1129-2007f - FOREIGN PRESS REVIEW (FPR) - ‘Relevant news, views, comments and analyses 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 Slate Spaced Shuttle Diplomacy Why did it take so long to get to Annapolis? Fred Kaplan

CFR Indyk: Bush Seemed Uninvolved in His Own Peace Conference

WINEP Bush at Annapolis: Hints about the Final Thirteen Months By Robert Satloff

CFR Media Conference Call: Richard N. Haass on Mideast Peace Talks (Audio)

New York Times News Analysis: Rice’s Way: Restraint in Quest for Peace

FP Seven Questions: Sandy Berger on the Prospects for Peace

IHT-NYT In crowded Russian vote, only Putin counts

Guardian What does a free society require of believers and non-believers alike? Timothy Garton Ash: Religious diversity won't work without reasserting the liberal essentials. But let's not confuse secularism with atheism

Leader Still waiting for peace
Annapolis: Serious negotiations do not normally take place at international conferences. They happen before or after them. If negotiations beforehand have been fruitful, a conference is a venue to publicise and formalise what has been agreed

A small, slender chance for peace in the Middle East Jonathan Freedland: There may have been no shortage of arguments for pessimism, but there are a few strong reasons not to give up just yet

Turbulent times in 'nowhere land' Simon Tisdall With so much instability in the region, keeping things neat and tidy in the southern Caucasus is likely to prove ever harder

Independent Robert Fisk: A different venue, but the pious claims and promises are the same

Adrian Hamilton: Annapolis's sole purpose is to serve the Bush agenda

Ha’aretz – Olmert: Two-state solution, or Israel is finished

Editorial Forward Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni have come a long way from their revisionist world view, on which they were raised and which they sold to their public during their days in Likud, all the way to the speeches they made at Annapolis.

The Times Kosovo deadlock puts Balkans on the brink The threat of war in the Balkans loomed after the collapse of talks between Serbs and Albanians over Kosovo's future

Ignore Wall Street's tantrums

Is the financial world about to collapse? You'd think so if you listened to the financiers Anatole Kaletsky

Syriana By: Michael Young | The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) Foreign capitals are increasingly engaging Syrian President Bashar Assad, whether on Lebanon's future or on regional peace talks, as Syria's inclusion in yesterday's Annapolis conference shows. If this engagement is done clumsily -- as it has been so far -- we will soon be reading the Cedar Revolution's obituary

Asia Times White House squabble on releasing Iranians A behind-the-scenes row in the Bush administration played a part in the decision to release nine Iranian prisoners. Cheney and Petraeus, US commander in Iraq, took a hit, but administration hardliners continue to oppose any further move to reduce tensions with Iran. - Gareth Porter

Selling the US by the dollar The US$7.5 billion that the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is paying to buy a 4.9% stake in Citigroup begins the process of selling off America's remarkably innovative and profitable financial system. The country will now be paying a rent, in the form of the profits accruing to Abu Dhabi and the other foreign buyers that must surely follow its lead, equal to what it once collected for itself. - Julian Delasantellis

Inside Pakistan's Drive to Guard A-Bombs Pakistan's nuclear-security web involves a battery of checks aimed at rooting out human foibles that might lead one to betray national secrets. But the new program probes most deeply into degrees of religious fervor.

Pakistan’s Nuclear Weapons: Proliferation and Security Issues (PDF; 111 KB) Congressional Research Service

Russia's Oil-Driven Economy - Guy Sorman, City Journal

CEPS Political Islam and European Foreign Policy: Perspectives from Muslim Democrats of the Mediterranean Download PDF for free

Weekly Standard Battle of the Youth Bulge Demography may explain Pakistan's political turmoil. by Gunnar Heinsohn

CSM A 'surge' for Afghanistan?

A Marine proposal under discussion this week would redeploy troops from Iraq.

FT Rapid rise seen in internet's role in espionage More than 100 countries are believed to be using the internet for espionage, says McAfee, the information technology security company, in a report released today...

Juab Cole Sadrists Demonstrate Sistani calls for an End to Sunni-Shiite violence Agreement of Principles is Criticized

UPI Commentary: Osama's echo chamber By ARNAUD DE BORCHGRAVE What do the Archbishop of Canterbury, Patrick J. Buchanan, and Osama bin Laden have in common? All three believe America is on a path to national suicide.

Asia Times How you helped build Pakistan's bomb Pakistan's "Islamic bomb" - an arsenal of as many as 120 nuclear weapons - is not an indigenous product, but a little bit American, Canadian, Swiss, German, Dutch, British, Japanese and even Russian

FT Clan with a planWhile the ex-KGB occupants of the Kremlin find ways to retain influence, voters are content with the stability they offer

Lebanese rivals turn to army chief Politicians from the ruling anti-Syrian March 14 bloc reverse their position on General Suleiman, army chief, making him the frontrunner for Lebanon’s vacant presidency

Cobban Saudi-Syrian deal gives Lebanon a President?

Washington Post PostGlobal Seven Views on Summit What the Middle East really thinks about prospects and posturing for peace.

Bush's Next Preemptive Strike By Harold Meyerson This time, instead of preempting a foreign nation, the president is seeking to preempt Congress and his successor.

1973 U.S. Cable on Mideast Mirrors Current Events Memo, Among Newly Released Nixon-Era Documents, Warns Saudi Monarch of Dangers From Fatah

Editorial The General Retires But still Pervez Musharraf clings to power, prolonging Pakistan's crisis

PINR "Intelligence Brief: Musharraf Gains an Edge and Increases Chances for Survival" Full text of report

Weak and Failing States: Evolving Security Threats and U.S. Policy (PDF; 175 KB) Congressional Research Service

New Republic Don’t Let the “Lessons Of Iraq” Ruin America’s Foreign Policy by James P. Rubin

Iran's Peace Pipeline RSIS A 3-page Indian commentary on how a gas pipeline may undermine US efforts to isolate Iran in the region

Iranians Say Sanctions Hurt Them, Not Govt

UPI Report: 'Islamofascism' blinds U.S. The term "Islamofascism" dangerously obscures important distinctions and differences between groups of Islamic extremists, says a counter-terror think tank

William Arkin The Sun In Their Eyes Strategy

H2 Jerusalem Post 'A lot can change in 60 years' 60 years since UN vote, the ties have changed; Israel's relationship with Turkey can attest to that

Stratfor Iraq: The Arbil-Baghdad Divide ”… just as the Kurds have a vested interest in keeping Kurdistan in a legal gray area, so too do they have an interest in keeping the legal niceties of Iraq itself obfuscated. While Iraq remains in legal limbo, the degree to which Arbil exercises local policy control is not a headline issue. Luckily for the Kurds of Iraq, that limbo shows no sign of resolving itself. After all, even within the Iraqi Shiite community there are divisions over everything from the level of power to grant the central government to the role of Iran -- a level of continual confusion that allows Arbil to quietly proceed with building de facto independence, no matter what Shahristani says.”

Washington's Kurdish Quandary America’s geopolitical impotence is being exposed in the rugged hills of northern Iraq.

Former PKK member admits US complicity and released

UPDATE 1-Turkey to advertise nuclear tender in April '08

EDMAZERBAIJAN: REGIONAL LOCOMOTIVE NOT ONLY FOR THE RAILROAD (PART TWO)

- AS IT CONTINUES TO MULL LIMITED MILITARY ACTION, TURKEY STEPS UP EFFORTS TO DIVIDE PKK

U.S. MOVES TO HELP ARMENIA BUILD NEW NUCLEAR PLANT

Google News KurdishMedia Kurdish Kurdish Aspect BBC Monitoring

Kurdish Oil DemocracyArsenal “According to one person at the meeting, the officials warned that some of the blocs being offered by the Kurdish government lay outside its territory and might extend into Turkey or Iran.”

Barzani: "İsteseydik Kerkük'ü ele geçirebilirdik"

Kırmızı Bültenli 'diyalog' çağrısı Türkiye'nin terör suçlusu olarak Kırmızı Bülten'le aradığı, ancak AB ülkelerinin bir türlü iadeye yanaşmadığı Ahmet Gülabi Dere'nin de aralarında bulunduğu KNK'liler, Avrupa Parlamentosu'nda bildiri yayımladı

Hüseyin Gülerce Güneydoğu için yeni bir atak

Gülen’s new step for the Southeast

K. Irak'a diplomatik ilgi artıyor

ABD helikopterleri devriyede

Demirtaş, dönüş biletini iptal etti

Teröristler termal kameraya yakalandı

Ekrem Dumanlı Devlet ders almış; keşke DTP de ders alsa...

Güler Kömürcü ‘K’ dosyasında ‘P’ gücü

Vedat YENERER AKP Kürdistan'ın ilanını bekliyor!..

Sebahattin Önkibar ABD elçiliğindeki PKK zirvesinin perde arkası?

Dönüşe yeni formül
Hükümet, Köye Dönüş Projesi'nin etkin hale getirilmesi için düğmeye bastı. Bugüne kadar genel bütçeden karşılan terör ve terörle mücadeleden doğan zararların karşılanması için özel bir fon oluşturulması, köylerine dönmek isteyenlere arazi tahsisi formülleri üzerinde çalışmalar sürüyor. ...

PKK'lı ilk paket Almanya'dan

Germany extradites PKK member sought with Red Notice

ABD kahvaltısı Kürt siyasileri böldü

US Embassy angers DTP over meeting with Kurdish politicians

Iraqi Kurds concerned over Kirkuk referendum delay, press for vote

Wilson'un davetleri sürüyor

Shays: Umarım PKK konusu son bulur

Sehitlerin ve PKK’lıların adlarını istedi

DTP tebdir istemleri için ikinci raportör görevlendirildi

DTP'li Demirtaş: ABD elçisi ile buluşmayı nafile çaba görüyoruz

İzmir'de PKK'lı 'Ana' tutuklandı

Mardin'de bir papaz fidye için kaçırıldı

Turkish Paper Views Ways to Neutralize, Disarm Militant Kurds

Neçirvan Barzani: Eğer isteseydik, Kerkük'ü 2003'te ele geçirirdik

US Embassy angers DTP over meeting with Kurdish politicians

Kurds defend recruiting foreign oil producers, including Hunt

Çok dilli belediye davasına ret

ABD Dışişleri: "PKK ortak sorun"

ABD Kongre üyesi Schalow, Diyarbakır'da ''şiddet kurbanları'' ile görüşmüş!

Kürt ile Türk'ün benzer yanı
Hakkı Devrim

New TV for Iranian Kurds Starts Broadcasting From Sweden

Raids target militants in Kirkuk

Turkish Army Urges Kurds to Surrender

PKK zanlısı 20 kişiye gözaltı

BM’den Erbil’e ofis, Ruslardan konsolosluk

İsrail'in yüzölçümü mü yoksa varlığı mı sorun Bernard Lewis-The Wall Street Journal

Şahin Alpay Annapolis'ten ne çıkar?

[İSRAİL BASINI TEMKİNLİ] Annapolis taahhütlerinin yerine getirilmesi zor

Irak bu barış şansını heba etmemeli Anthony Cordesman

Kerim Balcı Annapolis is not a tabula rasa

Google News Greece Cyprus Turkish Cypriot Press ABHaber

Soli Özel| Türkiye Enstitüsü

Rauf Denktaş Biz istemedikçe

FT LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: History a good corrective to Bolkestein's foreboding

Semih İDİZ Ermenistan'da aklın üstün gelmesini dileriz

MELİHA OKUR "AB'ye damsız girilmez"

Andrew Finkel Europe? ‘Oui’ or ‘Non'?

Yusuf KANLI Turkey and northern Cyprus

Azerbaijan DM Hints at War

The new tsar of Russia: Putin I the Eternal? C. CEM OĞUZ

Barefoot Camilla toes the line in Turkey The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall visited the Eyup Mosque in Istanbul during their visit to Turkey

Dawkins book faces Turkish ban
A prosecutor may press charges against the Turkish publisher of The God Delusion for inciting religious hatred

Kadına karşı şiddete devam
İsmet Berkan

Yine Unakıtan ismi
Tekel'e ikinci el makine satan şirketle Abdullah Unakıtan'ın şirketi ilintili

Cumhurbaşkanı Gül'le 'fikir sofrası' Ilımlı İslamın da konuşulduğu yemekte şarap ikram edildi

YÖK için İki sürpriz aday

'Yürüyen Kale'leri yerli firma yapacak

Oray Eğin Çölaşan ve Özkök

Deniz Gökçe Nükleer atıkları ne yapacağız?

Rektörü üniversite seçmeli

29 Kasım 2007 Basın Özeti

H3 Barzani'ye artan baskı Murat Yetkin Barzani, Kerkük atağındayken, Babacan ABD'de 'Beklentilere uyulmadı' mesajını verdi.

Cengiz Çandar 2008 Ortadoğusu'nda 'Annapolis iklimi', Türkiye’ye 2008 ipuçları

Ertuğrul Özkök Türkiye Türklerin midir

Ahmet Taşgetiren Hangi Kürt? -

Çözüm demokraside...
ÖZDEM SANBERK

Fehmi Koru Ağızdaki baklayı çıkarıyorum

M Ali Birand Başbuğ’un söylediği gerçekleşti...

PKK'nın karakutusu anlatıyor-3

Hangi ülkeler Abdullah Öcalan'ı siyasi mülteci olarak almak istedi? Ruşen Çakır yazıyor

Sakık 3 dakikada paketlendi

Ekselansları 'Kürt Sorunu'nu çözümlüyor Hasan Celal Güzel

Soli Özel| Türkiye Enstitüsü

BAYKAL, MEDYA VE YOLSUZLUKLARA DAİR...

Dışişleri arapsaçı oldu

Taha AKYOL Aleviler ve cumhuriyet

'Amaçları, Türkiye'yi İslam devleti yapmak' CHP, tarikatların elinde 3 bine yakın okul, pansiyon ve kurs olduğunu savunarak eğitim kurumlarında tarikat örgütlenmelerinin tespiti için Meclis...

Serpil YILMAZ Sabah-atv ihalesi neden iptal olabilir -1

Fikret BİLA TSK ve İngiliz ordusu

Can Dündar ABD planı

'Bir elinde gül' ama ürkek Tarhan Erdem

ALİ BAYRAMOĞLU

PKK'nın tehditleri ve demokrat anlayış…

İBRAHİM KARAGÜL

PKK ve Hizbullah aynı cephede savaşır mı?

Derya SAZAK Wilson daveti

Murat Çelik Baykal ile gündeme dair -

Lale Sarıibrahimoğlu ‘You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours’

YAŞ Erdoğan başkanlığında toplanıyor

"İnsan hakları devletin güvenliği için tehdit" Türkiye Ekonomik ve Sosyal Etüdler Vakfı'nın (TESEV) yaptığı araştırma, hakim ve savcıların yarısından fazlasının insan haklarını devletin güvenliği için tehdit olarak gördüğünü ortaya koydu.

Judiciary remains ‘statist’ despite EU reforms

İç Basında Türk Dış Politikası

Dış Basında Türkiye-AB İlişkileri -

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 A moveable feast

Ahmet Hakan Artık harekete geçsen diyorum Beşir Hoca

İsmail Küçükkaya Vamık Volkan’dan Ankara dersleri...

Mülakatla hakim alımına CHP’den toplu direniş

Yine tarih meselesi Nuray Mert

Cüneyt Ülsever Yeni asalaklar (II): Türbanlı hanımların bürokrat beyleri

Alevi rantı kavgası

Serdar Turgut Aleviler

AKİF EMRE Alevilik bir tarikat mı?

YASİN DOĞAN Değerden yoksun siyaset olamaz

Enis Berberoğlu

Mümtazer Türköne "Birahaneye mahalle baskısı"

Oktay Ekşi Şimdiden belli olmalı

ERDAL ŞAFAK Ankara'da bir konuk

EMRE AKÖZ O bildiri işe yarar mı?

NAZLI ILICAK PKK, DTP ve laiklik

MAHMUT ÖVÜR Ağar yeniden istifa edecek mi?

Son açılımlar, Alevi-Sünni kardeşliğini pekiştirecek

Mustafa Erdoğan Milletvekili dokunulmazlığı ayrıcalık değildir

Süheyl Batum Anayasanın “ciddiyetine” kim karar verir?

Bilal Çetin 301 değişikliğini kim engelliyor?

ABDURRAHMAN YILDIRIM Düşene kadar yola devam

Seyfettin Gürsel Kendimizi övüp duracağımıza okumaya bakalım

Hurşit GÜNEŞ
Sosyal güvenlik reformu nihayet Meclis'te

Ercan Kumcu Avrupa’daki gelişmekte olan ülkelere ilgi artıyor

Erdal Sağlam

Turkey's privatisation board says no injunction on Turcas

Daha nasıl destek olsun?
Mahfi Eğilmez

260 milyar dolarlık borsa bir kepçe darbesiyle çöktü

Yükselen piyasalar ilaç olur mu?
Korkmaz İlkorur

İBRAHİM KAHVECİ

Güngör URAS Salı % 2.33 indi, dün % 3.00 bindi (...bir gün iniyor, bir gün biniyor!)

Turkish economy authorities to put c/a deficit under the lens

H4 New York Times News Analysis: Rice’s Way: Restraint in Quest for Peace

Israel’s Nuclear Arsenal Vexed Nixon

Bush Promotes Middle East Peace Dialogue

EditorialSharif, Bhutto and the (Ex-) General

H5 Washington Post PostGlobal Seven Views on Summit What the Middle East really thinks about prospects and posturing for peace.

Bush's Next Preemptive Strike By Harold Meyerson This time, instead of preempting a foreign nation, the president is seeking to preempt Congress and his successor.

Editorial The General Retires But still Pervez Musharraf clings to power, prolonging Pakistan's crisis

Musharraf to Take Oath as Civilian Leader Pakistani President Plans to Announce Timeline for Lifting Emergency Rule, Officials Say

1973 U.S. Cable on Mideast Mirrors Current Events Memo, Among Newly Released Nixon-Era Documents, Warns Saudi Monarch of Dangers From Fatah

Pall of Rioting Greets Sarkozy After China Trip Critics Say Leader Has Failed To Improve Lives of Minorities

Russians May Host Middle East Follow-Up Major parties hope to begin a comprehensive peace effort that would include direct talks between Israel and Syria, officials say

Annapolis Talks Prompt Much Doubt, a Few Jokes, in Mideast

Rice, Israeli Official Share Perspectives Both Women Cite Pariah Treatment

Allies Abandon Chávez On Constitution Vote Prominent officials defect, saying approval of 69 constitutional changes would effectively turn Venezuela into a dictatorship run at the whim of one man.

H6 Guardian What does a free society require of believers and non-believers alike? Timothy Garton Ash: Religious diversity won't work without reasserting the liberal essentials. But let's not confuse secularism with atheism

Leader Still waiting for peace
Annapolis: Serious negotiations do not normally take place at international conferences. They happen before or after them. If negotiations beforehand have been fruitful, a conference is a venue to publicise and formalise what has been agreed

A small, slender chance for peace in the Middle East Jonathan Freedland: There may have been no shortage of arguments for pessimism, but there are a few strong reasons not to give up just yet

Turbulent times in 'nowhere land' Simon Tisdall With so much instability in the region, keeping things neat and tidy in the southern Caucasus is likely to prove ever harder

Fears grow as Kosovo talks fail
· Tension rises in Balkans over independence plan · Plea for peace as Russia and Serbia resist change

Iran leader dubs Annapolis a failure

Bush hopes for progress despite near-universal scepticism and taunts from Ahmadinejad

Three held over Slovak 'nuclear sale'

Police arrest three men in Slovakia and Hungary after allegedly trying to sell radioactive material

Musharraf says an emotional farewell
· Pakistan President finally quits army after 43 years · Western nations urge swift return to democracy

H7 New Republic Don’t Let the “Lessons Of Iraq” Ruin America’s Foreign Policy by James P. Rubin

Iran's Peace Pipeline RSIS A 3-page Indian commentary on how a gas pipeline may undermine US efforts to isolate Iran in the region

Weekly Standard Battle of the Youth Bulge Demography may explain Pakistan's political turmoil. by Gunnar Heinsohn

Asia Times White House squabble on releasing Iranians
A behind-the-scenes row in the George W Bush administration played a part in the decision to release nine Iranian prisoners. Vice President Dick Cheney and General David Petraeus, US commander in Iraq, took a hit, but administration hardliners continue to oppose any further move to reduce tensions with Iran. - Gareth Porter

Selling the US by the dollar The US$7.5 billion that the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is paying to buy a 4.9% stake in Citigroup begins the process of selling off America's remarkably innovative and profitable financial system. The country will now be paying a rent, in the form of the profits accruing to Abu Dhabi and the other foreign buyers that must surely follow its lead, equal to what it once collected for itself. - Julian Delasantellis

How you helped build Pakistan's bomb Pakistan's "Islamic bomb" - an arsenal of as many as 120 nuclear weapons - is not an indigenous product, but a little bit American, Canadian, Swiss, German, Dutch, British, Japanese and even Russian. It is impossible to launch a war against such an underground global business, which makes nonsense of the George W Bush administration's urge to militarize anti-proliferation efforts that have been at the heart of its post-September 11, 2001, planning. - Catherine Collins and Douglas Frantz

Hello to the Euro, Goodby to the Dollar By: Gwynne Dyer | The Japan Times Bush administration blunders have probably landed a fatal blow to the dollar's reign as global reserve currency, but there won't be change overnight

From Business Week, an article on Brazil, the new oil superpower: State-run Petrobras' "monstrous" new oil find has wide-ranging implications for the South American country, the oil majors, oil services providers, and beyond.

The discovery of a huge new oil field has the potential to transform Brazil into a global energy powerhouse and to reshape the politics of this energy-starved continent.

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

BBC Safe area
Sunni militia and US forces bring security to a district of Baghdad

Powerful Iraqi leader's cancer may be in remission

Six World Powers to Discuss Iran in Paris Saturday

Bush: US Would Back Israel if Attacked by Iran

MCClatchy Can hope triumph over Mideast experience?

Arabs Return From Summit Uneasy and Skeptical

BBC Bush launches new Mid-East talks US President George Bush pledges to back Israelis and Palestinians in peace talks, and appoints a new envoy.

Down to business
Now the hard work starts to reach an Israel-Palestine treaty

Annapolis: End of the beginning

Key excerpts: Leaders' speeches

Reactions to Annapolis statement

Saudi police arrest 208 militants
Saudi Arabia holds 208 suspected militants allegedly planning a series of attacks, officials say.

Iraq a loud no-show at talks Faced with a difficult political and military insurgency at home, and having to balance competing sectarian and diplomatic demands, the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki decided it did not have the time or resources to attend Mr. Bush's high-stakes gathering.

Spreading Prosperity By: Sunny Hundal | The GuardianDubai's enthusiastic embrace of capitalism, which some find disconcerting, is exactly what the Middle East needs.

H9 Ha’aretz – Olmert: Two-state solution, or Israel is finished

Editorial Forward Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni have come a long way from their revisionist world view, on which they were raised and which they sold to their public during their days in Likud, all the way to the speeches they made at Annapolis.

PM to Haaretz: Talks will be tough, require patience Olmert: The Annapolis peace summit is not a historic turning point, but it is a point that can be of assistance

Benn Only Bush can With all due respect to the Bush-Rice success at Annapolis, their real test is still before them, and it all depends on their determination and perseverance.

Segev The 29th of November, then and now There was a time when Israelis and Palestinians refused to speak to one another. All that is behind us. Most Israelis and most Palestinians agree in principle to dividing the country between them.

Poll: Most Israeli public believes Annapolis summit was a failure

Debate rages on World Jewry's role in peace concessions Jewish groups: We all have stake in J'lem's future; PM: Groups have no right to intervene in gov't decisions

Algerian minister: Sarkozy in power thanks to Jewish lobby

Syrian state-run paper: Non-comprehensive peace won't last

Israeli kids rank poorly on int'l test for literacy

UN archives reveal plan to arm Jewish militia

Former NATO head expected to join Rice's Mideast team

Jerusalem Post Analysis: formidable challenges For all Olmert's patent reinvigoration and confidence this process represents a significant gamble

Make Annapolis work

For this to work, 2008 must also be year Iran's nuke program is repelled.

Can Israel live with a partial Golan? The Golan Heights can be something close to a defender's dream.

Accept Israel as the Jewish state?

[ DANIEL PIPES ,

Arab representatives to Annapolis shun Livni Foreign minister meets only with Jordanian couterpart during parley; officials say Arab world still not ready for warmer relations.

Yedioth Ahronoth 'Public will back concessions'
'Vast majority of Israelis will support painful concessions for peace,' Prime Minister Olmert tells reporters after White House meeting with Bush, Abbas. 'I was immensely proud to represent Israel at Annapolis,' he adds
Full Story . . .

The Annapolis soap opera

Summit in US another chapter in endless story of peace conferences, says Ariana Melamed

Poll: Abbas has no authority

Most Israeli Arabs believe PA negotiators lack mandate to make concessions in peace talks

Vatican backs right of return

Senior Holy See cardinal says Palestinian refugees have right to return to their homeland

Daily Alert.org – Middle East Progress - EJC Israeli Press Review – Google News Israel - Palestine

NRO MEYRAV WURMSER: The open threats of Hamas leaders dim the hopeful prospects of summit participants. “Annapolis Animosity”

excerpt from How Jews Became Germans: The History of Conversion and Assimilation in Berlin by Deborah Hertz

H10 Christian Science Monitor

The new man with the baton in Pakistan: Ashfaq Kayani

Pakistan's president doffed his military uniform Wednesday and handed over a sensitive post.

After Annapolis, hurdles for Israeli and Palestinian leaders

Observers warn that Palestinian President Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Olmert may be too weak to keep peace efforts on track

In Mideast peace process, how big a role will Bush play? Bush appears to be playing down the importance of the US in the process, but some experts see a need for an active outside arbiter.

Where to find progress in Iraq

Baghdad shouldn't be the country's only bellwether.

A 'surge' for Afghanistan?

A Marine proposal under discussion this week would redeploy troops from Iraq.

Bali climate summit: a test of the world's resolve At next week's meeting in Indonesia, more than 100 nations will gather to work on a new emissions pact.

ASIA

Three Wise Men in the East By: Jean Pisani-Ferry | The Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Even if the Europeans ultimately succeed in convincing the Beijing leadership that China has to take its part in the global monetary rebalancing, there will be a price to pay for it.

FT Modest progress at the Beijing summit By focusing on specific trade and exchange rate problems, China and the EU have created mechanisms that may stop their relationship deteriorating

WORLD NEWS: US-Sino naval relations the main victim of China's ill-aimed shot across the bows

India and its Neighbours: Do Economic Interests Have the Potential to Build Peace?
Chatham House

CFR Guang: China and the United States ‘Do Not Have Strategic Conflicts’ in Africa

Global warming's cold war

Mark Hertsgaard The standoff between the US and China over carbon emissions recalls the nuclear arms race. We need a Gorbachev of climate change to break the stalemate

Playing Roulette in Pakistan
by Robert Scheer

Pakistan: The Military Sans Musharraf
Stratfor

H11 IHT Roger Cohen: Of oil and death By ROGER COHEN

Chavez is too shrewd to sever his U.S. lifeline, but Venezuelans should stop him now.

Though deadlocked, sides agree to avoid violence over Kosovo

Merkel defends German foreign policy focused on human rights
The chancellor's coalition partners say the nation's economy is missing out on lucrative business deals because of her emphasis on values

A Cold War institution that's lost its bearings Russia is using the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe as its political playground

EUROPE European press review

CEPS Does Europe Need a New Missile Defence System?

Europe's Defence and Its New Security Strategy
CER

No Security: A look at how Britain is failing in its most basic duty to its citizens.

The EU Must Stand Firm on Bosnia
CER

How Many Divisions Have the Europeans?
(The much-mocked Italians, for instance, spend more on defense than Turkey, Israel and Iran put together.)

H12 RFE/RL

Putin Can't Run for Third Term as Loophole Closes By: Henry Meyer and Sebastian Allison | Bloomberg News
Under Russian law, the publication in the official government daily, Rossiiskaya Gazeta, of the date for the presidential election means that Putin can no longer step down and run again. The Moscow-based newspaper said that tomorrow's edition has already gone to press and carries the official announcement

Unmasking President Putin's Grandiose Myth By: Anders Aslund | The Moscow Times Russia's outstanding achievement is that its gross domestic product has increased six fold from $200 billion in 1999 to $1.2 trillion this year, but this is primarily a result of the market reforms undertaken in the 1990s.

Russia Lashes Out at the U.S. for Stepping Back By: Sergey Strokan | Kommersant Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in the United States as he came to take part in a Middle East forum in Annapolis and accused America of making “a step backwards” in the bilateral relations

BBC 'St Petersburg clan'
Russia's former capital is now a launch-pad to the Kremlin's top jobs

Russia’s Potemkin election, Shaun Walker

Google News Azerbaijan

The Soviet Union was once the best-read country in the world, but these days Russians prefer reality TV.

Silencing the Critics By: Katrina Vanden Heuvel | International Herald Tribune
With Russia's parliamentary elections set for Sunday and the pro-Kremlin United Russia party expected to win an overwhelming majority in the voting, President Vladimir Putin has intensified attacks on his opponents -- most recently, accusing them of being in the pocket of Western governments.

The Russian Parliament's intellectual giants: Peculiar doctoral theses have supposedly helped Russian politicians improve their images — a paper by President Putin raises questions.

Gorbachev on Putin:
'I would vote for him'

H13 The Times Bush’s peace summit comes at the right moment

Kosovo deadlock puts Balkans on the brink The threat of war in the Balkans loomed after the collapse of talks between Serbs and Albanians over Kosovo's future

Ignore Wall Street's tantrums

Is the financial world about to collapse? You'd think so if you listened to the financiers Anatole Kaletsky

Palestinian violence brings Bush a reality checkViolent protests in the West Bank and Gaza came as President Bush held further talks with Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas

Musharraf hands over command

The Pakistan President has resigned as army chief, setting the country back on the path to civilian democratic rule

Wall Street Journal Citi of Arabia
Abu Dhabi takes Manhattan--and Washington, too?

Inside Pakistan's Drive to Guard A-Bombs Pakistan's nuclear-security web involves a battery of checks aimed at rooting out human foibles that might lead one to betray national secrets. But the new program probes most deeply into degrees of religious fervor.

In Sharif, Saudis See Influence

Saudi Arabia surprised the U.S. by returning ex-Prime Minister Sharif to Pakistan Sunday, an official said. Musharraf had tried to block the move.

Syriana By: Michael Young | The Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Foreign capitals are increasingly engaging Syrian President Bashar Assad, whether on Lebanon's future or on regional peace talks, as Syria's inclusion in yesterday's Annapolis conference shows. If this engagement is done clumsily -- as it has been so far -- we will soon be reading the Cedar Revolution's obituary

H14 Financial Times US takes ownership of peace process The accord George W. Bush read out this week makes clear the US president’s role as honest broker

COMMENT: Be thankful for canny Arab wealth The Gulf states are buying in expertise in the form of expatriate professionals from consulting and financial firms. It makes sense for the Gulf governments to invest their financial holdings into a variety of assets and to take risk, writes John Gapper

COMMENT: Bosnia's future is crucial to greater Europe It can expect to join EU, says Tomas Valasek

Clan with a planWhile the ex-KGB occupants of the Kremlin find ways to retain influence, voters are content with the stability they offer

Lebanese rivals turn to army chief Politicians from the ruling anti-Syrian March 14 bloc reverse their position on General Suleiman, army chief, making him the frontrunner for Lebanon’s vacant presidency

Disdain on both sides of security barrier Jews and Arabs in neighbouring communities share a mistrust of the peace talks

COMMENT: Musharraf must leave office, not just the army Military is no longer a support, says Jo Johnson

COMMENT: Foreign state funds should be offered a safe harbour George Kleinfeld on benefit of international standard

Modest progress at the Beijing summit By focusing on specific trade and exchange rate problems, China and the EU have created mechanisms that may stop their relationship deteriorating

France burns again After a Paris suburb was again set ablaze by rioters, the government got tough on what it regarded as criminality masquerading as protest

Saudis hold 200 suspected militants Saudi Arabia says it has detained more than 200 suspected militants, including a cell that had been planning an attack on an installation in an oil-rich eastern province

Markets rebound as Fed hints at rate cut Stocks surged after Federal Reserve vice-chairman Don Kohn dropped what investors saw as a clear hint that the US central bank was ready to cut interest rates again next month unless market conditions improve

H15 Los Angeles Times

EditorialSummit surpasses low expectations

The Middle East peace talks at Annapolis weren't expected to be productive. But the 'joint understanding' is, at least, a start

Grooming the Next Ahmad Chalabi By: Alan Weisman | Los Angeles Times
Richard Perle was the most prominent and aggressive advocate of Chalabi, dubbed the "Jay Gatsby of Iraq" for his social life and financial scandals, as the leader of a new Iraq. That effort collapsed when the Iraqi people, finally given a chance to vote in January 2005, did not award Chalabi's party a single seat in the new parliament.

Give Venezuela Credit By: Angelo Rivero | Los Angeles Times
U.S. policymakers and pundits have warned that a set of constitutional reforms being considered in Venezuela are but a step toward dictatorship. A little calm, and context, is in order. Since President Hugo Chavez's first election in 1998 and his most recent reelection in 2006, Venezuela has undergone a dramatic revolution in peace and democracy

H16 American Politics

STUDY: IMMIGRANT POPULATION HIGHEST SINCE 1920S...

Election basics
Key questions answered on the race for the White House

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

Early Bird GovExec Swamp Gas The Swamp

H17 Daily Telegraph

Nicholas Sarkozy's challenges

The power of organised labour in France is declining. If Nicholas Sarkozy continues to keep his nerve, the president should prevail in this struggle.

Cameron: Army must halt Russia threat

Western forces, which could include British troops, must be sent into the Balkans to prevent Russia sparking a new European war, according to David Cameron

H18 Independent Former Nato military chief appointed Middle East envoy President George Bush and Israeli and Palestinian leaders ceremonially launched their new drive for Middle East peace yesterday, as Washington appointed a former supreme commander of Nato to head efforts to improve security relations between the foes.

Robert Fisk: A different venue, but the pious claims and promises are the same

Adrian Hamilton: Annapolis's sole purpose is to serve the Bush agenda

Johann Hari: The plot to rig the 2008 US election

Musharraf yields to pressure and stands down as head of army

Leading article: An imperfect election may offer the best hope

Kosovo's future uncertain as talks collapse

Hamish McRae: Why Europe matters more to the UK economy than Asia or the Middle East

H19Military Intelligence Terrorism

Rapid rise seen in internet's role in espionage More than 100 countries are believed to be using the internet for espionage, says McAfee, the information technology security company, in a report released today...

New SIPRI/SPITS report: United Nations Arms Embargoes

From TAC, a cover story on hired guns: While the volunteer Army struggles, the business of war booms. From Wired, a look at how technology almost lost the war: In Iraq, the critical networks are social, not electronic

Recruiting: A new Army campaign hopes to appeal to parents.

Some New DoD Intelligence Policy Directives

sarkozy was ex-mossad secret agent
Tehran Times

Analysis: New Internet security threats - A new survey of Internet security threats says the biggest problem faced by U.S. companies and government agencies is the growing sophistication of cyber-criminals and spies, who are making increasing use of highly targeted social engineering techniques known as "spear phishing" and exploiting holes in custom-built Web sites.

H20 Slate Spaced Shuttle Diplomacy

Why did it take so long to get to Annapolis? Fred Kaplan

H21

Can Amazon save the e-book? The online retailer takes a crack at selling a portable book-reading gadget.

Literature after books: The coming of the ebook is likely to reshape both how we read, and how we write.

A look at Gideon Rachman’s six worst England football experiences

Sport police
Plans to tackle football violence in Europe with a dedicated force

Google: Plugging the Internet into clean power

Google said this week it would invest $100 million in renewable energy sources.

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