summit.

Israeli High Court strikes down ban of Palestinian intifada lawsuits

Ruling cancels part of Israel's immunity from paying for damages caused by IDF operations

THE MONITOR'S VIEW

Avoiding fireworks in China

Poisoned-spy case tests Europe's cross-border cooperation

As Germany and Interpol join the Litvinenko investigation, clues - and agendas - are often at odds.

Abe at Crossroads of Reform By: Keizo Nabeshima | The Japan Times

PAPER: Pope speaks out against US handling of war on terror...

Why did we spy on Di? NSA admits vacuuming up info...

H11 IHT Russia gets tough on energy sales to Europe Moscow has no intention of following EU guidelines that would let foreign companies gain access to Russia's vast pipeline network, an adviser to President Vladimir Putin said.
- EU's energy charter

Consumption gap
The assertion that America's middle class has out-consumed the "upper crust" during the Bush years is false, the result of rosy assumptions that turned out to be wrong.

It's not just China, Mr. Paulson PHILIP BOWRING
Given that trade and payments imbalances are the major threat to global economic stability, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and his team should extend their tour to other East Asian capitals besides Beijing.

Pope Benedict XVI issues annual message for peace

Court faults EU decision to target Iran exile group Europe's second-highest court annulled an EU decision that had frozen the funds of an exiled Iranian opposition group and called into question the group's label as a terrorist organization.

Deutsche Bank Launches Shariah Compatible Funds

Fistful of Euros German-American Relations

H12 RFE/RL

Google News Azerbaijan

EDM ODESSA-BRODY-EUROPE OIL TRANSPORT PROJECT SHELVED INDEFINITELY

- RUSSIA SEEKS U.S., IRANIAN HELP TO SETTLE NORTH CAUCASUS CONFLICTS

- UZBEKISTAN CONSIDERS RAPPROCHEMENT WITH THE WEST

EurasiaNet Nagorno-Karabakh Gains a Constitution, But Little Clarity for Future

Interpol joins Litvinenko inquiry

H13 The Times Slip of the tongue or a nuclear warning? Bronwen Maddox: Would it make much of a difference if Israel now dropped its policy of ambiguity and admitted that it had nuclear weapons?

Britain in fighter deal with US An eleventh-hour deal has secured Britain’s involvement in the £140 billion Joint Strike Fighter programme

Lifeline for Darfur

The murderers in Khartoum must be outflanked by diplomacy

US intelligence chief gets confused on al-Qaeda The incoming chairman of a US congressional intelligence committee has struggled to explain his ignorance of al-Qaeda and Hezbollah

Wall Street Journal Republican War Critics Find Cover

Bush's handling of Iraq has long faced attack from the left and a few hawkish conservatives. But the crisis there is giving him a new political headache: high-profile dissent from the center of his own party

Der Spiegel Global Economy: The Fall of the Mighty Dollar

Economist Intelligence Unit survey n:

Asia Times Paulson in China: Tread softly, forget the big stick Expectations are high for this week's mission to China by US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and his high-powered team of cabinet and Federal Reserve officials. Washington will be disappointed though, if it hopes for major concessions over its perennial economic gripes. Instead of trying to force open Beijing's too-hard basket, old China hand Paulson's challenge is to nurture a relationship that will ensure Beijing's future cooperation. - Jing-dong Yuan

China, EU search for new agreementAmid ever stronger political and economic relations, China and the European Union are trying to come to an agreement on a legal framework for their strategic partnership

McClatchy China's aging population may weigh on economy China is steadily turning gray and slowing its gait. Within two decades, China will have 300 million people 60 and older - equivalent to the population of the United States today - and the number of older citizens will keep climbing for a quarter-century after that.

H14 Financial Times COMMENT: The way to Iraq is through Iran Despite the familiar bluster from Washington about “isolating” Iran and Syria if they do not accede to US wishes in the Middle East, Iran is in a stronger position than the US – and Iran knows it, writes Anatol Lieven of the New America Foundation.

Pentagon to share jet fighter technology Britain’s threat to pull out of the $276bn Joint Strike Fighter programme appeared to have been lifted after the Pentagon agreed to give the UK sensitive defence technology.

COMMENT AND ANALYSIS: Fraught at the frontiers: why Europe is losing faith in its most successful policy Senior EU officials say this is a dangerous moment. On Thursday, at a summit in Brussels, member governments will clash over how much further – and how quickly – the Union can extend to the east.

The falling dollar Economists’ Forum: Brad Setser, Andrew Smithers, Michael Dooley, Fred Bergsten and others debate the greenback’s slide

NATIONAL NEWS: Blair takes tougher line against Tehran

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA: Iraq casts shadow on Darfur options

FT REPORT - EGYPT: Marginalised by changing dynamics

FT REPORT - EGYPT: A force to be reckoned with

FT REPORT - EGYPT: A nation moving at different speeds

FT REPORT - EGYPT: Exerting a pull on desert margins

Blair backs no-fly zone over Darfur

COMMENT: Is an independent Scotland economically viable? Alex Salmond, leader of the Scottish National party, and Wendy Alexander, Labour member of the Scottish parliament, debate to what extent Scotland could stand alone.

COMMENT: In some areas, sovereignty should be shared in Europe By Malcolm Rifkind

Olmert plays down nuclear remarks Ehud Olmert, Israeli prime minister, said that he had not changed position regarding the possible existence of nuclear weapons in his country, and stressed that Israel would not be the first in the region to obtain such weapons.

Arab League tries to end Lebanon crisis

THE AMERICAS: Key Bush speech delayed

H15 Los Angeles Times Pentagon plans to send more U.S. troops to Iraq Military officials argue that an intensified effort, including a confrontation with Sadr, may be the only way to provide a chance for victory.

- Poll: Most Americans endorse pullback

Bush will detail new Iraq plan in January

Bush gathers ideas on Iraq

Nuclear 'slip of the lip' puts Olmert on hot seat

China, Russia near accord on Iran sanctions

Desperate laborers again target of suicide bomber

FT COMMENT: Chile blazes the trail for Latin AmericaDespite the recrudescent populism of Hugo Chávez in Venezuela and Evo Morales in Bolivia, a more sober style of democratic politics is cementing its hold across the region, writes Martin Wolf.

World Bank says slow down has begun Developing countries to outperform developed

Court overturns EU freeze on accounts of Iranian exile group Europe’s stance on foreign extremist groups in disarray after court quashes decision to freeze the accounts of an Iranian organisation

Editorial Hypocrisy on bribes The near-worldwide failure to investigate corruption in the Iraqi oil-for-food programme is an embarrassing reminder of the shortcomings of the international crackdown...

COMMENT: How to deal with North Korea The resumption of international talks on North Korea next week provides yet another opportunity to roll back Pyongyang’s nuclear programme, write Minxin Pei and Oriana Skylar Mastro at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington

COMMENT AND ANALYSIS: 'POST-INDUSTRIAL' - OR MORE INDUSTRIOUS THAN EVER?

Trade figures boost US economy The US trade deficit narrowed more than expected in October, the latest figures showed, giving a significant boost to the economy.

Fed keeps rates at 5.25% The Federal Reserve acknowledged recent signs of weakness in the US economy but predicted moderate growth in coming quarters

H16 American Politics Gallup Poll:
Public Trusts Iraq Study Group More Than Bush on Iraq

realclearpolitics – ABC’s The Note - Early Bird GovExec

McCain meets Kissinger.

Is America ready for a black president? Maybe someone like Obama?

DeLay: 'Hillary Will Be the Next President' — Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said today that Sen. Hillary Clinton (D.-N.Y.) would be elected president in 2008 and would probably tap Senate colleague Barack Obama (D.-Ill.) as her running mate

David Out of the Lions’ Den By Doug Bandow Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction by David Kuo

H17 Daily Telegraph Thatcher always honoured Britain's debt to Pinochet
The Chilean dictator installed a secret radar opposite an Argentine air base to provide the Falklands Task Force with vital intelligence, writes Robin Harris.

French mutiny brewing against euro

A doomed currency
The introduction of the euro was based on a deal that none of the member countries would debauch on the new common currency. Now that project is coming apart at the seams

H18 Independent 'New Europe' threatens space centre veto

Minister of intelligence? Reid moves to reform UK's security services

H19Military Intelligence Terrorism

"U.S. Army Intelligence Activities," Army Regulation 381-10, 22 November 2005 (2.7 MB PDF).

Congressional Research Service "U.S. Military Space Programs: An Overview of Appropriations and Current Issues" (pdf), updated August 7, 2006.

"Sea-Based Missile Defense -- Background and Issues for Congress," December 4, 2006.

Effective Counterterrorism and the Limited Role of Predictive Data Mining Source: Cato Institute

Working Paper: International trade, security, and transnational terrorism : theory and empirics Direct to Full Text

Army Wants 'Full Access' to Guard, Reserves

Former Italian spy chief arrested

Congress Wants Answers on Anthrax

American Conservative How to Lose an Army By William S. Lind
Help Iran create a new American hostage crisis—140,000 strong.

Outside View: Russia's rocket policy chaos

Under Gates, DOD Likely to Soften Policy Toward China

The Maintenance Costs of Aging Aircraft: Insights from Commercial Aviation

H20 Slate

UNICEF China's rapid development remains a curious mixture of the unstoppable and unsustainable.State of the World's Children 2007 Report

Social Capital as a Public Policy Tool
PRI This 40-page Canadian report synthesizes the activities, findings and recommendations of a Canadian project studying the value of social capital as a public policy tool

Annual USTR Report to Congress Finds Mixed Record by China in Implementing World Trade Organization Obligations
Source: Office of the United States Trade Representative

The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change

CSIS Investigating alternative fuels
Listen to the event

H21 Computers 'to store entire life by 2026' A device the size of a sugar cube will be able to record and store high resolution video footage of every second of a human life within two decades.

FLASH: 2006 warmest year in Netherlands in 300 years...

Many college profs are “smart, deeply learned” and “stunningly talented ” teachers who do a “fine job.” That’s why colleges don’t need to teach conservative ideas... more»

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