| H1 Global Forecast: The Top Security Challenges of 2008
Source: Center for Strategic & International Studies Full Document (PDF; 2.6 MB) Sects Unite to Battle Al Qaeda in Iraq By: Doug Smith and Saif Rasheed | Los Angeles Times Despite persistent sectarian tensions in the Iraqi government, war-weary Sunnis and Shiites are joining hands at the local level to protect their communities from militants on both sides, U.S. military officials say New York Times Baghdad Starts to Exhale as Security Improves Iraqis are beginning to reclaim their lost lives five months after extra American troops arrived in the country, but the depth of the changes remains open to question. Editorial The Scientists Speak The world’s scientists have done their job on global warming. Now it’s time for world leaders, starting with President Bush, to do theirs. Financial Times COMMENT: America loses faith in imperialism The flirtation with ideas of “empire” is over. As the imperial eagles are put back in the cupboard, the new challenge for Washington will be to avoid sliding straight from imperialism to isolationism. Yet it may in fact suit rising powers such as China tacitly to accept US leadership for some time to come, says Gideon Rachman Opec’s dollars It doesn’t matter if oil is priced in a currency other than the dollar. More significant is whether individual Opec members abandon or revalue their currency pegs Washington Post Top 3 Dems Locked In Close Battle for Iowa Post-ABC News Poll | In state that could set course for nomination, there are harbingers of concern for Clinton and signs of progress for Obama. Collateral Damage By Anne Applebaum The U.S. showing in Iraq has been so impressive, it has rendered America moot in the effort to engage Iran Editorial Gen. Musharraf Is the Problem An end to Pakistan's political crisis is incompatible with his personal ambitions. Iraqis Joining Insurgency Less for Cause Than Cash Guardian Leader Buildings not blocks Palestine: The pace of diplomatic activity in the Middle East quickened yesterday in the run-up to next week's talks in Annapolis EU tries to avert Kosovo breakaway Russian backing for Serbia could bring crisis in weeks and Belgrade may encourage Serb secession in Bosnia. US and main European powers attempt to avoid crisis with pledge of recognition in the new year The Middle East has had a secretive nuclear power in its midst for years George Monbiot: When will the US and the UK tell the truth about Israeli weapons? Iran isn't starting an atomic arms race, it's joining one The Balkan bad boy's warning Simon Tisdall Belgrade's condemnation of planned Kosovan independence is growing ever louder. Perhaps it is time we in the rest of Europe started listening Why peace has no price Martin Woollacott: Is it possible for Tony Blair's economic measures for Palestine to succeed while Israel still controls society? The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy Mearsheimer-Walt at Columbia Der Spiegel The World from Berlin: 'Peace in Kosovo Was Never More than a Ceasefire' Gareth Porter Israel's Syrian Air Strike Was Aimed at Iran Path to Victory By: Donald Rumsfeld | National Review
Ours is a globe speckled with violent extremists, rogue regimes, ungoverned areas, weapon proliferators, and aspiring despots seeking to turn democratic nations into personal fiefdoms Independent Mardi Noir: France faces 'Black Tuesday' Strikes. Sabotage. Student unrest. Transport, schools and hospitals disrupted. Is this President Nicolas Sarkozy's "Thatcher moment"? stratfor geopolitical diary Geopolitical Diary: The Pakistani Army's Scattered Signs of Dissent
Geopolitical Diary: Kosovo's Choice Stratfor Christian Science Monitor Ammar al-Hakim: Rising player with a vision for Shiite Iraq Free schools and mass weddings create support for a Shiite-run south. NRO STANLEY KURTZ: What if the image of a democratic and antiterrorist Pakistan is a pipedream? “The Best We Can Expect?” From The Globalist, a series of articles on globalization, Americanization and Europeanization (and part 2 and part 3); and it's a semiglobalized world: Is the world economy as integrated as most people perceive it to be? Ha’aretz – U.S. set to issue official invites for Mideast peace conference Officials: U.S. to invite Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, key international players in the peace process Oren This time, the IDF favors Syria Events in the Israeli-Syrian theater in recent months have obligated the IDF, and especially Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, to reconsider the relationships among the permanent and variable elements of the equation Jerusalem Post Analysis: Syria becomes the Annapolis prize By HERB KEINON Damascus supports Hamas, which is ideologically opposed to the stated goal of the conference YaleGlobal Time for Reality Check in Iran Dilip Hiro Capping its expanding nuclear program and not sanctions is the only realistic option IHT The vital need for unity By RAMI G. KHOURI The solution in Palestine is to merge Fatah and Hamas Don't go it alone, EU warns Kosovo European Union foreign ministers warned Kosovo on Monday against unilaterally declaring its independence, cautioning that such a move threatened to spur secessionist movements in Europe and to plunge the Balkans into crisis. Germany looks to Asia, at China's expense Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative bloc is studying a strategic partnership with Southeast Asia that would shift the German government's focus away from China. Weekly Standard Dollars and Sense Will the dollar's decline become a rout? by Irwin M. Stelzer America’s Bills Start Coming Due By: Peter D. Schiff | Asia Sentinel
The US, having lived for decades on borrowed money, is about to learn a painful lesson NYRB Who Is Sarkozy? By William Pfaff FT COMMENT: In search of a coherent British foreign policy Philip Stephens asks if he’s missed something Paperless: Amazon.com unveiled its new e-book reader, the Kindle Bush's Foreign Policy Disaster & The GOP - George Packer, The New Yorker Thinking Clearly About Defense Policy - Richard Betts, Foreign Affairs Kevin Drum Holbrooke and Iraq Lobe Pakistan Displacing Iran as Crisis of '08? Public Diplomacy Press and Blog Review, November 16-19, 2007 | H2 IMF Turkey Report Free Full Text (PDF file size is 945KB) -Turkey must restore fiscal discipline. reforms-IMF AKI - Adnkronos international Italy: Experts debate Turkey's emerging regional and global role USIP The Role of Kurds in the New Iraq (audio) Turkey's Kurdish Rebels Welcome PM Statement, Hope for Practical Move Northern Iraq Now Tops Regions in Violence Expert: Economic obstacles in Kurdistan Middle East Times Kissinger Ulus devletlerin çökmesi daha büyük bir tehdit AB'den önemli destek ESR | November 19, 2007 | Showdown for Ataturk's republic Turkey seen as vital energy gateway - The Money Times İşte Türkiye'nin 2008 yılı falı Google News KurdishMedia Kurdish Kurdish Aspect BBC Monitoring Iraqi Kurdish Official Discusses Relations With Turkey, Iran 'Rakamlar doğruysa oyum AKP'nin' PKK önlemlerimiz göstermelik değil Northern Iraq Now Tops Regions in Violence Iraqi Kurdistan Bans Journalists From Visiting PKK Bases K. Irak'taki Kürt hükümetinden "samimiyet" vurgusu 'PKK'lı Partilerin Faaliyetlerine İzin Vermeyeceğiz' Iranian Kurdish Refugees Dream of Return Dil yasağı ve 'kapsamlı plan' meselesi İsmet Berkan ’Silahını bırak’ dersek PKK ile çatışma çıkar AB, Irak'tan PKK için 'Türkiye'ye garanti vermesini istedi Ülkücüler neden sokağa iniyor? - AB’den Talabani ve Barzani’ye uyarı Eylem için giremeden tepelerine topu yediler DTP mitingleri kapatma delili DTP için 114’ü arıyor 'Türkiye Operasyon Yapmasın' Iraq's Kurdistan bans media from going to PKK bases - Reuters ABD eski başkan adayı Perot da Kuzey Irak'ta petrol arıyor AKİF EMRE Kürtlere, “kardeşlik türküsü” ne ifade eder? İlnur Çevik Threat to ban DTP corners the Erdogan government Sınırlı operasyona yeşil ışık
Iraqi Kurdish Press Highlights 19 Nov 07 KOMANDOLAR SINIRA KAYDIRILDI Yusuf KANLI Giving politics a chance Iraqi Kurds ban media from going to PKK’s Kandil bases Abdullah Gül'den Müşerref'e destek telefonu Gül'den, Müşerref'e 'yeniden demokrasi' telefonu Kurdish thoughts: We are all same; we just need a friend and some tea Hüsnü Mahalli İki toplantı! Atalay: İran’a nota verdik Sürgündeki Caşlar, Barzani'den af bekliyor - An industrialist's dream of building peace with industry Ali Bulaç Has Iran been exonerated? Ankara, Annapolis'e 'kolaylaştırıcı' rolüyle gidiyor Google News Greece Cyprus Turkish Cypriot Press ABHaber AUSTRIA'S OMV DEAL WITH GAZPROM THREATENS NABUCCO PROJECT Yüksel Söylemez On a non progress report by the EU Axa'dan 'soykırım' tazminatı
Sylvia TİRYAKİ
Ariana FERENTINOU
Yunanistan'da beşikten ırkçılık Belçika'dan DHKP-C'ye pres Hadi Uluengin Dostluk gazladı Boru hattı ile terörü vuracağız
Eser Karakaş Parçaları birleştirmek, AB, ABD ve biz Türkiye ile Rusya, birbirini tamamlayan ülkeler Ankara, konuk Alman bakan Böhmer'e Göç Yasası'nı soracak Enthusiasm for EU Membership Wanes in Turkey: Angus Reid Global Monitor EU, Turkey to discuss accession reforms - ministry - Forbes.com Turkey's Relations With Turkish World Are Above Any Interest, Yazicioglu Türk dünyasına 'daimi sekreterlik' kuruluyor Türk-Yunan işbirliği Barçin Yinanç EU urges Iraq to do its share to fight PKK 'Sarkozy, İslam'dan dolayı Türkiye'ye karşı çıkıyor' Ambassador Asp: Sweden supports Turkey's full EU membership AP Yeşiller Grubu Eşbaşkanı: DTP'nin kapatılması kesinlikle yanlış EDM AKP CONDEMNS JUDICIAL ATTEMPTS TO CLOSE KURDISH PARTY [HABER İNCELEME] 'Avrupa'da zorunlu din eğitimi Türkiye'de ise öğretimi var' [Yorum-Herkül Milas] Tereddüt İtalyan vekillere Talat kıyağı Enerjinin 5 yıllık eylem planı hazır CNN TÜRK'ten TARAF gazetesi açıklaması Three groups to compete in media group auction İçişleri Bakanlığı'nın sözcüsü, artık bir Vali olacak... Hükümet, TRT için çift vetolu Şahin'i seçti ABD savaş ihalelerinde Türkler de pay sahibi
Güler Kömürcü Aman kaçırmayın, mutlaka seyredin! Amerikan filmlerindeki 'tanık koruma' geliyor Sen de mi Özdemir Turkey must increase support for children’s rights Savunma sanayiinde sektörel sinerji 20 Kasım 2007 Basın Özeti | H3 Baykal: Terör bitmeden af olmaz Gündemde genel af yok ABD'den kritik ziyaret Başbakan bugün açıklayacak mı?
Murat Yetkin İBRAHİM KARAGÜL Ankara'nın “Kapsamlı Kürt Planı”nda neler var? Başbakan'ın dilinin altında bir bakla var Ahmet Taşgetiren "Meğer İslam konusunda yanlış yapmışız!" Mikro milliyetçilik: Bir çağ hastalığı... - Ali Bayramoğlu CHP'nin Kürt raporu
Deniz Baykal'ın K.Irak ve Kürt sorunundaki adımlarının nedeni Kahramanmaraş'ta istihdam patladı, Hakkâri ve Şırnak sinek avladı Seyfettin Gürsel Alarm veren işsizlik, ertelenen reformlar Yazıcıoğlu Dağlıca baskını tek başına PKK'nın işi değil Derya SAZAK Kürt planı PKK, operasyon yapılmadan da biter
Cengiz Çandar DTP üzerinden Ankara-Kandil buluşması Nuray Başaran 'Kürtler, Türklerle eşit yaşama şansını kaybetmeye başladılar' Ahmet Taşgetiren Muş-Diyarbakır hattında iki gün - DTP konusunda ne yapmalı? Hasan Celal Güzel Yalçın Doğan Özgür Toplum Partisi yedekte İlter Türkmen Demokrasi ve yargı Ahmet Hakan M Ali Birand DTP, PKK'nın bir yan ürünüdür, ancak... ALİ BAYRAMOĞLU Şiddet ve siyaset arasında: Bir parti kapatma davası… Gülay Göktürk Hukukun siyasallaşması (tersten) - Ankara Barosu: DTP kapatılmasın, PKK ile bağı olan yargılansın Serdar Turgut Tek parti iktidarı Genelkurmay, sınır ötesi operasyonu uydudan izleyecek Parliament to shed light on ‘state secrets' Ankara invited to Annapolis, waits for official letter İstanbul to become new nucleus for Turkic world Turkey’s role in the Middle East today by GÖKHAN BACIK* Murat Çelik Sınır ötesi, Barzani, DTP, derin plan... Turkish military to introduce new combat communications system Taha AKYOL Küreselleşme bu işte Hasan CEMAL Şiddete karşı akılla, sabırla mücadele! Andrew Finkel The genie and the toothpaste tube Lale Sarıibrahimoğlu Alarm bells ring on Turkey’s doorstep Mete Çubukçu yazdı: Medyanın savaşı Malatya’daki vahşet için ilginç iddianame 28 satırlık dilekçede 45 bölücü harf
Dil yasağı hortluyor Savunma şirketleri, savaş uçağı projesinde çok isteksiz davrandı Emekli askerler ‘konuşma yasağı’nı tartışıyor Büyükanıt Erdoğan'a ne fısıldamıştı Taha Kıvanç Rektörler atanırken... Fehmi Koru Askerler de konuşur [NEWS ANALYSIS] Turkey comes closer to realizing nuclear ambitions Cevdet Aşkın Erdoğan'ın PKK taktiği Çankaya seçimi gibi
[Yorum-Prof. Dr. Levent Köker] Bürokratik vesâyetten kurtulmak şart Ekrem Dumanlı İmtiyazlı sınıf da ne demek? Mümtazer Türköne Parti kapatmak Leyla İpekçi Sivil anayasa ve içimizdeki evrensellik AK Parti'nin anayasa taslağı netleşiyor Ertuğrul Özkök O ismi listeden kim çıkardı Enis Berberoğlu Bir Tatlı Huzur arıyor Oktay Ekşi Yanlış yaklaşım Yalçın Bayer Asker konuşur Özal'dan Erdoğan'a Namık Kemal Zeybek MUHARREM SARIKAYA ERDAL ŞAFAK ERGUN BABAHAN EMRE AKÖZ Umur Talu HASAN BÜLENT KAHRAMAN NAZLI ILICAK Dostluğu pekiştirmeliyiz MAHMUT ÖVÜR YAVUZ DONAT Rauf Tamer Normal mi? Seyfettin Gürsel Alarm veren işsizlik, ertelenen reformlar ABDURRAHMAN YILDIRIM Ercan Kumcu 'Ekonomik Reformlara Devam Edilmeli' Erdal Sağlam IMF’nin mali sektör uyarıları Yaman TÖRÜNER Bu karşılaştırmayı IMF yaptı IMF’den faiz indirimi uyarısı Volkan Akı Ekonomi bakanları gündemi değiştirmeli Hurşit GÜNEŞ Sıcak para sorun mu, kolaylık mı? Erdoğan: İhalelerin en düşük fiyatı verene gitmesi yanlış Yoksa hepsi masal mıydı?
Mahfi Eğilmez Önümüzdeki günler sıkıntılı...
Korkmaz İlkorur Recognition for top Turkish international contractors Vergi borcu olanların banka hesabına ikinci haciz dalgası |
| | H5 Washington Post Top 3 Dems Locked In Close Battle for Iowa Post-ABC News Poll | In state that could set course for nomination, there are harbingers of concern for Clinton and signs of progress for Obama. Editorial Gen. Musharraf Is the Problem An end to Pakistan's political crisis is incompatible with his personal ambitions. In Pakistan, Court Backs Musharraf's Reelection Handpicked Bench Rejects Challenges Collateral Damage By Anne Applebaum The U.S. showing in Iraq has been so impressive, it has rendered America moot in the effort to engage Iran Iraqis Joining Insurgency Less for Cause Than Cash Jordan's Limited Democracy Leaves Voters Discontented Israel Takes Steps to Attract Arab States to Peace Talks The Democrats' Facebook Primary By E. J. Dionne Jr. , Page A17 Democrats who once struggled over ideology will be making a much more personal choice in 2008. U.N. Overestimated AIDS Rates Report to be released Tuesday says researchers believe the epidemic has been ebbing for years Homeland Security Adviser Townsend Leaving White House Grand Jury to Probe Shootings by Guards: Blackwater Among Contractors Facing Scrutiny Reporting Against the Odds Honoring journalists who risk death to write the truth. | H6 Guardian Leader Buildings not blocks Palestine: The pace of diplomatic activity in the Middle East quickened yesterday in the run-up to next week's talks in Annapolis Israel and Palestine fail to agree before conference Meeting between Israeli and Palestinian leaders fails to produce joint declaration for US summit due next week EU tries to avert Kosovo breakaway Russian backing for Serbia could bring crisis in weeks and Belgrade may encourage Serb secession in Bosnia. US and main European powers attempt to avoid crisis with pledge of recognition in the new year The Balkan bad boy's warning Simon Tisdall Belgrade's condemnation of planned Kosovan independence is growing ever louder. Perhaps it is time we in the rest of Europe started listening Why peace has no price Martin Woollacott: Is it possible for Tony Blair's economic measures for Palestine to succeed while Israel still controls society? The Middle East has had a secretive nuclear power in its midst for years
George Monbiot: When will the US and the UK tell the truth about Israeli weapons? Iran isn't starting an atomic arms race, it's joining one More US special forces to aid fight against insurgents The high representative for Bosnia still runs it like a feudal fiefdom
Response: Bosnia's political crisis is the result of EU intervention, not action by Russia or the Serbs, says David Chandler The First Casualty By: Peter Wilby | The Guardian It is a matter of record that the British press, and the American press even more so, failed badly to expose the flimsiness of the case for going to war in Iraq. Will it fail again as the threat of an attack on Iran grows? Afghan MPs' bodyguards 'killed dozens'
UN report alleges that bodyguards protecting powerful Afghan politicians opened 'indiscriminate fire' on a crowd |
| H7 Migrant money flow $300 billion: Globally, migrants from poor countries send home more than three times the global total in foreign aid. Path to Victory By: Donald Rumsfeld | National Review
Ours is a globe speckled with violent extremists, rogue regimes, ungoverned areas, weapon proliferators, and aspiring despots seeking to turn democratic nations into personal fiefdoms Democracy's Last Stand in Lebanon By: Trudy Rubin | Miami Herald
Remember when Lebanon's "Cedar Revolution" was the poster child of President Bush's campaign to democratize the Middle East? Flash forward to November 2007. The bulk of the once-hopeful parliamentarians who won in 2005 are hunkered down in the Phoenicia Hotel near the Beirut seaside, protected by Interior Ministry security guards. Blankets cover the windows to protect against snipers. Tanks guard nearby intersections A Dilapidated Taxi as Metaphor By: Borzou Daragahi | Los Angeles Times Perhaps the taxi is a metaphor for the broad malaise that afflicts Lebanon. Never a very solid proposition to begin with, the government is caught in a seemingly intractable deadlock, with two opposing camps so far unable to come up with a president and name a government as a Friday deadline looms. OPEC Interested in Non-Dollar Currency... CHAVEZ URGES OIL WAR TO FIGHT 'IMPERIALISM'... Neocon accused of misquoting Iran's leader to push case for invasion NPQ John Bolton: REGIME CHANGE OR MILITARY FORCE ARE ONLY OPTIONS TO STOP IRAN BOMB; MUSHARRAF IS KEY TO PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR SECURITY IT IS PROBABLY the world's best-funded television news operation, and it has a team of experienced professional reporters. Yet after a full year on air, Al Jazeera English remains unavailable to most Americans. Asia Times SPENGLER
Israel, the hope of
the Muslim world
The state of Israel embodies the last, best chance for the Islamic world to come to terms with the modern world, precisely because it constitutes a humiliation to Muslims US tripped up over Iranian captives The United States has captured numerous Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps officials in Iraq, hoping to associate them to arms smuggling into Iraq, or even better, to show that the corps' elite Quds Force is involved in assisting Shi'ite forces militarily. To date, not one of the captives has been linked to any such operations. - Gareth Porter Pakistan put in its real place
Visiting US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte made all the politically correct noises at the weekend about Pakistan needing to lift its state of emergency. But what really matters to Washington is the continued prosecution of the "war on terror" and the person who is going to do it - President General Pervez Musharraf. - Syed Saleem Shahzad | H8 IraqSlogger Google News Iraq Iran Syria Mideastwire.com - NPR Iraq stratfor BBC Islamic votes
Jordanian elections highlight strength of the politics of religion
Assessing Normalization in Jordan By: Yusuf Mansur | The Daily Star
After 13 years of official peace, normalization between Jordan and Israel may certainly have evolved between the two governments. Normalization between the peoples of the two states, however, remains elusive. The peace treaty signed between Jordan and Israel on October 26, 1994, included several issues and annexes. A Letter to Israelis From Iran: Don't Pre-empt By: Mohammad Alireza | The Daily Star Why should the Iranian and Israeli people be on the verge of military confrontation? War between Israel and Iran could easily spill over into a regional conflagration that could have devastating consequences given the likely disruption to oil and gas production How Will the Islamists Fare in Jordanian Elections Tomorrow? Iran's secret Syrian plan Islamist Insurgency Grows in Somalia By: Xan Rice | The Guardian The Islamist-led resistance in Somalia is growing in scale and aggression, with insurgents openly taking on Ethiopian troops and African Union peacekeepers in the capital Mogadishu, in fighting that has killed dozens, possibly hundreds, in the past three weeks BBC Iran nuclear work 'not worth war' Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi voices rare domestic criticism of Iran's controversial uranium enrichment programme. Foreigners held for Iraq shooting
Iraq detains at least 32 foreigners, possibly including US private security guards, over a shooting incident. US Denies US Guards Detained by Iraqi Troops After Shooting Iran: As One Door Closes In Nuclear Dispute, Others Open DEBKAfile reports: Assad steps up demands for Annapolis, sends foreign minister to Tehran after surprise visit by Jordan’s King Abdullah Sunday DEBKAfile: Some independent experts believe Iran may already be producing enough fissile material for a nuclear bomb DEBKAfile Reports: US names Middle East Quartet to monitor implementation of Road Map’s clause on terror and settlements DEBKAfile Exclusive: Iranian-Syrian-French negotiators in Tehran posit Michel Khouri as front-runner for Lebanese president Daily Star Hamas-controlled Gaza muddles through amid apathy
By Taghreed El-Khodary | H9 Ha’aretz – U.S. set to issue official invites for Mideast peace conference Officials: U.S. to invite Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, key international players in the peace process Oren This time, the IDF favors Syria Events in the Israeli-Syrian theater in recent months have obligated the IDF, and especially Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, to reconsider the relationships among the permanent and variable elements of the equation Arens Waiting for Annapolis Mahmoud Abbas is clearly not capable of implementing any agreement. We know it. He knows it. And Condoleezza Rice knows it. Benn The Annapolis talks / Blaming the other guy Shmuel Rosner: Anti-Israel attitudes on U.S. campuses State Comptroller's Report / From the mouth of the IDF - not the government State Comptroller's Report / Five years without proper training State Comptroller's Report / In battle and lacking firepower Jerusalem Post Analysis: Syria becomes the Annapolis prize By HERB KEINON Damascus supports Hamas, which is ideologically opposed to the stated goal of the conference Our World: From AMIA to Armageddon [ CAROLINE GLICK View from America: Is 'surrender' not an option? [ JONATHAN TOBIN The Jewish Mailer By REUVEN GOLDFARB
Norman Mailer wrote about Jews and possessed a Jewish sensibility. Olmert visits Cairo Tuesday; Arab League scheduled to meet on Friday in preparation for Annapolis. Daily Alert.org – Middle East Progress - EJC Israeli Press Review – Google News Israel - Palestine Hamas Debates the Future - Palestine’s Islamic Resistance Movement Attempts to Reconcile Ideological Purity and Political Realism
BBC Palestinian schemes unveiled Palestinian Politics and the Annapolis Meeting - Mohammad Yaghi (Washington Institute for Near East Policy) WSJ Checkpoints Splinter Palestinian Economy Israeli military checkpoints have economically splintered the West Bank, undermining the Bush administration's goal of aiding the Palestinian economy in order to buoy moderate leaders. Yedioth 'Peace summit dangerous' Assad: Region will soon witness political events that may endanger its countries and peoples The day after Annapolis/ Elad Israel's State-Druze Rift By: Dominic Moran | ISN Security Watch
Israeli Druze close association with the state is increasingly under threat with violent scenes in a Galilee village and protests over land confiscations. Occupation Breeds Terror By: Seth Freedman | The Guardian
Israel must leave the territories, and they must do it soon -- whether accompanied by concessions on the Palestinian side or not. |
| H10 Christian Science Monitor Ammar al-Hakim: Rising player with a vision for Shiite Iraq Free schools and mass weddings create support for a Shiite-run south. Kosovo's leader-elect eyes independence as UN deadline nears With Russia and Serbia opposed to independent status, the European Union looks likely to split on the issue. Palestinian women face increase in honor killings Rights activists say such murders have increased as a result of the worsened security situation, and press for a new law ASIA America’s Bills Start Coming Due By: Peter D. Schiff | Asia Sentinel
The US, having lived for decades on borrowed money, is about to learn a painful lesson FT Editorial South-east Asia’s toothless charter To make its mark in a world obsessed by the economic giants of China and India, Asean’s leaders will have to come up with something better than this FRONT PAGE - FIRST SECTION: Chinese alarm at weakness of dollar WORLD NEWS: US business worried over China's expansion in Africa Kazakhstan in Nuclear Deal With Beijing By: Isabel Gorst | Financial Times
Kazakhstan has agreed to share its uranium resources with China in exchange for equity in Chinese nuclear power facilities in a strategic deal that brings together the world’s fastest growing uranium and nuclear electricity producers. ASEAN Plan for Rights Charter Highlights Gulf Between Rhetoric and Reality By: William Boot | World Politics Review
ASEAN national leaders will now go ahead as planned and assemble in Singapore later this month to sign a charter that they say will set the organization on the road to creating a European Union-like open community by 2015. Bangladesh buries its dead
After the cyclone, huge numbers of people still missing PBS Pakistani Crisis Hinges on Split Between Activists, Military BBC Options open
Pakistan court rulings gives Gen Musharraf new options Pakistan: misgovernance to meltdown, Iftikhar H Malik
Gvosdev The ASEAN Debate Asia Times Japan, US and the North Korea dilemma
The chill is on as far as US President George W Bush and Japan's new Prime Minister, Yasuo Fukuda, are concerned, with a primary sticking point being North Korea's status as a "terrorist-sponsoring" nation. Bush is anxious to remove it from the "axis of evil" category and claim a diplomatic success over Pyongyang disabling its nuclear complex, while Tokyo can't forgive or forget North Korea's refusal to come clean on its kidnapped Japanese citizens. The ultimate winner could be Dear Leader Kim Jong-il if he is able to put a significant crack in the alliance. - Donald Kirk Tokyo has a mission in the Iraqi desert
Tokyo's policy over Iraq has been overwhelmingly framed with its eyes on oil and its relationship with Washington, rather than with Baghdad. This despite the Japanese public's dislike of any involvement in Iraq, and Japan's lack of a Plan B should the US effort there fail. Are the Chinese about to dump dollars? In Cyclone's Wake, Tales of Tragedy Details of devastation and stories of the survivors begin to emerge as rescuers reach areas cut off for four days after a storm washes out roads and downs telephone lines. | H11 IHT The vital need for unity By RAMI G. KHOURI The solution in Palestine is to merge Fatah and Hamas Don't go it alone, EU warns Kosovo European Union foreign ministers warned Kosovo on Monday against unilaterally declaring its independence, cautioning that such a move threatened to spur secessionist movements in Europe and to plunge the Balkans into crisis. Germany looks to Asia, at China's expense Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative bloc is studying a strategic partnership with Southeast Asia that would shift the German government's focus away from China. Balancing market freedoms By PAUL A. SAMUELSON The policy tools that have so well served central banks need to be changed. Sarkozy gives strike the silent treatment in France As nationwide transit strikes dragged on for the sixth day Monday and as public-sector workers were poised to walk out Tuesday, Sarkozy is gambling that a low-key approach to the crisis will succeed. EUROPE European press review NYRB Who Is Sarkozy? By William Pfaff Guardian Striking civil servants turn heat on Sarkozy
Teachers and postal staff protest at job cuts and pay but president firm over reform BBC France braced for huge new strike Civil servants and students prepare for a one-day walkout as France's transport strike enters a second week. EU warns Kosovo on independence Ministers from EU countries urge Kosovo leaders not to declare independence after polls in the Serbian province EU role in Kosovo
How Brussels would handle independence for the province
FT Slowdown puts Sarkozy’s plans in peril Officials fear that weaker economic growth in France and the US could damage the French president’s goals of welfare, labour market and competition reforms Berlusconi launches new political party Italian centre-right leader Silvio Berlusconi, under attack from his coalition allies, said he was launching a new party and would dissolve the Forza Italia (Go Italy!) group he founded in the early 1990s From Monthly Review, Edward S. Herman and David Peterson on the dismantling of Yugoslavia: A study in inhumanitarian intervention (and a Western liberal-left intellectual and moral collapse). The Soft Underbelly of Europe By: Mark Helprin | The Wall Street Journal
Though no longer the chief delinquent of Europe, and though not much thought is given to its strategic position, Germany is still Europe's center of gravity, territorially contiguous to more nations than any state other than Russia, with compact interior lines of communication, Western Europe's largest population, and Europe's leading economy. Escaping From Limboland The Economist The fate of Kosovo’s 2m people, 90% of whom are ethnically Albanian, matters to the outside world mainly because of the great powers paying it attention The search for common ground: Muslims, non-Muslims and the UK media (PDF; 605 KB) Source: Mayor of London/Greater London Authority Independence Day: They've spent years shacked up with the UN — now Kosovo is ready to bolt. A load of CAP Jack Thurston Nov 19 07, 08:00pm: Right now, reform of the common agricultural policy could be almost painless - yet the EU Commission has once again lost its nerve From Cafe Babel, a series of articles on fascism for the fascists: eastern Europe and beyond. Prosperity is on the rise, but many worry about the motives behind Russian investment in Eastern Europe. ‘Rent-an-American’ helps shed old prejudices Exchange students are dispatched to German high schools to help reverse its transformation from best friend of the US in Europe to a stronghold of anti-Americanism Euroland How Serious Is the Inflation Threat? Denmark’s election: a shifting landscape, Ann-Christina L Knudsen | H12 RFE/RL Kosovo: Thaci Victory Makes Independence Declaration More Likely Google News Azerbaijan What does Putin want? Immanuel Wallerstein investigates. Weekly Standard The Bloom Is Off the Rose Revolution
Georgia's Saakashvili cracks down.
by Irakly George Areshidze FT Russia warns OSCE over elections Europe’s main election watchdog may not be invited to monitor Russia’s presidential poll in March unless it adopts proposals that would weaken observation missions, Russia’s elections chief hinted Politics after revolution: The crisis of governance in Georgia is rooted in history, geopolitics and political culture as well as the failures of Saakashvili's government. The rewriting of history: The Kremlin uses its version of the past to forge a new ideology for the present. WSJ Putin Institutionalized
Russian autocracy matures with each election. EDM STANISLAV BELKOVSKY: PUTIN WILL LEAVE POWER COMPLETELY
- AUSTRIA'S OMV DEAL WITH GAZPROM THREATENS NABUCCO PROJECT
- UKRAINE, RUSSIA FACE OFF OVER CLEANING UP OIL SPILL IN SEA OF AZOV |
| H13 The Times Fears grow for Kosovo after election vow The hardline victor, a former guerrilla leader, has declared that his triumph means Kosovo is ready for independence Why ditch Blairite foreign policy? There is no internal fix that can protect us from the consequences of what happens in far-off countries David Aaronovitch Leader Hope Burns Brighter The Israelis and Palestinians now appear ready for serious peace talks Olmert initiative fails to bring breakthrough Talks between Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas broke up despite release of Palestinian prisoners ahead of the summit Northern Crock The Chancellor must preserve Britain's economic and commercial reputation Puppet judges reject election challenge to Musharraf Supreme Court took just over two hours to throw out the main challenges to the re-election of Pervez Musharraf as President Wall Street Journal The Nuclear Disarmament Fantasy By: Harold Brown and John Deutch | The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) The strongest possible measures must be taken to inhibit the acquisition of and roll back the possession of nuclear weapons. However, the goal, even the aspirational goal, of eliminating all nuclear weapons is counterproductive Gulf Nations Rethink Dollar Peg Oil-rich Persian Gulf states face a tough decision on whether to keep their currencies pegged to the dollar, which is spurring inflation in their economies Global Warming, Inc.
Al Gore, Silicon Valley, and venture politics. BBC Dollar continues near record lows The dollar remains weak against both the euro and the yen as worries over the state of the US economy continue Sub-prime battle
Political divide limits solutions as millions face eviction in US
The Democrats' Facebook Primary By E. J. Dionne Jr. , Page A17 Democrats who once struggled over ideology will be making a much more personal choice in 2008. You First, Governor Huckabee By Richard Cohen, Page A17 If Mitt Romney must explain why his religion is not a threat to our cherished American way of life, so must Mike Hukabee | H14 Financial Times COMMENT: America loses faith in imperialism The flirtation with ideas of “empire” is over. As the imperial eagles are put back in the cupboard, the new challenge for Washington will be to avoid sliding straight from imperialism to isolationism. Yet it may in fact suit rising powers such as China tacitly to accept US leadership for some time to come, says Gideon Rachman Opec’s dollars It doesn’t matter if oil is priced in a currency other than the dollar. More significant is whether individual Opec members abandon or revalue their currency pegs Opec rivals in sequel to oil production drama Tensions within the cartel will be highlighted when oil ministers meet to contest whether to accept a price close to $100 a barrel or try to bring it down by raising production FRONT PAGE - FIRST SECTION: Chinese alarm at weakness of dollar South-east Asia’s toothless charterTo make its mark in a world obsessed by the economic giants of China and India, Asean’s leaders will have to come up with something better than this EU fears unrest after Kosovo poll European Union foreign ministers urged the winners of Kosovo’s elections not to declare unilateral independence next month, lest they spark unrest and ethnic separatism Nobel laureate urges Iran to halt atom work Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi has called on the Islamic Republic to suspend sensitive nuclear activities Fed likely to give investors a surprise The US Federal Reserve will publish its first set of enhanced economic forecasts alongside the minutes of the last meeting of the Federal open market committee, and the result may surprise some investors WORLD NEWS: World Bank finds tax systems improved Poland demands US air defence system US plans to base part of a missile defence system in Poland must be matched with a commitment to deploy weapons to protect Polish air space, the new Warsaw government said Arab investors, flush with liquidity, are considering investments in distressed US financial assets as they try to turn credit market turmoil into a regional opportunity - | H15 Los Angeles Times Editorial Sharpen airport security Federal agents smuggled bomb parts through security at 19 U.S. airports. Sects Unite to Battle Al Qaeda in Iraq By: Doug Smith and Saif Rasheed | Los Angeles Times Despite persistent sectarian tensions in the Iraqi government, war-weary Sunnis and Shiites are joining hands at the local level to protect their communities from militants on both sides, U.S. military officials say Public Diplomacy Isn't PR By: Price B. Floyd | Los Angeles Times
The United States has had arguably three of the nation's ablest communications gurus heading up the State Department's public diplomacy efforts over the last six years -- Charlotte Beers, Margaret Tutwiler and, most recently, Karen Hughes. Yet all three failed because they were trying to fix a public diplomacy problem with public relations solutions. Domestic security advisor is latest Bush aide to resign Iraq says the worst is over in Baghdad |
| H19Military Intelligence Terrorism The last, best hope for averting a war with Iran lies with the United States military — we will be saved or doomed by our generals Director of National Intelligence Statutory Authorities: Status and Proposals (PDF; 100 KB)
Source: Congressional Research Service (via Federation of American Scientists) Haven't Gone to War? You're About To Anthropology Goes to War
There are some things the Army needs in Afghanistan, but more academics are not at the top of the list.
by Ann Marlowe Windfalls of War II: Baghdad Bonanza Source: The Center for Public Integrity NYRB The Man Behind the Torture
By David Cole Perhaps the most powerful lawyer in the Bush administration is also the most reclusive. David Addington, who was Vice President Dick Cheney's counsel from 2001 to 2005, and since then his chief of staff, does not talk to the press. His voice, however, has been enormously influential behind closed doors, where, with Cheney's backing, he has helped shape the administration's strategy in the war on terror, and in particular its aggressively expansive conception of executive power CSM Military chaplains: Being a cog of conscience in the military killing machine Navy Capt. James Fisher brings his evangelical Christian faith to work with Afghan military mullahs.
| H20 Slate NYRB The Wrecking Ball of Innovation
By Tony Judt On Supercapitalism: The Transformation of Business, Democracy, and Everyday Life by Robert B. Reich Countering Violent Extremism - Lessons from the Abrahamic Faiths
Source: The EastWest Institute Full Report (PDF; 700 KB) Time Mideast Civil War: MESA vs. ASMEA US media poodles Norman Solomon November 19, 2007 3:30 PM Despite bouts of superficial self-criticism, when it comes to war, the US media excel at following the White House line | H21 Paperless: Amazon.com unveiled its new e-book reader, the Kindle. "Proust Was a Neuroscientist" Managing Vladimir Horowitz, Peter Gelb came to realize the pianist was not just eccentric, he was crazy. So when Gelb took over the Met... more» Review - Amazon's Kindle e-book My overwhelming sense after playing with the Kindle is that it is too little, too late to keep up with other technology Talking back to Prozac. Now that shyness is a disease we need a new drug for, what’s next? Frederick Crews wonders... more» The end of the book shelf? The latest e-book, the $399 Amazon 'Kindle', can store 200 volumes
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