0113-2007f - FOREIGN PRESS REVIEW (FPR) - ‘Relevant news, views, comments and analyses 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 New York Times Bush Authorized Iranians' Arrest in Iraq, Rice Says President Bush's order appears to formalize the American effort to contain Iran's ambitions as a new front in the Iraq war.

Washington Post Gates Ties Iraq Push to Drawdown Successful Troop Boost Could Mean Withdrawal Starting by Year's End, He Says

CBS US Forces Fighting Iranians in Iraq Pentagon sources tell CBS News the U.S. military has planned covert cross-border raids into Iran — but so far none has been approved.

US Papers Saturday: "Months, Not Years"

Shi'ite time bomb has a short fuse Asia Times Bush's new strategy has the potential to unravel the current US-Shi'ite alliance in Iraq. Then the majority Shi'ites could turn into insurgents overnight, and the country would become a dangerous flashpoint between Iran and the US.

Laura Rozen Is Bush planning an expansion of the war across Iraq's borders, a ...The American Prospect

Salon Did the US just provoke Iran? By Juan Cole

Post Global Let's really speculate: What will Iraq look like 10 years from now?

IHT Can Bush forestall defeat? WILLIAM PFAFF President George W. Bush's speech on expanding the U.S.

Bush's Iraq plan, between the lines
ANTHONY H. CORDESMAN

Bush's tough tactics are a 'declaration of war' on Iran

Guardian Inside Baghdad's civil war 'Jihad against Shias, not the US' As 20,000 more US troops head for Iraq, Ghaith Abdul-Ahad reveals how Sunni insurgency has changed.

Washington's Iraqi "surge": where are the Iraqis? | Reidar Visser

Bush on Iraq Surge: A Kissinger Ploy? Let's assume for a moment the president does have a plan: It might not be what you think.

Martin van Creveld on the US in Iraq: After the surge, inevitable withdrawal

Note from Flynt Leverett: Most Important Parts of Bush Speech About Iran -- Not Iraq

The Consequences of Withdrawal from Iraq Global Politician

FT Israel braced for action

Los Angeles Times U.S. objects to Maliki's choice for commander Premier fills the top military job in Baghdad with a virtually unknown officer despite opposition from both American and Iraqi leaders.

It may be too late to secure Baghdad's mix

The Times China's population imbalance will leave 30 million bachelors by 2022
According to an official report into China's burgeoning population, about one in every ten men aged between 20 and 45 will be unable to find a wife

Bush's Iraq surge leaves Presidential hopefuls floundering over next move

Al Hayat How to Solve the Middle East Crises in 48 Hours! Patrick Seale

Daily Star The Middle East's many problems defy simplistic explanations

Murray Waas previews the start of the Libby trial next week

Cheney Enters the Twilight of His Career

EDM RUSSIA’S ENERGY CONUNDRUM -- LONG TERM BENEFIT OR SHORT TERM GAIN?

- POLITICAL CHANGES IN TURKMENISTAN OPEN NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR AZERBAIJAN

Dani Rodrik on the false promise of financial liberalisation.

Kenneth Rogoff on the $200 trillion question: What could cause macroeconomic volatility to start rising?

H2 Turk PM asserts right to intervene in Iraq, raps US

Wilson ‘Operasyon kararı Türkiye’nin’

Ambassador Wilson discusses the new Iraq strategy on CNN-Turk

OXAN TURKEY: AKP patronage differs from predecessors

Abdullah Öcalan: Türkmenlerin özerk bölgesinin merkezi Tel-Afer olabilir, diyoruz

Barışa bir şans vermek
İsmet Berkan

US ambassador approves Turkey's possible cross-boarder activities

Türk-Kürt çatışması çıkabilir

MİT tarihe bir not düştü

Güya stratejik ortağız

Terörist listesi ABD’de

'Kerkük tüm Iraklıların'
Murat Yetkin Mısır'dan destek

Kürtleri yeni mi fark ettiniz?
Altan Öymen

Ralston: Irak’ta öncelik güvenlikte

PKK demedi

Google News Kurdish Kurdish Media

FT Talabani seeks better ties in Syria visit

Petrolü Batı'ya akıtacak tasarı, Irak hükümetine sunuldu

ABD ile peşmergeler Erbil'de çatışmanın eşiğinden döndü

Condi Rice: "Kurds have no authority over oil in their region"

Kürt konferansı

Ankara'da barışçı çözümün yolları tartışılıyor

Telafer modeli

Meclis'e Kerkük için oturum çağrısı

Kerkük'ün işgali

Turkish fiery statements rejected- Kurdistan spokesman

Kurdish Youth Leave Kurdistan

USA military fails in Iraq but Turkish military will win in Kurdistan

Finland protests arrest of Finnish Kurdistan expert in Turkey

ABD Kürtleri yine yüzüstü bırakmamalı Diane E. King

Kürdistan videosu Google'a girdi

'Başarısız olursak Kürtler bağımsızlığa yönelir'

Even you Baker! By Samir Akreyi
The Kurds must be aware of such weak foreign diplomats and should not trust them again!

Belediye’nin Kürtçe yayınına inceleme

Baydemir'e Kürtçe internet sayfası incelemesi

US, Kurdish Forces in Dispute Over Detained Iranians

Google News Greece - Cyprus

KKTC yüz karası M.Ali Kışlalı

Dimitri duruşu

İnsan Hakları İzleme Örgütü: Türkiye'de derin devlet güçleri reforma direniyor

Erdal Sağlam Enerjide devletçiliğe dönüş

Asıl siyasi risk 2008 yılında Taner Berksoy

Gazi Erçel Hedef tutmazsa

Güngör URAS 'Urkey' ile 'Türkiye' tanıtılamaz

Meral TAMER 2007 Dünyanın Durumu Raporu ne diyor?

Yaman TÖRÜNER Faiz tartışması

Türk şirketleri karamsarlığa büründü!

Ege CANSEN Trafik ve basın

İşimiz Google'nın insiyatifinde mi?

H3 Radikal Erdoğan aday olmayacak mı? AKP liderinin, 'Köşk ve milletvekili seçimlerinin hakkını vermeliyiz, siyasetçi için dinlenmek imkânsız' sözleri şöyle yorumlandı: Çankaya'ya çıkmayacak

Ankara weighs new US strategy in Iraq

Wilson: Kuzey Irak'a operasyona Türkiye kendi karar verir

Felaket senaryosu

FEHMİ KORU Cumhurbaşkanlığı ve Ak Parti

Birand Gül’ün köşk yıldızı parlıyor …

Enis Berberoğlu AB 3 seçime bağlı TSK riske vurgulu

Semih İDİZ Washington'da jeton düştü, ama geç olabilir

Erdoğan: Güya ABD ile stratejik müttefikiz

Başarısız olursak Iraklı Kürtler ve Türkiye karşı karşıya gelir

Sınır ötesi harekata Türkiye karar verir

İran ve Suriye'ye, Irak'tan sınır ötesi operasyon işareti

Gates: Çekilirsek Irak'a ilgi artar

Geleceğin tarihi ve Türkiye BAHADIR KALEAĞASI

Benim canım yanınca ABD niye koşmuyor?

Fikret BİLA Bush'un ve Rice'ın Irak senaryoları

Sadi SOMUNCUOĞLU
Kerkük ‘Ses bombası’ ve ABD’nin kedi-fare oyunu

Can Dündar Kritik eşikte önemli konferans

Hasan CEMAL Ne yazar, kim takar?..

Ross Wilson: Kerkük Irak’ın iç..

Sami KOHEN Irak cephesi genişliyor

Cengiz Çandar

Almanya hızlı davrandı

AB dönem başkanlığını Finlandiya'dan devralan Almanya, göreve gelir gelmez Kıbrıslı Türklere uygulanan izolasyonun kaldırılması için çalışmalara başladı.

Gül: Irak'taki PKK'lıların listesi ABD'de

ABD'den Türkiye'ye 'El Kaide' övgüsü

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

Mehmet Y Yılmaz Bu nasıl yankı, anlayamadım

Şahin Alpay Demokrasi olmadan güvenlik olmaz

İlter Türkmen MİT’in 80. yıldönümü

Yalım Eralp MİT Müsteşarı ne dedi?

[Yorum - Alev Alatlı] Emre Taner'in demecine dipnotlar(1)

Mahmut Övür MİT farkında peki ya siyasetçiler?

NAZLI ILICAK Irak ve Kürt blokajı Lozan'da, Kürtler ve Türkler

Ankara'nın dışarıdan görünüşü
Haluk Şahin

Ömer Lütfi Mete

TAHA KIVANÇ Bir yalan haberin serencamı

Can Ataklı Çuvalda da kabadayılık beklerdik

Mahir Kaynak Irak planı

Derya SAZAK Rice'ın korkusu

Hisseleri geri ver VATAN’ın ortaya çıkarıp ısrarla takip ettiği skandalda son nokta! Danıştay, Tüpraş’ın yüzde 14.76’sının Ofer’e satışını iptal etti...

Hadi Uluengin Lozan’ı deldirtmeyeceğiz!

MAUREEN DOWD A Risky Game of Risk

Editorial

Make Them Fight All of Us By: Thomas L. Friedman I’ll surge on the condition that you once and for all enlist the entire American people in this war effort, and stop putting it all on the shoulders of 130,000 military families, and now 20,000 more.

H5 Washington Post Gates Ties Iraq Push to Drawdown Successful Troop Boost Could Mean Withdrawal Starting by Year's End, He Says

The War Within Sen. McCain Vocal Supporter of Bush Is Increasingly Critical, Isolated

Battling With Sadr for Iraqi Soldiers' Hearts

'Martyr' Funerals Called For Slain Insurgents Taliban's request bolsters claims that Pakistan's tribal regions have provided haven for Islamic groups.

A Peaceful War in Afghanistan

Editorial

From Dr. King, a Reminder on Iraq By Colbert I. King, Speaking of Vietnam forty years ago at Riverside Church in New York City, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. declared: 'a time comes when silence is betrayal.'

Therapy For Nation Builders By Henry Allen

Here's an idea to play with: Give it to him, give the president everything he wants for the war in Iraq. Money, troops, the support of Congress, all of it.

H6 Guardian Inside Baghdad's civil war 'Jihad against Shias, not the US'
As 20,000 more US troops head for Iraq, Ghaith Abdul-Ahad reveals how Sunni insurgency has changed.

The Kagan-Keane doctrine

The international style
Angela Merkel proved her stamina as she fought to be the first woman chancellor. She tells Ian Traynor about her Middle East peace plan and the German passion for Europe.

Leader Keeping the flag flying
Yesterday Mr Blair managed to address Britain's most senior military leaders virtually without reference to the war that has so profoundly damaged himself, his government, his party and his country.

H7 Bush on Iraq Surge: A Kissinger Ploy? Let's assume for a moment the president does have a plan: It might not be what you think.

Martin van Creveld on the US in Iraq: After the surge, inevitable withdrawal

Note from Flynt Leverett: Most Important Parts of Bush Speech About Iran -- Not Iraq

The Consequences of Withdrawal from Iraq Global Politician

How Iraqis See W's New Plan By: Amir Taheri | New York Post

Middle East Analysts Skeptical About New Iraq War Strategy

A Surge of Pessimism By: Michael Young | Reason American plans are chiefly designed to influence the mood on the home front, with relatively little allusion to Iraqi priorities--even if it has become a habit to underline that it's up to the Iraqis to "want victory."

CFR Proliferation (1/10): The U.S. and the EU need to work together on WMD policy, urge Charles Ferguson and proliferation expert Peter van Ham in the National Interest.

Global schizophrenia

By Victor Davis HansonWhen it comes to intervening in international affairs, the United States is damned when it does and damned when it doesn't.

Al Hayat How to Solve the Middle East Crises in 48 Hours! Patrick Seale

Da Drezner The thing about credible commitment.... 06:58 PM

Daily Star The Middle East's many problems defy simplistic explanations

The US in Baghdad: surge or scourge?
By Rami G. Khouri

Iraq is not just about America, or even mostly so By Michael Young

CFR Iraq's Unruly Neighbors

Rice Back to Mideast Drawing Board

Next Iraq Battle: Congress v. Bush

Boston Globe Meddling with Iran in Iraq

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

US Says Raid, Capture of Iranians, Based on Plans 'To Kill Americans'

New Arms Shipments to Iraqi Militia Detected

Analyst: Recent US actions 'may signal Iran conflict soon'

Bush's Iraq Plan - Goading Iran Into War by Trita Parsi

MEMRI Jan 12 SD# 1423 - Iranian and Syrian Government Papers on Renewed Superpower Role for Russia to Counter U.S. in Middle East

BBC Rice denies US 'escalating Iraq' The US secretary of state backs President Bush's plans for Iraq as she leaves on week-long Middle East visit.

Rice seeks Mid-East support

Quick results needed

At-a-glance: New strategy

'Weak leadership'
Can Iraq's PM deliver his part of the new US plan for his country?

Iraq FM Defends Detained Iranians, Says They Had Govt Approval

Barzani condemns US raid on Iranian consulate

Iraqi Papers Saturday: Photo Fuss

Madrid Peace Conference Upstaged by Bush’s Call for More War

Neutralizing Palestine, to Better Focus on Iran By: Clayton E. Swisher | The Daily Star US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's trip to the Middle East, which begins today, will be aimed at convincing the so-called "moderate Arab states" of Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia that the United States is finally ready, after six years of promises, to help Palestinians achieve their state.

Tragedy Rather Than Farce in Somalia By: Mohammed Ayoob | The Daily Star

Western imperialism can be no excuse for the failure of Arab, Asian, and African states to act in Darfur... more»

H9 Ha’aretz - Secretary Gates: Military action in Iran is last resort

Syria diplomat: No preconditions to negotiations with Israel

Ze'ev Schiff: Israel is acting like a novice at military operations

Bush: We won't let Iran control the region

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

Foreign Affairs THE "ISRAEL LOBBY" Martin Gross Read

Rice is likely to face tough going on her latest Middle East trip

Israeli experts: Nation 'less safe' under Bush
Analysts conclude 'better for US to leave Iraq than to add troops.'

Neutralizing Palestine, to better focus on Iran
By Clayton E. Swisher

Hamas has Dahlan in sights
Hamas stages rally to denounce Fatah's strongman Dahlan whom they accuse of treason; 'Listen Dahlan, our ideal is the Prophet Mohammad and not Olmert and Bush,' Hamas supporters shout in Gaza

The new Quartet: China, Saudi Arabia, US and Israel While Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad was being feted by Latin American socialists, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was receiving red-carpet treatment in China. Nothing could better illustrate the complexities of the emerging "multipolar" world order. What Olmert heard in Beijing was music to his ears. But the most important factor in Chinese thinking is its emerging strategic ties with Saudi Arabia, at the expense of Tehran. -

Dan Fleshler: What Israel Can Do for America (HuffingtonPost.com)

H10 Christian Science Monitor Bush's Iraq plan races against two clocks

A troop 'surge' in Baghdad could falter if Congress balks or Iraqis don't meet their security commitments on time.

Why Bush's War Plan Can Work By: Mackubin Thomas Owens | The Christian Science Monitor
The strategy that the president outlined Wednesday night does not represent an altogether new approach to Iraq, but a necessary adaptation of the previous strategy to changed circumstances. It is, in effect, an updating of the National Strategy for Victory in Iraq he issued in November 2005.

ASIA From Open Democracy, the true ingredients of national greatness are very far from those imagined by the official Chinese mind.

An article on how China is making it clear that it wants a bigger role in the Middle East.

The China Syndrome By: Joshua Kurlantzick | The American Prospect Bush has given democracy-building a bad name. Now China is not only cracking down on reformers at home, it's teaching other authoritarian governments how to do the same.

The China Challenge: An excerpt from Hard Power: The New Politics of National Security.

China is choking on its success at attracting the world's factories. That has handed its Asian neighbours a big opportunity.

New accounting rules have replaced the Little Red Book as China's guide to self-improvement.

A review of Asian Juggernaut: The Rise of China, India and Japan; and Financial Architecture and Economic Development in China and India: A Comparative Perspective.

GMF: The New Great Game: Why the Bush administration has embraced India

H11 IHT Can Bush forestall defeat?
WILLIAM PFAFF President George W. Bush's speech on expanding the U.S.

Bush's Iraq plan, between the lines
ANTHONY H. CORDESMAN

Does the UN need a secretary or a general? SIMON CHESTERMAN Given the politicized selection process, it is impossible to appoint a strong secretary general but there is some evidence that one can be made.

Japanese signal new era in ties with NATO

U.K. must continue to flex its muscle abroad, Blair says

'New reality' evident in Belarus oil dispute President Aleksandr Lukashenko appeared to be the last leader in the old Soviet neighborhood to realize that he was dealing with a different Russia.

EUROPEGMF: The Weimar Triangle–Improvements in the German-Polish Relationship

H12 EDM RUSSIA’S ENERGY CONUNDRUM -- LONG TERM BENEFIT OR SHORT TERM GAIN?

- POLITICAL CHANGES IN TURKMENISTAN OPEN NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR AZERBAIJAN

RFE/RL Ukraine: Russian Oil And The Odesa-Brody Pipeline
RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty

EurasiaNet The Challenge of De-Mining Karabakh

Google News Azerbaijan

Ukraine parliament clips Yushchenko’s wings

GMF: Georgia outshines Ukraine at recent NATO summit in Riga

H13 The Times China's population imbalance will leave 30 million bachelors by 2022
According to an official report into China's burgeoning population, about one in every ten men aged between 20 and 45 will be unable to find a wife

Bush's Iraq surge leaves Presidential hopefuls floundering over next move

Matthew Parris
It’s not Iraq, but Iran that is pushing me towards a complete reassessment of the moral relativities

Wall Street Journal The Berger Files The case of the purloined archives gets stranger all the time

Dani Rodrik on the false promise of financial liberalisation.

Kenneth Rogoff on the $200 trillion question: What could cause macroeconomic volatility to start rising?

William Greider on how Congress may get real on the fallacies and contradictions of global trade.

Why so many people are against the free movement of labour: A review of Immigrants: Your Country Needs Them by Philippe Legrain.

The impact of institutions on economic performance and equality in liberal and coordinated market economies: A review of Inequality and Prosperity: Social Europe vs. Liberal America.

H14 Financial Times

Gates denies US forces will enter Iran

Scepticism awaits Rice on tour

Israel braced for action In recent weeks Israel’s leaders have been bombarded with increasingly doom-laden scenarios about Iran’s progress towards producing a nuclear bomb, a threat that might push them towards unilateral military action if diplomacy fails.

Editorial Energy giants do not mean energy security

Shorn of his control of Capitol Hill, George W. Bush’s approval ratings are continuing to sink at a moment when leading Republicans are treating his presidency as a lame duck, writes Edward Luce.

Browne to step down from BP in July Lord Browne is stepping down as chief executive of BP, 18 months ahead of schedule following a series of problems for the oil and gas company.

H15 Los Angeles Times U.S. objects to Maliki's choice for commander Premier fills the top military job in Baghdad with a virtually unknown officer despite opposition from both American and Iraqi leaders.

It may be too late to secure Baghdad's mix

Military officials say troop surge will quell violence

Iraq loses, the GOP wins Rosa Brooks: Bush and the GOP are shifting tactics just like Nixon did with Vietnam -- to win the next election, not the war.

Joint forces resist insurgents in Diyala

Blair urges British to maintain military power

Mideast shaking its head

'Shadow' of Iran growing, spy czar says

Iraq plan ignites biggest foreign policy fight since Vietnam

The Immigration Debate is heating up

Read more about the CBS News poll '08 Contenders Weigh In (CBS News)

Dodd jumps into '08 race

From TNR, Will Marshall on how Democrats can oppose the surge; and Peter Beinart on how George W. Bush screws John McCain one last time.

realclearpolitics – ABC’s The Note - Early Bird GovExec

Bush Breaks 150-Year History of Higher U.S. Taxes in Wartime

Olbermann video: Bush's 'dangerous, Messianic certitude'

H17 Daily TelegraphBrown's manifesto for Great Britishness

Writing for the Telegraph today, Gordon Brown issues a stark warning that the Union of England and Scotland is under threat 300 years after it created one of the world's most successful and enduring nations.

Gordon Brown: We need a United Kingdom

Bush is free to leave Iraq when he likes

There's no doubt that "freedom" is a term to which Bush attaches meaning, but it's a term whose contradictions he chooses not to think about, muses Sam Leith.

Browne's off

It is not only political careers that end in failure. Lord Browne, who steps down after an unusually long spell as CEO of BP, also stayed on that little bit too long.

We need to spend more on armed forces

Tony Blair bowed to a wave of criticism from the military top brass yesterday when he acknowleged that more money would have to be spent to improve the conditions and capability of Britain's Armed Forces.

Libby trial reveals Washington's secrets

H18 Independent Shoot the messenger: PM blames media for anti-war mood Tony Blair has turned the blame for his disastrous military campaigns in the Middle East on anti-war dissidents and the media.

Adrian Hamilton: Blair is up to his tired old tricks again

Leading article: A mendacious attack by Mr Blair

Bush's tough tactics are a 'declaration of war' on Iran

Pakistan denies Bin Laden is hiding inside its borders

Richard Dowden: How mistakes of US's 1992 invasion are being repeated

• Nicolas Sarkozy: Le Candidat

Robert Fisk: This jargon disease is choking language

H19Military Intelligence Terrorism

Career officials hope new chiefs will stabilize spy agencies
GovExec.com

Military Takes Over Intelligence By: Melvin A. Goodman | The Miami Herald
The expected confirmation of retired Navy Adm. Mike McConnell as director of national intelligence will complete the Pentagon's takeover of the intelligence community and end any pretense of civilian influence, let alone control, of the community.

Foreign Affairs Civil Rights, Uncivil Wrongs:The War on Terrorism's Toll on the U.S. Constitution
Andrew Rudalevige

Pessimism in the Intelligence Community

USIP: Troubles on the Pakistan-Afghanistan Border

H20 Slate

Pt 1 - The Public Interest and the Making of American Public Policy: 1965-2005

Pt4 - The Public Interest and the Making of American Public Policy: 1965-2005

Pt5 - The Public Interest and the Making of American Public Policy: 1965-2005

Pt6 - The Public Interest and the Making of American Public Policy: 1965-2005

Pt3 - The Public Interest and the Making of American Public Policy: 1965-2005

Pt2 - The Public Interest and the Making of American Public Policy: 1965-2005

Pt 1 - The Public Interest and the Making of American Public Policy: 1965-2005

BBC Al-Qaeda's base?
Is Pakistan allowing Al-Qaeda to regroup on its territory?

Military readiness

In a long-overdue policy reversal, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Thursday that the Bush administration would finally begin increasing the sizes of the active-duty Army and Marine Corps on a permanent basis.

Terrorists 'use Google maps to hit troops' Terrorists attacking British bases in Basra are using aerial footage displayed by the Google Earth internet tool to pinpoint their attacks, say Army intelligence sources.

Murtha will press for closure of Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib

• Highlights of the Iraq Strategy Review: Briefing Slides (PDF; 46 KB)
• DoD Announces Force Adjustments (Word; 35 KB)
• DoD Announces Changes to Reserve Component Force Management Policy (Word; 29 KB)
• Secretary Gates Recommends End Strength Increases (Word; 28 KB)

H21 Questions Couples Should Ask (Or Wish They Had) Before Marrying

From YouTube Some stupendous skills from Johan Cruyff - including several wizardly dribbles, an inordinate number of goals scored with the outside of the foot and, of course, the Cruyff turn.

Zinedine Zidane plays five-a-side with some random mortals.

Mourinho drops Shevchenko
Chelsea manager tells Abramovich to back him with signings or sack him.

Duo Envisions Merging Best of TV, Web

KaZaA and Skype's founders are backing a video start-up that promises to let users watch broadcast-quality movies and TV shows on their PCs.

What makes a good writer? Is writing an expression of self, or, as TS Eliot argued, 'an escape from personality'? Do novelists have a duty? Do readers? Why are there so few truly great novels? Zadie Smith on literature's legacy of honourable failure. more»

The citizens of Denmark have routinely scored higher than other Western countries on measures of life satisfaction, and scientists think they know why. And the first World Map of Happiness has been published. The map is a global projection of subjective well-being, taken from a variety of recent sources

With great sadness we learn that the Colombian Nobel prize winner Gabriel García Márquez and the Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa, after a thrillingly long and bitter feud, are patching up their differences.

An excerpt from The Enlightenment and the Book: Scottish Authors and Their Publishers in Eighteenth-Century Britain, Ireland, and America.

Happy anniversary, Dan Froomkin!

Scientists prepare to move Doomsday Clock forward (Reuters)

Google News / Slate Today's Papers / memeorandum / The Ag antiwar.com - political theory Arts & Letters Daily / Media Roundup / University Channel / DocuTicker / Arts & Letters Daily/ PolicyPointers / cursor / realclearpolitics / Drudge Report| raw story OpinionSource truthout / Dayan Current Contents / Blogometer - Wikipedia technorati / Slate's Today's Blogs Stratfor ABC’s The Note

Juan Cole - Kevin Drum - Belgravia Dispatch - washington realist - Tom Barnett - democracy arsenal - - Josh Marshall - Daniel Drezner - Laura Rozen - the washington note - David Corn - SyriaComment - William Arkin - Phil Carter - Helena Cobban - MatthewYglesias - Oxblog - Brad DeLong - coming anarchy / Wonkette William Arkin Tom Hayden - IraqSlogger

PostGlobal - AmericaAbroad -The Corner - Passport - huffingtonpost / Pajamas Media / Open University / nytcolumns CounterterrorismBlog Today in Iraq / OutSide the Beltway - InstaPundit - winds of change Kausfiles - Becker Posner-andrewsullivan.com - Registan - armscontrolwonk - IsraPundit Regime Change Iran