0510-2007f - FOREIGN PRESS REVIEW (FPR) - ‘Relevant news, views, comments and analyses from all around the world for informed debate’ 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 G.O.P. Moderates Warn Bush Iraq Must Show Gains President Bush was told that conditions needed to improve by fall or more Republicans would begin to desert him on the war.

Washington Institute Cheney in the Middle East: Defining Key Issues and Mutual Interests Simon Henderson

Washington Post A Dayton Process For Iraq By Rend Al-Rahim, The central unresolved questions in Iraq are: Who rules, and how?

President Warned Iraq War Is Harming the GOP

House Republican moderates, in remarkably blunt and candid conversation, tell Bush that he cannot count on party support for many more months.

Guardian Brown must learn the lessons from Blair's three big mistakes Timothy Garton Ash: There have been real successes in a decade's foreign policy - but also major failures on Iraq, the US and Europe

Asia Times A war guaranteed to damage a superpower
Four years ago, the US claimed that Saddam Hussein was backing al-Qaeda. Now it says the fervently anti-Iranian Sunni insurgents are being equipped by Iran, and attempts to kidnap senior Iranian officials in Iraq. In this fantasy world, constructed to impress American voters, in which failures are sold as successes, it is impossible to devise sensible policies. Iraq has now joined the list of small wars that inflict extraordinary damage on the occupiers. - Patrick Cockburn

With Rumsfeld and Powell gone, and Cheney's power diminished, this is Condoleezza Rice's moment. Can she salvage America's standing in the Middle East—and defuse the threat of a nuclear Iran? Behind the curtain in Washington and Jerusalem with the secretary of state (and an interview with David Samuels on Rice and her ambitious efforts to secure peace in the Middle East).

Washingtn Institute Economic Sanctions against Iran: Engaging, Not Confronting, Allies By keeping Congress informed of foreign compliance with sanctions against Tehran, the Bush administration can enlist the legislative branch as a partner in applying useful pressure on American allies in the global effort to prevent an Iranian nuclear breakout.

CFR Landis: Rice’s Meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Produced Little

Why Iraqis Cannot Agree on an Oil Law

Iraq's Tyranny of the Majority

American Prospect The Trouble with Helping Iran's Dissidents Iason Athanasiadis

Ha’aretz Shlomo Avineri Until they accept responsibilityThe Nakba is portrayed as something terrible and evil that happened to the Palestinians. There is not even an iota of introspection, self-criticism and readiness to deal with the Palestinians' own contribution to their catastrophe.

Foreign Policy Does Al-Qaeda "Coordinate" with Iran? - Blake Hounshell

WSJ Iran's Economic Crisis - Amir Taheri President Ahmadinejad isn't bringing the oil money "to every dinner table."

Iran: Neocon Split May Boost Reformists By: Kamel Yazer Nasin | ISN Security Watch
Fractured and vying for power among themselves, Iran's neoconservatives may open the door for other factions to claim their stake, including the Reformists, who are hustling to regroup.

Financial Times Wolfowitz's tenure faces fresh test

Editorial comment: World Bank crisis becomes perilous At some point even a sole superpower must recognise reality. Hopes for an effective presidency of the World Bank by Paul Wolfowitz are over. He must either go or be...

Christian Science Monitor

Helena Cobban: UN must drive Mideast peace

Los Angeles Times Gates envisions a troop reduction Defense secretary says if the current Iraq strategy shows signs of success by autumn, the U.S. may cut back on forces.

LA Times What we know so far Ronald Brownstein: Top candidates are casting themselves as the most prepared, most inspiring or most aspiring.

FT COMMENT: A needless war cost Blair the respecthe craves By Geoffrey Wheatcroft, Reports that Blair will go to the Middle East as a roving ambassador to try to revive the peace process are bizarre, writes Geoffrey Wheatcroft, the author of Yo, Blair.

IHT Right on economics, wrong on social justice By ANTHONY GIDDENS / TMS Sarkozy's program offers only half of what France needs.

H2 Washington Institute Turkey's Ongoing Political Crisis: Where Now? Amid a disputed presidential election, a sudden parliamentary campaign, mass protests, and echoes of past military coups, Turkey's liberal, secular opposition seems to be finding its voice and overcoming divisions. By Soner Cagaptay

A Perfect Storm Threatens to Swamp Turkey by John O'Sullivan

VOA Siyasi Gelişmelere Yorumlar Türkiye'deki gelişmeleri Henri Barkey ve Soner Çağaptay yorumladı

Joseph Nye Scotsman. US misses Middle East opportunity amid Turkish political crisis

Morgan Stanley Turkey
Twilight Zone Turkey has suffered a major blow to institutional credibility. It seems that market participants do not care much about deteriorating institutional predictability. Secularism is not under threat, but a deep-rooted fear is still prevailing in certain circles. The risk is not religious fundamentalism, but isolationist nationalism. Election uncertainty is a risk, but my main concern is about Turkey’s relationship with the EU. Turkey now stands at a crossroads for democratization and greater openness. By Serhan Çevik

Edelman: AKP'ye öfkeli olduğum sadece dedikodu

UPI Interview: Iraq Kurd leader on oil law

CER Nicolas Sarkozy: Turkophobe and protectionist? By ...

FT Turkey seeks constitutional change Turkey’s government is to press ahead with an attempt to change the constitution to allow a directly elected president after the failure to get Abdullah Gul appointed

Al Awsat Turkey: Avoiding a Lame Democracy! : Turki al-Hamad

Jerusalem Post A million moderate Muslims on the march By DANIEL PIPES Recent events in Pakistan and Turkey prove that anti-Islamist Muslims are no myth.

Sarkozy Türkiye'yi kösteklemesin
Patrick Seale

Laik demokrasi ayakta kalabilir mi? Ayaan Hirsİ Alİ -

[Yorum - Fareed Zakaria] "Türkiye'nin en liberal politik hareketi"

Turkey's Foreign Minister Denies Islamic Agenda

White House says Turkish democracy continues to function

US: Turkey continues to function as democracy

Who's Afraid of Turkish Democracy Dinesh D'Souza

The Relative Stablity of Turkey

Orduya karşı AKP ile CHP el ele versin

Google News Kurdish Kurdish Media

Semih İDİZ Barzani'den Türkiye'ye karşı ince baskı siyaseti

Hasan CEMAL Kürtler ve seçim!

There Cannot Be an Independent Kurdistan Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis

Ümit ÖZDAĞ Kürt devleti kurulmuş!!!

Turkish companies under close watch in northern Iraq Today's Zaman

DTP'nin bağımsızlar girişimi Tarhan Erdem

Güvenli yer yok

Kürt yönetiminden terör için diyalog talebi

DTP'li Altun: Böyle giderse kaos çıkar

Turkey agrees Kirkuk is an internal affair of Iraq

Cudi ve Gabar'da dev operasyon

Mehmetçik Cudi ve Gabar'ı topa tuttu

Erdo an refuses to respond via media to Barzani speech in Brussels

Eski DEP milletvekilleri bağımsız aday oluyor

Suicide truck bomber strikes Kurdish city of Irbil, killing 14

Irak'ta şiddet bu kez Erbil'i vurdu: Birisi Türk 19 ölü

Connection Between Iranian, Syrian Electricity Grids Via Turkey Planned

Turkey's Kurdish party to field independent candidates

Iran tells Nechirvan Barzani of border security concerns

No Kurdistan Please

Iraqi Kurdistan region needs Canada

Mustafa Mutlu Üç İstanbullu, bir Tuncelili etmiyor! Bu nasıl demokrasi?

DTP: Rakel Dink’i aday gösterelim

Google News Greece Cyprus Turkish Cypriot Press ABHaber

Turkey-EU agree to open three chapters

Polarization of camps to everyone’s disadvantage (4)

Lale Sarıibrahimoğlu Breaking the EU and Turkish political impasse

Le Figaro Ankara için daha zaman var –

Merkel: Türkiye Avrupa'ya daha sıkı bağlanmalı

Gül AB'ye yüz vermedi

Rum’dan AKP’ye destek

Arslan BULUT Hristofyas ve Talabani niçin AKP’yi istiyor?

Bulgaristan ile Türkiye arasındaki vize problemi çözüldü

Politics tangles new oil & gas pipeline projects

Martyrdom in Turkey Christian Post

‘Konuşacağım’ dedi son anda vazgeçti

Erhan Tuncel: Ben suçsuzum

Erhan, ’Hrant’ı 24 Nisan’da vurun’ dedi

BBC 10 Mayıs 2007 Basın Özeti

Bir kez daha vergi Mahfi Eğilmez

ABDURRAHMAN YILDIRIM
Yabancı, borsayı da futbolu da küresel oyuncu yapıyor

Asaf Savaş Akat Enflasyon ve para arzı

GÖRÜŞME SÜRÜYOR.. Petrol Ofisi’nden İMKB’ye gönderilen açıklamada, vergi cezalarıyla ilgili olarak Maliye Bakanlığı ile görüşüldüğü, gelişme olduğu takdirde bilgi verileceği bildirildi

Turkey pays $7 bln for energy in first quarter

Erdal Sağlam Baykal’dan piyasa dostu açıklamalar

ERDAL ŞAFAK Zenginleri sevmek

Yaman TÖRÜNER Kişi gelişmişlik endeksi

Ercan Kumcu Sanayi üretimi ve dış açıklar

İbrahim Öztürk Current account vs. democracy deficit

İBRAHİM ÖZTÜRK - Ekonomi krize girmedi, çünkü...

Doğru para "POLICY"si ne olmalı?

H3 Gelin bir hesap yapalım Murat Yetkin

Hangi parti çıkışta kim oy kaybetti?

Increasing security on borders facing Iraq - an Israeli model? ÜMIT ENGİNSOY
Turkish Daily News

SOLİ ÖZEL Çevre ve kriz

Güneri CIVAOĞLU AKP'de kanama mı?

Semih İDİZ Barzani'den Türkiye'ye karşı ince baskı siyaseti

Hasan CEMAL Kürtler ve seçim!

Dueling versus ambushing Burak Bekdil After many ambushes, especially in recent weeks, Turkey’s warring ideologies are being forced into a duel. But the elections will not bring peace, only postponement of the undesirable finale. This is going to be a very long war!

Ertuğrul Özkök Manipüle eden bile yok "Bildiri internetten, Gül de adaylıktan çekildi."

Güler Kömürcü ‘Darbe olursa ne olur?’

Ahmet Hakan MHP tavrını koydu: Mitingler siyasallaştı

Cüneyt Ülsever Ağar ve Mumcu’ya önemli bir uyarı

Tuncel'le ilgili gizli belgeler imha edildi Eski polis muhbiri Erhan Tuncel ifadesinde, "Hrant Dink'in öldürülme planıyla ilgili olarak polise 17-18 kez bilgi verdim" diyor. Tuncel'le ilgili İstihbarat'ın hazırladığı 48 sayfalık raporun da imha edildiği ordtaya çıktı»

Radikal Çok vahim iddia Polis şefi, McDonald's'ı bombalayan Hayal'in babasına 'O artık daha iyi yaşayacak. Bayrağı yerden Yasin gibiler kaldıracak. Bizim raporumuzla çok ceza almaz' demiş

Cengiz Çandar Seçime doğru: Derin fay hattı üzerindeki Türkiye

What Turkey needs is the separation of state and military
Ali Murat Yel Turkish society is overwhelmingly Muslim, and Islam does neither have an institution like the Church nor does it even suggest a specified political regime. The founders of the Republic didn’t get that

Türkiye'nin 'gelecek yol haritası' masada Önde gelen yerli ve yabancı siyasetçiler, bilim insanları, bürokratlar ve iş ve kültür dünyasının liderleri bugün İstanbul'da, Türkiye'nin gelecek yol haritasını tartışmak için biraraya geliyor

Baykal neden Chirac olmasın?
İsmet Berkan

İkinci tur oylama bugün

İç Basında Türk Dış Politikası

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

Dış Basında Irak BBC Turkish 0700

VOA TSİ 06:30 Dış Basında Türkiye Turkish Press Review Google News Turkey Turquie Türkei TurcoPundit

Taha Kıvanç

Fehmi Koru Hesabın eğrisi ve doğrusu…

ALİ BAYRAMOĞLU Sandıktan ne çıkar

İBRAHİM KARAGÜL Yeni 28 Şubat senaryosu mu?

Yaşasın AB Gündüz Aktan

NAZLI ILICAKSolda ve sağda birleşme

Salih Neftçi Olası bir koalisyon herkesi rahatlatır...

M. Ali BİRAND Asıl özveriyi Baykal gösterdi

Güngör URAS Türkiye için yeni politika seçenekleri

AKP'de darbe dersleri

Nuh Gönültaş Pseudo Demokrasi bu... Şeklen var, aslen yok!

En çok bürokrat kimde tartışması

İzin verdiğim girer

Serdar Turgut Ne kadarını bilebiliriz?

Bilal Çetin Özal’ın dindarlığını Bakanlar Kurulu gündemine kim taşıdı?

Erdoğan'a yanıt: TÜSİAD fikrini söyler Funda Özkan

Mehmet Tezkan Erdoğan Putin olmak istiyordu.. Seçimde yeniden demokratlığa soyunacak mı?

'Ben böyle demokrasinin...'
Hasan Celal Güzel

Arpa boyu yol gitmişiz Nuray Mert

[Yorum - Prof. Dr. Fikret Başkaya] Tehlikede olan elitlerin iktidarı (II)

Hedeflerini gerçekleştirebilmiş bir askeri müdahale yok
NURKUT İNAN

Ardan Zentürk ‘Asıl darbe ‘Türk modeli’ne indi...’

Mustafa Erdoğan Anayasa Mahkemesi ve siyaset

Bu barajla nereye? Turgut Tarhanlı

Vatan Bildirirden sonra yapılan ilk anket

Yaşar Okuyan ve İlhan Kesici CHP yolunda

Yusuf KANLI Turkey will progress on road to modernity

Taha AKYOL Atatürk, efsane ve gerçek

Fikret BİLA Soldaki güçbirliği sert rüzgâr estirir

Engin Ardıç Yeter! Söz lumpenin!

Oktay Ekşi Otobüse kanat takmak...

Serdar Turgut Demokrasi şenliği

[Yorum - Haluk Özdalga] CHP 'müdahaleyi' nasıl kışkırttı?

İhsan Dağı The AK Party: An Islamist party?

ŞAHİN ALPAY - Hangi 'merkez sol'?

MÜMTAZ'ER TÜRKÖNE - 'Siyasal Ufuk'

HÜSEYİN GÜLERCE - Kaosu önlemek ve particilik

Mumcu, Ağar'a 7 ay önce böyle dedi

Prof. Dr. AYDIN AYAYDIN Solda birleşmede sorun ne?

Mehmet Y Yılmaz DSP, yok olmak istemiyorsa ittifaka mecbur

Yalçın Doğan Dağınık Sol Parti

EMRE AKÖZ Bak sen şunun yaptığına!

ERGUN BABAHAN Türkiye'nin düzeni ve Balzac

İsmail Küçükkaya
AKP ve CHP’de liderlerin liste sınavı

MAHMUT ÖVÜR Siyasetin 'KADER'i değişiyor!

"DSP-CHP ittifakına ilişkin bir kulis"

Şakir Süter “Birleşik Demokrat Parti!”

OKAN MÜDERRİSOĞLU Köşk'ten CHP'ye damat desteği

YAVUZ DONAT Ankara havaları

Müsteşarlar AKP'yi valiler MHP'yi seçti

Tartışmalı isimlerin gözü CHP'de

Adaylar kadrolaşma tartışması başlattı

Yılmaz, Ağar'la görüştü

Mumcu Bildiri AKP’ye mağduru oynatacak

Yılmaz ile Ağar biraraya geldi

Sezer'den ilginç itiraf: Kendimi terhisi uzamış asker gibi hissediyorum

Damada
veto yok

Vatandaşlık görevimi yapıp aday oldum

İşte yakalanan Türk

Gönül: Bildiriden haberim yok

Derya SAZAK Sezer'in misyonu

4 milyon mükerrer oy çok abartılı

AKP’den 25 yaş manevrası

Bekir Coşkun Anayasa paketinin fiyongu...

Deniz Gökçe CHP vaatleri!

H4 New York Times G.O.P. Moderates Warn Bush Iraq Must Show Gains President Bush was told that conditions needed to improve by fall or more Republicans would begin to desert him on the war.

A Player Who Never Found His Stage By A. N. WILSON Tony Blair, who is expected to announce his resignation date today, is a figure vilified and loathed by his own party and disliked by people in Britain at large.

Cheney Visits Baghdad and Presses Leaders on Political Progress

Some Leeway for Wolfowitz, Who Gets a Good Word From Rice

Iran Frees Former Atomic Negotiator on Bail

Putin Is Said to Compare U.S. Policies to Third Reich

Role of F.B.I. Informer Draws Praise and Questions The work of informers is lauded by law-enforcement officials, but they have also become the focus of efforts by defense lawyers and others to call into question the legitimacy of the investigations

In Large Immigrant Family, Religion Guided Three in Fort Dix Plot A portrait of five of the men suspected in a terror plot against an Army base in New Jersey began to emerge a day after their arrests.

Germany Conducts Raids Ahead of G-8 Summit

NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF Save the Darfur Puppy Evidence is overwhelming that humans will respond to the suffering of individuals — or even the right animal — over that of groups.

Editorial

H5 Washington Post A Dayton Process For Iraq By Rend Al-Rahim, The central unresolved questions in Iraq are: Who rules, and how?

For Blair, a Legacy Overshadowed

Briton's Embrace of Bush and Iraq War Dims a Decade of Achievements

Cheney Pushes Iraqis for Quick Action

Sectarian Reconciliation, Legislative Issues Stressed in Baghdad Visit

Iraq Seeks Time to Take Steps, but Levin Notes 'Disconnect'

House to Vote on Revised Iraq Bill

Bush Warns of Veto Over Funding Cut

The Terrorists Next Door?

Plot Suspects Lived Quietly in Suburb

U.S. Faults Detention By Iran of Dual Citizens

A Friendly Exchange U.S., Iran Forge Bonds in Small Steps

The Real World Bank Problem y George F. Will The World Bank is losing its battle to retain whatever relevance it once had.

The Planet NASA Needs to Explore Shifting Priorities Imperil Satellites Crucial to Tracking Climate Change Exploration of space is a noble quest. But we can't afford to be so starry-eyed that we overlook our own planet.

How to Lose an Ally By Robert D. Novak, Colombia's president, Alvaro Uribe, returned to Bogota this week in a state of shock.

Low Expectations for Cheney Trip

In the Shadow of a Scandal
Shaha Ali Riza is the invisible woman at the center of the storm swirling around embattled World Bank President Paul D. Wolfowitz

H6 Guardian Brown must learn the lessons from Blair's three big mistakes

Timothy Garton Ash: There have been real successes in a decade's foreign policy - but also major failures on Iraq, the US and Europe

Delhi, 1857: a bloody warning to today's imperial occupiers

William Dalrymple: A century and a half after the Indian mutiny, echoes of the arrogance and lies that sparked insurgency could not be clearer

Losing ground

Natasha Kandic Serbia's intervention to prevent any change in Kosovo's status rests exclusively on territorial claims.

The beginning of the end · Blair expected to announce resignation today · Will endorse Gordon Brown for PM tomorrow

H7 With Rumsfeld and Powell gone, and Cheney's power diminished, this is Condoleezza Rice's moment. Can she salvage America's standing in the Middle East—and defuse the threat of a nuclear Iran? Behind the curtain in Washington and Jerusalem with the secretary of state (and an interview with David Samuels on Rice and her ambitious efforts to secure peace in the Middle East).

Washingtn Institute Economic Sanctions against Iran: Engaging, Not Confronting, Allies By keeping Congress informed of foreign compliance with sanctions against Tehran, the Bush administration can enlist the legislative branch as a partner in applying useful pressure on American allies in the global effort to prevent an Iranian nuclear breakout.

Foreign Policy Does Al-Qaeda "Coordinate" with Iran? - Blake Hounshell

WSJ Iran's Economic Crisis - Amir Taheri President Ahmadinejad isn't bringing the oil money "to every dinner table."

Iran: Neocon Split May Boost Reformists By: Kamel Yazer Nasin | ISN Security Watch
Fractured and vying for power among themselves, Iran's neoconservatives may open the door for other factions to claim their stake, including the Reformists, who are hustling to regroup.

A Small War Guaranteed to Damage a Superpower by Patrick Cockburn and Tom Engelhardt

Asia Times Inside Sadr City
The almost 3 million people in Sadr City, an immense Shi'ite slum in eastern Baghdad of ramshackle one-story buildings covered with dust, exude a resignation born of sadness. But at least they feel safe, Hussein al-Motery of the municipality tells Pepe Escobar. Unless, of course, Amrika attempts the Pentagon dream of smashing the place into submission

Iran rises to its missile defense
Tehran has laughed off suggestions that the United States' plans to install interceptor missiles in Eastern Europe are a response to a danger from Iran. Tehran, though, might be underestimating the new winds in the sail of US-European Union relations, given the right-wing drift of European politics in Germany and France. - Kaveh L Afrasiabi

We need a strongman: Back to "Saddam without a mustache"? After all, the US eyes still on the Iraqi prize.

In the face of disastrous policies and administrative incompetence, the president has an answer every time: Appoint a new "czar."

Next Emerging-Market Crisis is Five Years Away By: Andy Mukherjee | Bloomberg By Frankel's logic, next blow to emerging-market economies will come in 2011 or 2012. So all those who envision that the current subprime mortgage crisis in the U.S. will lead to investors bailing out of risky, emerging-market securities may be disappointed.

American Prospect The Trouble with Helping Iran's Dissidents Iason Athanasiadis Iranian reform activists have a love/hate relationship with the Western NGOs

that often advocate on their behalf.

Jeff Ballinger: Condi Snoozed While Chevron Paid Off Saddam

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

US Papers Thursday: Cheney in the Green Zone

Irbil Attack "Was Expected"

Rice: Bush Won't Give Up Military Option on Iran

Cheney Fails in Baghdad

11 GOP Congressmen Berate Bush Over Iraq

US: Iran Helping Some Sunni Insurgents

BBC Bush 'would veto new Iraq bill'

US President Bush would veto a new Congress bill on Iraq linking funding to progress, his spokesman says.

Cheney in Baghdad for key talks

Daily Star Cheney won't be able to reverse the impact of what he helped cause

America moves forward to the pastBy Michael Young

The Iraqi cancer eating away at Tony Blair's legacy By Ian Davidson

Moderate Tehran mayor re-elected

Tehran's mayor is re-elected in a move seen as a victory for pragmatic conservatives within Iran.

ConflictForum Blueprint for the third intifada - America’s reverse Midas touch

Taliban Cannot Be Defeated by Force Alone, NATO Says By: Ed Johnson | Bloomberg News Military force alone won't defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan and reconstruction is the key to durable peace, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said, following talks with the government of neighboring Pakistan.

CEPS Political Islam in Egypt

U.S. forces fight for Iraqis' hearts, minds U.S. forces in the Iraqi capital are "fighting a two-front war, block by block," says Command Sgt. Maj. Alan Bjerke of the battle for Baghdad, where his soldiers face daily bomb and gunfire attacks along the city's sectarian fault lines.

US extends sanctions against Syria for one year

Sunni Ultimatum Rocks Al-Maliki's Position With Sunnis and Kurds threatening to leave the government, the Iraqi government is mulling a two-month vacation

Saudi Report: Terror Cell Had Syria Base

Iraqi National Security Adviser Meets With U.S. Lawmakers

Middle east Times Commentary: Time for Iraqi self-determination

H9 Ha’aretz - Amira Hass: Splitting the West Bank into Palestinian lock-ups

Shlomo Avineri Until they accept responsibilityThe Nakba is portrayed as something terrible and evil that happened to the Palestinians. There is not even an iota of introspection, self-criticism and readiness to deal with the Palestinians' own contribution to their catastrophe.

Arens They must all go

No life on the other sideThere is no choice but to agree, regretfully, with the findings of the World Bank report that Israel is preventing the rehabilitation of the West Bank economy.

Annual Report Faults Israeli Military's Strategy, Budgeting

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

Jerusalem Post Peres to Olmert: I want presidency, not premiership
Vice premier said he won't cooperate with MKs seeking to topple prime minister; Long awaited for June 13 date set for presidential election.

DEBKAfile reports: Israeli PM Olmert and FM LIvni bound for Arab capitals to seek modifications of the Saudi peace plan

President Truman and the Birth of Israel - Michael Beschloss (Newsweek)

Hizbullah Deputy Chief: Rockets Fired at Israel Required Iranian Approval (Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center)

Decade of Failure By: Barbara Opall-Rome | New York Post Civic rage also should target the deep-rooted flaws that compel commissions of inquiry every time Israel goes to war.

Finding Partners in Islam By: Lorenzo Vidino | The Boston Globe As the United States battles insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan while fearing the next terrorist attack on our shores, it has become apparent that the solution to the struggle against radical Islam is neither military nor diplomatic, but rather, ideological.

"Israeli-Arab Negotiations: Background, Conflicts, and U.S. Policy," updated April 10, 2007.

Yedioth Ahronoth What top brass told Winograd

No need for a general/ Avinery

Peres Biography: Israel, France Had Secret Pact to Produce Nuclear Weapons

H10 Christian Science Monitor

Helena Cobban: UN must drive Mideast peace

US raises pressure on Maliki Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki must show greater political progress to satisfy Washington

Jihadis in New Jersey? The FBI arrested six men Monday over a plot to attack the Fort Dix Army base.

Robert Mueller joins journalists for breakfast

FBI Director says Fort Dix plotters were set to get weapons outside of bureau's control.

Biofuels show promise, but also present problems

Less than a week after a UN report touted them as part of a global warming solution, another has raised alarms about their viability.

Revived Taliban restrict Afghan aid effort

A spike in attacks in the southern provinces has restricted aid agencies to major cities at a time when NATO says it's crucial to deliver better services.

ASIA Washington Times China alarms ringing

By John J. Tkacik

Must we stand by while the world's largest dictatorship bullies Asia's most vibrant democracy into a relationship Taiwan's people have consistently rejected?

China, US in search
of a level playing field
With the Democratic Party victory in 2006, the chances that Congress will attempt to legislate a level playing field with China have brightened considerably. At the forefront is the Fair Currency Act, which would empower the US to impose duties if it determined that China's manipulation of its currency gives it an unfair trading advantage. - Benjamin A Shobert

Technology Acquisition and the Chinese Threat
Stratfor -

H11 IHT Right on economics, wrong on social justice By ANTHONY GIDDENS / TMS Sarkozy's program offers only half of what France needs.

Brown about to take over in Britain - but who is he?

Funding breakdown throws Galileo satellite project off course
By JUDY DEMPSEY The European Commission is expected Thursday to scrap plans to build a satellite navigation system in partnership with private industry. Instead, the commission is likely to propose that the system be entirely financed by the public sector.

EUROPE European press review

Russia and China Resist EU Play for Central Asia By: Andrew Rettman | EU Observer
Russia and China are trying to counter EU efforts to secure fresh energy supplies in Central Asia, the EU's top regional envoy, Pierre Morel, has warned, with analysts worried Turkey could also start competing with European interests if its EU accession hopes fade.

Sarkozy's Election Set to Improve Atmosphere for Ties With U.S. By: Judy Mathewson and Ken Fireman | Bloomberg News
French President-elect Nicolas Sarkozy's well-publicized admiration for the U.S. creates an atmosphere for improved relations after years of friction, according to political analysts and former diplomats.

Plot Illustrates Balkans' Role as Islamist Foothold By: Bill Gertz | The Washington Times
The six foreign-born Muslims accused of planning a shooting attack at the U.S. military base included four ethnic Albanians, and U.S. officials say their arrests highlight how Islamist groups are using the Balkans region to help in recruiting and financing terrorism.

Washington Times Sarkozy's economic challenge Nicolas Sarkozy offers some hope on France's domestic economic front . But he remains suspect on international economic policy.

PINR "Intelligence Brief: Serbian Nationalists Consolidate Influence" Full text of report

CEPS Challenges and Opportunities Facing the Transatlantic Community

H12 RFE/RL OSCE Condemns Attack On Monitors In South Ossetia

Central Asia: Putin Visits Energy-Rich Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan

Putin likens U.S. foreign policy to that of Third Reich

Le Monde Le froid Russie-Europe

Google News Azerbaijan

A Blank Check for Tallinn By: Dimitri K. Simes | National Interest
The NATO and European Union spat with Russia over Estonia demonstrates the great dangers in the current dynamics of the East-West relationship

BBC Putin in veiled attack on Estonia

Russian President Vladimir Putin says "desecration" of war memorials sows discord between nations.

Russia and China Resist EU Play for Central Asia By: Andrew Rettman | EU Observer
Russia and China are trying to counter EU efforts to secure fresh energy supplies in Central Asia, the EU's top regional envoy, Pierre Morel, has warned, with analysts worried Turkey could also start competing with European interests if its EU accession hopes fade.

EurasiaNet Voter Apathy Appears Widespread on Eve of Parliamentary Poll
BY MARIANNA GRIGORYAN
With just over a day left in Armenia’s parliamentary campaign, many voters say that it will take more than promises of a strong army or increased pensions to get them to the polls on May 12. Some sociologists put the disinterest down to political parties’ failure to use professional public relations techniques. Many parties, however, counter that they see no reason for experts to help them engage with voters.

EDM PUTIN MAKES SWEETHEART ARMS DEALS TO BENEFIT HIS CRONIES

- WHEN WILL SNAP ELECTION BE HELD IN UKRAINE?

Russian 'Spy' Planes Trigger Cold War Alert

H13 The Times I’ll give Blair six and a half out of ten

Blair’s worst sin has been to make the entire political class seem deceitful, thus eroding trust

· Mary Ann Sieghart

Editorial Advice to Baghdad

Iraq must make political progress or find itself new friends

The new scramble for Africa

Governments care less for niceties when a whole continent of copper, bauxite and oil is up for grabs

· Camilla Cavendish

The Adam Smith guide to foiling bureaucrats

Expensive, meddlesome, of no great benefit – why would any government insist upon such interference in a private contract?

· Tim Worstall

Wall Street Journal Britain After Blair
Who is Gordon Brown?

Nuclear Non-Starter By: Brahma Chellaney | The Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
The much-trumpeted 2005 civil nuclear deal between the United States and India always had one problem: the elastically worded accord itself. New Delhi, however, bears the brunt of the blame for the current deadlock.

The Realignment of France...
Sarkozy has the mandate to renew his country. By NICOLAS BAVEREZ

H14 Financial Times Wolfowitz's tenure faces fresh test

Editorial comment: World Bank crisis becomes perilous At some point even a sole superpower must recognise reality. Hopes for an effective presidency of the World Bank by Paul Wolfowitz are over. He must either go or be...

US ‘home-grown’ terrorists multiply The US is seeing a growth in the number of ‘home-grown’ terrorist plots that have no connection with overseas groups such as al-Qaeda, says Robert Mueller, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation

WORLD NEWS: Putin to broaden gas links in central Asia

FRONT PAGE - COMPANIES AND MARKETS: Nationalism and state ownership seen as main threats to oil supply

Putin takes swipe at US and Estonia The Russian president renewed attacks on what he calls US unilateralism, saying there were ‘new threats’ based on ‘the same disregard for human life and the same pretensions to international exclusivity and diktat as in the Third Reich’.

Cheney presses Maliki on reforms

Gates rejects new war funding plan Robert Gates, the defence secretary, urged Congress to reject a proposal to approve short-term funding for the Iraq war, saying it would cause ‘huge’ disruption to the Pentagon.

Blair to press Sarkozy on EU reform Tony Blair will urge Nicolas Sarkozy to limit his ambitions for reforming the European Union when they sit down together in Paris for the first meeting between France’s president-elect and a foreign leader.

WORLD NEWS: Lure of Iran gas puts energy-hungry Asian companies in hot seat

WORLD NEWS: Politics and easy profits signal global oil crunch

Saudis to step up natural gas output Ali Naimi, Saudi Arabia’s oil minister, has said the kingdom is stepping up the exploitation of natural gas to promote its industries and create jobs for the growing population.

Bail for jailed Iranian negotiator Hossein Mousavian, former Iranian nuclear negot­iator, has been bailed in Tehran, in what is seen as a victory for critics of Pres­ident Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad’s government.

WORLD NEWS: Arrests betray nerves over those with links to west

COMMENT: A needless war cost Blair the respecthe craves By Geoffrey Wheatcroft, Reports that Blair will go to the Middle East as a roving ambassador to try to revive the peace process are bizarre, writes Geoffrey Wheatcroft, the author of Yo, Blair.

COMMENT: Unfounded new fears on free trade Implausible as it seems, liberal trade in goods and services really is good for importers and exporters alike, writes Clive Crook.

H15 Los Angeles Times Gates envisions a troop reduction Defense secretary says if the current Iraq strategy shows signs of success by autumn, the U.S. may cut back on forces.

EditorialWise-up intelligence

Congress has reason to be skeptical, but some White House changes to an eavesdropping law make sense.

Northern Ireland's past has a future

By Tony Platt

Most nations 'move on' after periods of tragedy and war, but Northern Ireland grapples with how it will remember its violent past.

FT Bourses in China eclipse all of Asia The value of shares traded on China’s stock markets was greater on Wednesday than the rest of Asia combined – including Japan – helping the benchmark index to breach the 4,000 mark for the first time.

Without new policies China’s shares could go still higher China’s stock market has inflated to a worrying level, and Chinese policy and economy suggest it could go higher before it falls

Bubble inflation A market that goes up 200 per cent in less than 18 months, and trades on a price-to-earnings multiple of about 50 is not necessarily a bubble

Whitehall farcesThe beam on the face of Gordon Brown, Britain's prime minister presumptive, must have been mighty to behold.

ANALYSIS: Lost in space Europe’s rival to the US global positioning system has suffered from a mix of inter-state feuding, price-gouging and blurred strategic objectives.

NATIONAL NEWS: Two guilty of leaking Blair-Bush memo

D Bank admits to Turkmen accounts Deutsche Bank has confirmed for the first time that for more than a decade it has been managing funds in the central bank of Turkmenistan, whose former president has been criticised by human rights groups as highly repressive

WORLD NEWS: World Bank criticises curbson Palestinians

ANALYSIS: An 'isolated' Vatican seeks to stem aLatin exodus As the Pope begins his tour of Latin America, the world’s most Catholic region, Protestantism is on the rise and conservative teachings are falling out of favour.

COMMENT: Pressure can spur China into climate action Until there is a genuine change in the structure of the economy, tackling emissions will be impossible, writes Richard McGregor.

WORLD NEWS: Report predicts increase in protectionism

H16 American Politics

LA Times What we know so far Ronald Brownstein: Top candidates are casting themselves as the most prepared, most inspiring or most aspiring.

GOP Moderates Warn Bush Iraq Must Show Gains
New York Times

realclearpolitics – ABC’s The Note – US News Political Bulletin

Early Bird GovExec

President Obama? Not This Time - Alex Beam, Boston Globe

Hudson TRANSCRIPT: Who Are We Today? The 2007 Bradley Symposium

The Politics of Faith in America

H17 Daily TelegraphStand by Estonia Mr Putin needs to recognise that Estonia is an independent state and will not be bullied by its former Soviet partner.

The Blair Years: The Long Goodbye As Tony Blair prepares to unveil the timetable for his final weeks in office, Telegraph writers assess the mark that Blair has left on Britain.

H18 Independent Two guilty of trying to leak details of Blair's talks with Bush Tony Blair's ill-fated war with Iraq claimed two more victims yesterday when a civil servant and an MP's researcher were convicted of disclosing details of a secret conversation between the PM and President George Bush

Robert Verkaik: Convicted for obeying their consciences

End of an era, but Blair vows no retreat Tony Blair will warn Labour not to retreat to the party's "comfort zone" by slowing down his reform programme as he announces his departure timetable today.

Leading article: Uncertainty that threatens the legacy of Gordon Brown

Teachers' killings turn Sunni Iraqis against al-Qa'ida

Pressure mounts on Olmert after Barak hints that he should resign

Tape provides first evidence that BBC reporter was taken

H19Military Intelligence Terrorism

Army Intel on Opposing Force Organization Secrecy News

Al-Qaeda message aimed at US living rooms
The latest videotaped interview of al-Qaeda deputy chief Ayman al-Zawahiri is al-Qaeda's most sophisticated and nuanced attempt yet to bedevil US domestic politics. And it highlights the long-standing fascination that al-Qaeda and many other Islamist groups have with the position of black Americans in US society, and the access they could provide al-Qaeda. - Michael Scheuer

US, Germany Fear Imminent Terror Attack

Pentagon-Funded Study: Insurgencies Usually Only Last a Decade or So

Bush kept covert action from Congress
Lapse kept secret; Congress says violation of National Security Act.

From The Atlantic Monthly, The Army We Have: To fight today's wars with an all-volunteer force, the U.S. Army needs more quick-thinking, strong, highly disciplined soldiers. But creating warriors out of the softest, least-willing populace in generations has required sweeping changes in basic training (and an interview with Brian Mockenhaupt on the men and women who enter basic training today, and how the Army has adapted to meet their needs)

Gen. John Abizaid, who spent three years as the top commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, will start his retirement as a fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution.

Congress Not Told Of Covert Action, Committee Complains

ODNI to Hold Conference on Open Source Intelligence

Plot Illustrates Balkans' Role as Islamist Foothold By: Bill Gertz | The Washington Times
The six foreign-born Muslims accused of planning a shooting attack at the U.S. military base included four ethnic Albanians, and U.S. officials say their arrests highlight how Islamist groups are using the Balkans region to help in recruiting and financing terrorism.

Casualty of War By: David A. Bell | The New Republic
Most historians pay scant attention to military history, particularly the part that concerns actual military operations. And so, even in the midst of the Iraq war--the fifth major U.S. deployment since 1990--professors are teaching undergraduates surprisingly little about this historical subject of rather obvious relevance.

Archived: U.S. Congressional Hearing: The Internet: A Portal to Violent Islamist Extremism

Harper's interview with Tara McKelvey about her new book, Monstering: Inside America's Policy of Secret Interrogations and Torture in the Terror War.

"Joint Interdiction," Joint Publication 3-03, 3 May 2007.

SYMPOSIUM: Mary Habeck, Victor Davis Hanson, M. Zuhdi Jasser, Daniel Pipes, and Robert Spencer take lessons away from the Fort Dix plot. “Jihad in Jersey”

CRS "Nuclear Weapons: Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty," updated April 4, 2007.

"U.S. Strategic Nuclear Forces: Background, Developments, and Issues," updated April 3, 2007.

From the European Journal of International Law, Andrea Bianchi (GIIS): Assessing the Effectiveness of the UN Security Council's Anti-terrorism Measures: The Quest for Legitimacy and Cohesion

Leftist terror groups 'to strike at G8'

Police fear that a new brand of left-wing terrorism is about to ignite in Germany, triggered by protests against next month's G8 summit

Al-Qaeda's Reverse-Reverse Psychology
by Robert Parry

Is the Administration Shifting Priorities from Terrorism Financing to Money Laundering?

H20 Slate In Search of a Political Mission: Are the Democrats and Bushies playing good cop/bad cop with the Iraqis?

Fred Kaplan

Cognitive Ability and IQ Gains
Source: The Brookings Institution Cognitive Ability for The New Palgrave (PDF; 46 KB) + Modeling IQ gains in the 20th century + Black IQ gains
+ What is General Intelligence?

Global governance and the division of labor: National governments need to be responsive and effective to fulfill their part of the “social contract” within a national society.

CFR Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism, and the Economics of Growth and Prosperity (Audio)

H21 New climate research reveals far less alarming predictions of global warming...

Where's the paper? What will be the first major American city without a daily newspaper? Will it matter?

A review of Blind Oracles: Intellectuals and War from Kennan to Kissinger and The Parliament of Man: The United Nations and the Quest for World Government.

Arthur Koestler was far from being a good man, but he did struggle toward the good by the light of his stunning intellect. Both his virtues and his failings lay in his passions... more»

He’s an entrepreneurial genius, to be sure. But Rupert Murdoch is not the right owner for Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal... more»

Sarah Bernhardt died in 1923, long past her glory days and well out of our reach. Yet she is still the most famous actress the world has known... more»

Can Rupert Murdoch save the newspaper business?

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