1102-2007f - 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 The Economist The new wars of religion Faith will unsettle politics everywhere this century. It will do so least when it is separated from the state

A special report on religion and public life In God's name

Financial Times America is still indispensable but it must work with others The central purpose for US leadership is to begin to design, as it did for the west after the second world war, an international system that puts great power co-operation rather than competition at its core, writes Philip Stephens

Washington Post In Iraq, a Lull or Hopeful Trend? Signs of Declining Violence Leave Residents, U.S. Commanders Cautious

U.S. Sees Decline In Bombs In Iraq Fewer Projectiles Linked to Iran, but Officials Are Wary

New York Times Obama Envisions New Iran Approach In an interview, Barack Obama made clear that forging a new relationship with Iran would be part of his effort to stabilize Iraq. Transcript: Obama Interview Magazine Preview: Is (His) Biography (Our) Destiny?

IHT Last call for a two-state solution By IMMANUEL WALLERSTEIN The 20th-century international consensus on a two-state solution is fading away.

Guardian The calamity of Iraq has not even won us cheap oil
Geoffrey Wheatcroft: We knew the war was built on lies - but to have increased petrol prices as well as terror will surely seal history's verdict.

Saudis signal doubts over Middle East peace talks Saudi Arabia wants a significant agreement in advance on the core issues that divide Israelis and Palestinians.

Yedioth Ahronoth New eastern front Western anti-Iran effort could prompt Russians, Chinese and Iranians to join forces/ Roni Sofer

BBC Enemy warning
US strategist identifies key future flashpoints in 'war on terror'

FT Candidates marshal their foreign policy teams Historically, US presidential candidates run to the activist extremes to secure a nomination then back to the middle to win a general election, writes Jurek Martin

CBS News: Faulty Intel Source "Curve Ball" Revealed

Why Doesn't U.S. Have a Mideast Envoy? - Michael Hirsh, Newsweek

Abizaid: US could be in Middle East for 50 years

RAND | Monographs | Talking to the Enemy: Track Two Diplomacy in. the Middle East and South Asia

Rand Coping with Iran: Confrontation, Containment, or Engagement? A Conference Report

Ha’aretz – Editorial A new Jerusalem and Babylon The attempt to create an open, creative Jewish world modeled after Jerusalem and Babylon activity centers that fertilize each other will not work as long as the ties between Israel and the Diaspora are fixed in redundant obsolete patterns

Christian Science Monitor In a key Iraqi region, US starts pulling back Starting next month, 3,500 troops will leave two central provinces in a major test of Iraqi readiness.

William Arkin Congress and Iraq: A New Plan

FINAL: LIST: The top US Conservatives and Liberals...

DAVID BROOKS Feel the Love Let me tell you the truth, because you can’t handle the truth. We live in a world with enemies. We fight elections where people play rough. Who’s going to do it?

Middle East modesty by RICHARD N. HAASS*

Is Iraq About to Be Partitioned? Not So Fast!
ZNet

CFR Makovsky: Rice’s Efforts to Convene Israeli-Palestinian Conference Are ‘Iffy’

Climate Change: The Uncertainties, the Certainties and What They Imply About Action Thomas C. Schelling Thomas Schelling argues although the uncertainties regarding climate change are many, the certainties create certain urgencies and inaction is an extreme position; he emphasizes technological advance and governmental sponsorship.

FT Why immigration is hard to tackle Martin Wolf argues for market compatible systems

New Statesman What did the Saudis know about 7/7? By Martin Bright King Abdullah says Britain's security services ignored Saudi warnings, but what exactly did those warnings disclose?

WINEP Presidential Elections in Lebanon: Consensus or Conflagration?

National Strategy for Information Sharing

A Conversation With Guiliani Foreign Policy Guru Charles Hill

The Tehran fixation, Paul Rogers

The Hubris Syndrome: the intoxication of power

H2 The Economist – Special Report

Back to the Ottomans Why Turkey matters so much to Islam

The Economist Turkey's Kurds Dreams and reality The effects of northern Iraq on Turkey's Kurds are more complex than they seem

NYT As Kurds’ Status Improves, Support for Militants Erodes in Turkey

Asia Times Online : Double-crossing in Kurdistan The United States plan for Iraq all along has been no less than a "soft" partition, including an autonomous Kurdish mini-state and Shi'ite and Sunni regions. Even Turkey had signed on to this, provided the Iraqi Kurds cracked down on Kurdish militants striking into Turkey. With the militants running wild, though, Ankara has to take care of matters itself - and risk throwing the whole grand scheme into jeopardy, including the US's designs on Iran. - Pepe Escobar

Wall Street Journal Resolving the Kurdish Dilemma It's time for creative thinking on Turkey and the PKK By EDWARD P. JOSEPH and MICHAEL E. O'HANLON

FT US to offer Turkey help on PKK Effort to avert big Iraq incursion

COMMENT: Kurdish crisis offers a chance for lasting peace Turkey can reclaim its Kurdish citizens by Ibrahim Kalın

OxAn TURKEY-PKK : Last chance saloon Erdogan's tête-à-tête with US President George Bush in Washington probably represents Turkey's last chance to secure Western help in its struggle to neutralise the threat from Kurdistan Workers party (PKK) guerrillas and avert military action.

Jerusalem Post Iraq's next war DANIEL PIPES

Iraqi Kurdish Leader Rejects Calling PKK Terrorist Organization

LA Times Iraqi Kurds face a dilemma Few want to get involved in Turkey's battle with Kurdish rebels based in Iraq's Kurdistan region. Regional leaders and Secretary Rice take up the matter in Istanbul today

AP Administration Considers Kurd Options

Kurdish soldiers in northern Iraq face loyalty test Chicago Tribune

IHT EU report criticizes pace of reform in Turkey
In a blow to Turkey's hopes of joining the EU, a report has concluded that reforms there slowed in 2007 because of a constitutional crisis over the election of a president with an Islamic background

NYT Britain Praises Iraqi Kurds’ Efforts to End Crisis

Independent Turkey imposes sanctions on Iraqi Kurdistan in bid to halt PKK

Mutteki’nin Ankara’ya süpriz ziyareti

The Times Iraq signals hope for compromise over Kurds

The Iraqi Prime Minister is to fly to Istanbul to tell his opposite number that his country is ready to crack down on PKK

Turkey tightens screws on Kurdish rebels

Guardian Iraq Kurds braced for sanctions Turkey 'considering restricting the flow of traffic and goods'.

Turkey defends cross-border raids on Kurdish guerrillas

Reuters Rice promises Ankara "effective" action on PKK

AP Rice Pledges Action on Kurdish Rebels

US, Turkey to begin four days of crisis talks today

Turks: Not Seeking Fight With Iraq Kurds

Turkey ratchets up pressure on Iraqi Kurds with sanctions AFP

Bush: US, Turkey will cooperate against PKK AFP

US-Turkey: time for action by JOSHUA W. WALKER*

Kürtler ABD'ye güvenerek hata yapıyor TARIK EL HUMEYED

Rice Türkiye'de son şansı kullanacak Mark R. Parris -

Harekât reforma engel
MUHAMMED NUREDDİN

Babacan Mottaki ile bir araya geldi

Crocker to Turkey: Stay Out of Iraq

Iraq Seeks to Halt PKK Activities, Foreign Minister Zebari Says
Bloomberg

Iraqi Kurdish Leader Rejects Calling PKK Terrorist Organization

Turkey seeks to quell fears for attack on Kurds

Iraq's Kurds: Rebel Support, War Fears
The Associated Press

Nationalism soars in Turkey
Aljazeera.net

UPI New Kurd sanctions coming from Turkey

Rice heads to Turkey for talks on Iraq border tensions CNN

LA Daily News - When it comes to invading Iraq, what would Ataturk do?

Iranian Foreign Minister Arrives in Ankara

Turkish, Iranian Foreign Ministers Discuss "Impressions" of Iraq

Israel And The Armenian Question Blogger News Network

Google News KurdishMedia Kurdish Kurdish Aspect BBC Monitoring

DTP'de genel başkanlık krizi yaşanıyor

Üç DTP yöneticisi hakkında dava açıldı

Iraqi Kurdish Leader Rejects Calling PKK Terrorist Organization

Iraqi Kurdish Press Highlights 1 November 2007

Iraqi Kurdish Barzani, British Defence Minister Hold News Conference

UK Defence Secretary to Discuss Turkish Threats With Iraqi Kurdish Officials

Iran, Turkey, Iraq Victims of Terrorism

Al-Sharqiyah Carries Conflicting Reports on Turkish Sanctions on Iraqi Kurds

Kurds in Turkey Fear Civil War - The Money Times

DTP'den farklı ses: Meclis dışından genel başkan olmaz

Kurds flee Turkish shells Newsday

Turkey Says Sanctions to Target Only PKK Rebels, Supporters
Voice of America

Korucular, sınır ötesi operasyonda öncü kuvvet olmak istiyor

Avrupa’daki demokratik göçmen kurumları: Şimdi Hepimiz Kürt’üz!

Turkey-PKK conflict highlights American arrogance.

Blitz of Sanctions on Kurds

Iraq Says It Blocks Supplies to Kurds

Iraqi FM: Efforts to Release Turkish Soldiers in Advanced Stage

Yemen & Turkey: First "Walkaways" Under Assumed U.S. Retreat (Counterterrorism Blog)

Alleged Sexual Abuse Sparks Violent Scuffle Between Kazakhs, Ethnic Kurds

Turkish PM Promises "Some" PKK Sanctions, Denies Airspace Closed

Iranian Official Urges Diplomacy, Cooperation With Turkey in Tackling Terrorism

Google News Greece Cyprus Turkish Cypriot Press ABHaber

Dış politikada AB'li

US Congress, Turkish Parliament, many questions Vural CENGİZ

EU report on Turkey deals new blow to Ankara's membership bid - International Herald Tribune

Armenian issue discussed in students' research papers - Turkish Daily News Nov 01, 2007

Turks increasingly 'distrustful' of EU membership process | EU - European Information on Enlargement & Neighbours

Ağaç katliamına resmi savunma: "Ekolojik değeri yok"

Akmerkez'i de bombalayacaklardı

A review of Other Colours (and more and more), and an interview with Orhan Pamuk: "The art of the novel is anti-political". Reluctant rebel: Orhan Pamuk was tried for his political views, but as Andrew Purcell discovers, literature is his one true passion. Turning novel ideas into inhabitable worlds: Orhan Pamuk, honored by Georgetown, speaks of a power inherent on the page.

‘European Cartographers and the Ottoman World, 1500-1750’

2 Kasım 2007 Basın Özeti

H3 Başbakan'a göre Rice'la randevusu, Bush zirvesine hazırlık
Nasihate karnımız tok Murat Yetkin

"Vazgeçirmeye çalışacağım"

ABD-Peşmerge-PKK üçgeninde Türkiye (2) Hasan Celal Güzel

Mustafa Karaalioğlu ABD ziyaretinin iki sonucu olabilir

Şamil Tayyar Her an her şey olabilir

PKK itirafçısının kamp ‘itirafları’

PKK kampları Talabani ve Barzani'nin denetiminde

Amerika 10 PKK'lıyı arıyor

Hasan CEMAL 'PKK terör örgütüdür!'

İşte Hakkâri

PKK’yı yok etme planıyla geliyor

PKK’nın yıllık bütçesi ne kadar?

Fikret BİLA DTP'nin bildirgesi ve Öcalan tezleri

Ahmet Taşgetiren ABD ile ilişkilerde en kritik günler

Ali H Aslan Act now, or…

Ankara'dan 3 önemli mesaj

Maliki, Eroğan ile sınırı görüşecek

Gül Muttaki ile görüştü

Erdoğan ile öze yönelik bir görüşme yapacağız

PKK'yı kim inceler? M.Ali Kışlalı

Nasuhi Güngör Kuzey Irak’ta İsrail yokmuş!

Statement: PUK and KDP leadership spare no efforts for right solution
Kurdistan Regional Government

Taha AKYOL Tarihçiden uyarı

ALİ BAYRAMOĞLU Kürt sorununda siyasi çözüm…

İBRAHİM KARAGÜL Türkiye Musul'u mu istiyor?

YASİN DOĞAN ABD kimleri gözden çıkaracak?

Serdar Akinan 5 Kasım 2007’de tarih ne yazacak?

Çitlioğlu: 'ABD Barzani'ye Baskı Yapmalı'

PKK'ya Almanya'dan milyonlarca euro

Cevdet Aşkın Ankara, 'PKK konusunda tek muhatap ABD' dedi

Cengiz Çandar Üçüncü İnönü zaferi

M. Ali BİRAND Bush, 2003'te bizi terslemişti, bugün ise...

Hava sahasına kısıtlama

150 milyon YTL terör ödeneği

Ruşen Çakır| İncirlik’e inen uçakta hangi esirler vardı?

Eslen: 'PKK, ABD'nin stratejik enstrümanıdır'

Oval Ofis’te o da var

Turkey expects Rice to up pressure on Kurds Today's Zaman

Görüşmede Rice yerine Negroponte

Rice, askeri yetkili getirmiyor

Muttaki'den sürpriz ziyaret

ABD'li savcı, PKK'nın paralarının peşinde

Amerikalı savcıya PKK-uyuşturucu brifingi

Mehmet Tezkan

Hükümet hatayı itiraf etti..

Irak'ın kuzeyindeki Kürtler: Sorun savaşla değil, diplomasiyle çözülsün

Nuh Yılmaz ABD’nin umudu acil bir kar tatili

Government more generous toward MGK and MİT

Ertuğrul Özkök O makul sesi hâlâ bekliyorum

US extends intelligence support for captive soldiers

İstanbul ve Ankara'da yoğun gündem

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 Kurmay değerlendirmesi

Bülent Keneş What falls on the DTP is democratic responsibility

Etyen Mahçupyan PKK's strategy

Ali Bulaç Conflict doctrine

Mehmet Altan Kanlı hamaset petrol pompası mı?

‘Tüccar gazeteci’ rehin askerler için devrede

Bilal Çetin

Stratejik ortaklığın geleceği

İlnur Çevik Government also says "no magical formula"

Hava koridoru bilmecesi

Barzani açıkladı: Türk hava sahası kapatıldı

Türk hükümeti kısmı ambargo uygulamasına geçti

Şener Stratejik ortak olan iki ülkenin terörü birlikte kurutması lazım

Serdar Turgut İran meselesi

US visit critical for Turkey’s embargo decision

Babacan: Turkey's cross-border incursion will not spell invasion

Arap Birliği, Türkiye'ye diyalog çağrısı yaptı

Mayınlar imha ediliyor

Ahmet Hakan Faiz konusunda İlhan Selçuk haklı

Oktay Ekşi Bu maskaralık bitse...

Hüseyin Gülerce Zirvenin sonucu ne olacak?

Bekir Coşkun ABD’ye koşmak...

PKK'ya yataklık edenler, onlarla birlikte değerlendirilir

Ein Volk, Ein Ummah, Ein Muhammad? Mustafa AKYOL

Doğru söz: Biz birbirimizi yeriz
İsmet Berkan

Erdal bey ve siyasetimiz Türker Alkan

Böyle insanlara çok alışık değiliz
Murat Belge

Özdemir İnce Menderes dönemiyle yüzleşmek

Erdal İnönü ve Einstein Haluk Şahin

Yusuf KANLI Talabani still waiting for an invitation

MUHARREM SARIKAYA

ERDAL ŞAFAK Bir IMF öyküsü

ERGUN BABAHAN Korku mu yoksa umut mu?

EMRE AKÖZ Menderes'in Kürt çözümü

Umur Talu 'En nazik siyasetçi' idi ama bakın ne olmuştu!

HASAN BÜLENT KAHRAMAN

NAZLI ILICAK DTP ile PKK uyumu

MAHMUT ÖVÜR 'Ateşkes çare değil, silah bırakılmalı!'

YAVUZ DONAT Demirel "ortağı İnönü'yü" anlattı

Mehmet BARLAS Siyasetçiler olmadan demokrasi, futbolcular olmadan futbol olmaz…

Mümtazer Türköne Erdal İnönü

Mustafa Ünal Erdal İnönü'nün ardından

Ece TEMELKURAN Çöpten adamlar çıkıyor!

Hurşit GÜNEŞ İnönü, ulusal bütünlük, Kürt sorunu ve demokrasi

Derya SAZAK Pembe Köşk ve laiklik

ABDURRAHMAN YILDIRIM

Ercan Kumcu Petrol fiyatları riskleri artırıyor

Erdal Sağlam

Metin MÜNİR Malezya'yı boş ver, Türkiye Singapur olur mu?

EU impressed by Turkish economy - Turkish Daily News Nov 01, 2007

Finansal istikrar için faiz indirimi
Uğur Gürses

Salih Neftçi FED kararına ilk ve ikinci bakış

Eser Karakaş Enflasyon, büyüme, kur ve faizler

Şimşek: Maliyet, operasyonun süresine bağlı

'Global yatırımcılar Türkiye gibi 'ninja kredisi' kullandırmayan ülkelere gidiyor'

Editorial

3 G.I.’s Die in Iraq’s North; Baghdad Civilian Toll Falls

H5 Washington Post In Iraq, a Lull or Hopeful Trend? Signs of Declining Violence Leave Residents, U.S. Commanders Cautious

U.S. Sees Decline In Bombs In Iraq Fewer Projectiles Linked to Iran, but Officials Are Wary

Stocks Tumble As Investors Get Bad News On Citigroup Gains From Fed's Rate Cut Vanish

The Real Hill-Bill Problem By Charles Krauthammer

Issue of Illegal Immigration Is Quandary for Democrats Many Voters Want a Tougher Stance Than Candidates Offer

Dozens Die As Pakistani Troops Battle Insurgents

Court Delays Decision On Musharraf's Election

The Issue the Democrats Dread By E. J. Dionne Jr., More significant than Hillary Clinton's supposed gaffe at the end of Tuesday's Democratic presidential debate is the subject around which she tiptoed so delicately: immigration. Democrats fear the issue because it could leave them with a set of no-win political choices.

Giuliani's Bogus Diagnosis By Eugene Robinson,

Even Rudy Giuliani would acknowledge that he can be prickly. Now, it seems, the tough-talking former mayor is growing estranged from empirical fact

Editorial Mr. Mukasey and Torture The Senate should confirm the former and ban the latter.

H6 Guardian The calamity of Iraq has not even won us cheap oil
Geoffrey Wheatcroft: We knew the war was built on lies - but to have increased petrol prices as well as terror will surely seal history's verdict.

Saudis signal doubts over Middle East peace talks Saudi Arabia wants a significant agreement in advance on the core issues that divide Israelis and Palestinians.

Cornflakes in the wind Richard Norton-Taylor: With Sir Richard Dearlove's comments on the build-up to the invasion of Iraq, intelligence has been put back in its rightful place.

Confusion reigns Ilana Bet-El: As the situation deteriorates on the ground, Nato and the EU are failing to get their act together in Afghanistan.

Sunni side up Bahrain's ruling dynasty fears a US attack on Iran could inflame tensions with the country's restive Shia majority, reports Ian Black from Manama.

Who's corrupting whom? Mamoun Fandy Nov 01 07, 08:30pm: Almost unanimously, the British media condemned King Abdullah's visit. But wasn't their coverage unfairly one-sided?

H7 Iran simmers as a hot US political potatoA long-time US critic of the Iraq war, Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, has broken ranks once again in a letter to President George W Bush, Pentagon chief Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urging the US to hold direct and comprehensive talks with Tehran. Hagel's letter, which urges a "strategic shift" in efforts, comes amid the increasing clamor for war - and propels Iran to the center of the 2008 presidential race. - Jim Lobe

Washington Times A Diplomacy of neighborhoods Austin Bay Twenty-first century diplomacy isn't an office job. It is a demanding and, at times, a dangerous trade, one that requires accepting deprivation, running physical risks and hanging out in bad neighborhoods.

Dividing Iraq? Ed Blanche

Verifying Iran's Nuclear Program: Is the International Community up to the Task? CEIP

A 'Third Way' Approach to Stopping Iran - Mort Kondracke, Roll Cal

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

The Economist Iraq Al-Qaeda in retreat, for now

BBC Gulf states 'offer Iran uranium' Saudi Arabia's foreign minister reportedly says Gulf states could offer to provide enriched uranium to Iran

Who's who: Senior Saudis

Changing kingdom
The challenges facing the Saudi king's plan for reform

Deaths in Iraq 'continue to fall'

The number of violent civilian and military deaths in Iraq is continuing to drop, statistics for October suggest

World Powers to Discuss Iran Sanctions

Oil retreats after breaching $96

Oil Nations Amassing Cash Hoards

BBC Monitoring Quotes From Middle East Arabic Press for 01 Nov 07

Gates: Iran Assured Iraq On Weapons (AP)

Juan Cole: Time to Close the US Embassy

Regression in the Muslim Brotherhood's Platform? By: Amr Hamzawy | The Daily Star The Muslim Brotherhood's draft party platform sends mixed signals about the movement's political views and positions. Its detailed treatment of political, social, and economic issues marks a significant departure from previously less developed positions, articulated inter alia in a 2004 reform initiative and the 2005 electoral platform for Brotherhood parliamentary candidates.

H9 Ha’aretz – Editorial A new Jerusalem and Babylon The attempt to create an open, creative Jewish world modeled after Jerusalem and Babylon activity centers that fertilize each other will not work as long as the ties between Israel and the Diaspora are fixed in redundant obsolete patterns

Olmert seeks agreement with PA on core issues during Bush administration

The Annapolis Meeting: Not at Any Price - Yoel Marcus

Jerusalem Post Analysis: Israel bound to feel the heat ahead of Annapolis

By HERB KEINON If Saudis, Syrians come to Annapolis, Israel will be expected to pay a price for bringing them there.

Rattling the Cage: Jews of power, Jews of truth Jerusalem Post,

The Region: Rules of the game, Palestinian-style By BARRY RUBIN

Hamas fighters strengthening border defense Israeli incursions into the Gaza Strip, once a walkover, now encounter increasingly effective resistance from forces organized by militants trained in Iran and by Hezbollah in Lebanon, Israeli officers say.

Envoy touts action plan for Palestinians Germany's foreign minister is traveling in the Middle East this week to promote an "action plan" of the European Union that provides for an international military force to serve in the Palestinian territories.

'Israel Lobby' naive, ludicrous
Stephen Zunes, Tikkun.

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

Yedioth Ahronoth 'Evacuation through dialogue'
Prime minister's aides say Israel will meet all its obligations according to Road Map, including evacuation of illegal West Bank outposts. Foreign Minister Livni: Timetables may lead to frustration which will encourage terror

'US anti-Semitism constant'

ADL survey shows 15% of Americans - nearly 35 million adults - hold 'strong' anti-Semitic beliefs

Fatah targets mosques in latest anti-Hamas campaign · West Bank preachers arrested or sacked
· Imams ordered to stop spreading dissent

Israeli Missile Defense Under Spotlight –

The Lethal Illusion - Melanie Phillips

Rockets Could Draw Israel Back Into the Gaza Strip By: Joel Greenberg | The Chicago Tribune
Ever since it withdrew its settlers and soldiers from the Gaza Strip more than two years ago in a step it called "disengagement," Israel has been unable to separate itself from the impoverished coastal territory, which is home to 1.5 million Palestinians.

In Humanity Lies Hope For Peace By: Hilla Medalia | The Boston Globe
Delegates from Israel and a consortium of Arab states will meet in the United States this month with the hope of devising an agreement -- or at least the DNA of an agreement -- that will lead to the formation of a Palestinian state and, theoretically, stability in the Middle East.

H10 Christian Science Monitor In a key Iraqi region, US starts pulling back

Starting next month, 3,500 troops will leave two central provinces in a major test of Iraqi readiness.

Fighting with Taliban flares in the west, and east, of Afghanistan

The clashes, described as the worst since 2001, have intensified concerns about a resurgent Taliban.

Interest-rate cuts: a stimulus, but slow

Short-term loans are already cheaper, but experts say it will take time before consumers benefit fully.

ASIA

From Burma to Beijing: Asia's sensitive petrol politics China's announcement Thursday that it will raise the price of fuel risks angering its poorest citizens. Fuel prices have sparked unrest in several Asian nations.

CCP Changes But Elitism Remains Intact By: Frank Ching | The Japan Times Oh, what a difference a few decades make! Back in the days of Chairman Mao Zedong and his little red book, China was proud to proclaim the Communist Party as the party of workers, peasants and soldiers. And now?

India tackles its shame in the open

It is estimated that 700 million Indians do not have access to a lavatory – a huge embarrassment to an aspiring superpower

From NPQ, a series of articles on China.

Growing Chinese Energy Demand: Is the World in Denial?

From Dissent, back to the future: China gets Beijing and Shanghai ready for the 2008 Olympics and 2010 Expo.

From Foreign Policy, the battle of Beijing: What happens when an authoritarian government and thousands of activists go head-to-head at the Olympics? China is about to find out.

Despite predictions to the contrary, the Internet has not brought about abrupt political change in China and is not likely to do so anytime soon. Its significance and implications for Chinese society lie else

Musharraf Faces Up to an Emergency By: Syed Saleem | Asia Times
The security situation in Pakistan is becoming so critical that President General Pervez Musharraf has to decide whether to continue with a low-intensity -- and losing -- war against militancy in the tribal areas, or vastly increase the scale of military operations, as the United States is insisting

The Japanese Navy Heads Home By: Ayako Doi | The Washington Post
Despite former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's assertion that he could keep his country's military support for Operation Enduring Freedom alive by stepping down, it now seems certain that Japanese Navy ships will sail home from the Indian Ocean at the beginning of this month

Pakistani hits implementation of tribal pact A senior Pakistani general said yesterday that poor implementation of a 2006 peace agreement with tribal leaders near the Afghan border forced Pakistan to deploy nearly 100,000 troops to battle pro-Taliban militants in the region.

H11 IHT Last call for a two-state solution By IMMANUEL WALLERSTEIN The 20th-century international consensus on a two-state solution is fading away.

In humanity lies hope

By HILLA MEDALIA

Much of what we know about the Middle East conflict is framed by zealots and violence.

EUROPE European press review

Ethnic divisions threaten Bosnia again as Prime Minister quits over 'interference'

From Prospect, for more than a century, Americans have seen Britain as tired and broken. But some of them now think that the old dynamism and iconoclasm has returned. If Britain really is back, it will be another test for the special relationship.

A review of Old World, New World: The Story of Britain and America by Kathleen Burk (and more and more).

FT COMMENT & ANALYSIS: Germany's best hope - or a man without substance?

Can the EU learn to live with Chinese mercantilism?

H12 RFE/RL

Google News Azerbaijan

Russia Forcing OSCE Out of Election Observation Role By: Vladimir Socor | Eurasia Daily Monitor
Russia has disabled the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe from observing Russia’s parliamentary elections. Ahead of the December 2 vote, the OSCE has yet to be admitted to Russia to observe the electoral campaign. And when the observation mission will finally be allowed in, its Moscow-dictated size and operating modalities will reduce that mission to a meaningless role.

'Putin's Plan' For Higher Turnout By: Georgy Bovt | The Moscow Times
Russians are gathering in public squares all across the country in support of "Putin's Plan" and calling for the president to remain in power after March 2008.

The President, His Former Son-in-Law, and an Accusation of State Murder By: Anne Penketh | The Independent
The former son-in-law of the President of Kazakhstan has dramatically escalated a family feud by accusing the head of state, Nursultan Nazerbayev, of ordering the killing of an opposition leader

FT Murdoch strays into Georgian politics

H13 The Times Bahrain accuses Iran over nuclear ambition lies Crown Prince of Bahrain jettisons diplomatic language to accuse Tehran of seeking nuclear weapons amid fears of war

Will Bush really bomb Iran?

Treaty signing farce blights EU showpiece

A failure to agree a compromise will see leaders sign the treaty in Portugal before flying to Brussels to meet each other

Wall Street Journal How Europe Can Pressure Iran
No more moolah for the mullahs.
By PATRICK CLAWSON and MICHAEL JACOBSON

Big Oil's Profits May Have Peaked

H14 Financial Times America is still indispensable but it must work with others The central purpose for US leadership is to begin to design, as it did for the west after the second world war, an international system that puts great power co-operation rather than competition at its core, writes Philip Stephens

Candidates marshal their foreign policy teams Historically, US presidential candidates run to the activist extremes to secure a nomination then back to the middle to win a general election, writes Jurek Martin

WORLD NEWS: Saudis urge Iran to join Gulf plan for nuclear plant

Britain and the Saudis The UK has long been uneasy with Saudi Arabia, but Foreign Office realists have no intention of disrupting the relationship with the House of Saud, writes Gideon Rachman

Why immigration is hard to tackle Martin Wolf argues for market compatible systems

WORLD NEWS: Blackwater scandal revives efforts for reform

WORLD NEWS: Rice steps in as diplomats shun Iraq jobs

Western banks suffer big losses Global investors succumbed to a new bout of jitters amid concerns that a host of important financial institutions are nursing additional problems related to the troubled US mortgage market

US and EU urge Opec to boost output Oil prices surge to new highs

H15 Los Angeles Times Editorial

Iraqi Civilian Deaths Plunge By: Ned Parker | Los Angeles Times
Iraq's civilian body count in October was less than half that at its height in January, reflecting both the tactical successes of this year's U.S. troop buildup and the lasting impact of waves of sectarian death squad killings, car bombings and neighborhood purges.

Britain to Hand Over Control in Basra By: Doug Smith and Said Rafai | Los Angeles Times
Saying that Iraqi forces are now capable of dealing with the violence that persists in the south, Britain's defense secretary said Wednesday that his government intended to hand over security for the area by mid-December

Literature's antidote to hate

By Amos Oz

The literary world can encourage understanding between bitter enemies

H16 American Politics

Two Clintons to Criticize

Ruth Marcus says Hillary doesn't need to play the victim, while Charles Krauthammer worries about Bill's return to the White House.

The Economist The election Who will take on Hillary? The Economist/YouGov poll

Can Rudy Giuliani Maintain His Lead? - The Economist

The Ron Paul Revolution - Joel Stein, Time

Clinton's Fundraiser Raises Questions (AP)

Hillary's choice Mrs Clinton's opponents haven't a clue how to take on a woman Gerard Baker

No free pass for Hillary

Being the Democrats' presidential front-runner shouldn't mean Clinton gets a free pass on the issues.

Obama Would Engage Iran - M. Gordon & J. Zeleny, New York Times

President Bush Discusses Global War on Terror

The most influential US conservatives: 21-40

Bush 41: Not Sure Hillary Will Get Nomination...
Newt: Hillary's Chances Just Dropped From 80 to 50%...

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

Early Bird GovExec Swamp Gas The Swamp

Bush to Democrats: 'We are at war' —

Bill Clinton Interview: Hillary Will Make the Decisions

New '08 Iran Rift: Obama Refuses To Sign Dem Letter To White House

H17 Daily Telegraph George Bush's daunting warning

The US President is right to remind Congress of the danger of playing politics with security issues. He can take comfort from the success of the military surge in Iraq, but that has yet to be matched by progress towards a political solution.

H18 Independent Bahrain boom overshadowed by fear of looming war with Iran

Indian government pledges lavatories for all in a bid to keep private acts behind closed doors

Fresh violence and 'climate of fear' pushes Somalia towards breaking point

H19Military Intelligence Terrorism

The Economist Unmanned aircraft The fly's a spy

What’s the Air Force For? A roundtable discussion of Robert Farley’s proposal to abolish the Air Force Source: The American Prospect

Tumped Up War on 'Terror' By: Gregory Clark | The Japan Times
In the past the right of people to use force to oppose perceived injustices by oppressive regimes was generally recognized. Even if they opposed regimes we liked, we at least called them insurgents or guerrillas. Now they are automatically called "terrorists".

Under the Umbrella The Economist
The US military has established a new command structure in Africa, signalling the continent’s increased strategic importance for Washington. This caps five years of growing military engagement, with a focus on counter-terrorism.

Dangerous Cuba-Iran Kinship By: Chris Simmons | Miami Herald
A senior counterintelligence officer with the Defense Intelligence Agency recently confirmed continued intelligence sharing between Iran and Cuba. Additionally, Israeli sources report that during last year's meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in Havana, Iranian and Cuban intelligence officers discussed increased collaboration in targeting the U.S.

Laboratory Preparedness for Pandemic Influenza (PDF; 152 KB)
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General

From Newsweek, Gangland USA: An interactive map of America's most dangerous gangs.

Army contracting alarms US panel A panel issues a scathing report on the way the US army handles contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Networked Forces in Stability Operations: 101st Airborne Division, 3/2 and 1/25 Stryker Brigades in Northern Iraq Source: RAND Corporation

"Report of the Advisory Committee on Historical Diplomatic Documentation, January 1-December 31, 2006," transmitted to the Secretary of State on June 19, 2007.

DNI Discourages Declassification of Intel Estimates

German Intelligence Symposium to Examine Criminal, Terrorist Threats

CIA Chief Backs Rendition Flights

"National Strategy for Information Sharing: Successes and Challenges in Improving Terrorism-Related Information Sharing," National Security Council, October 2007.

"Army International Security Cooperation Policy," Army Regulation AR 11-31, 24 October 2007.

"A.Q. Khan's Nuclear Wal-Mart: Out of Business or Under New Management?" hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, June 27, 2007.

"Survival," U.S. Army Field Manual FM 3-05.70, May 2002 (676 pages in a large 20 MB PDF file).

Analysis: 84 days with the Taliban

H20 Slate Heck of a Job, Hughsie

Karen Hughes throws in the towel.
Fred Kaplan

Jewgenics Jewish intelligence, Jewish genes, and Jewish values.
William Saletan

U.S. Economy Ranks as World’s Most Competitive

Study: Hydrogen Cars Don’t Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Source: Reason Foundation

Pilot of plane that dropped A-bomb dies —

'Unwelcoming' US sees sharp fall in visitors since 9/11

Family trend: Parents more involved with their children

US parents are reading more to their children and placing more restrictions on their television viewing than they did 10 years earlier.

H21 How to save the planet A panel of experts has compiled the ultimate to-do list. Leo Hickman assesses it. The 50 things that will save the planet (pdf)

The mouse that shook the world

It can run for hours at 20 metres per minute without getting tired.It lives longer, has more sex, and eats more without gaining weight. Could the science that created this super- mouse be applied to humans?

Will papers survive?

JEFF JACOBY

If the Internet isn't at the root of newspapers' woes, what is? I nominate not the computer screen, but TV.

The Big Question: Why are Hollywood's scriptwriters going on strike, and does it matter?

What Google Knows: Privacy and Internet Search Engines Source: Social Science Research Network (SSRN)

Mesopotamian scribes began 5000 years ago to catalogue their clay tablets with a reference system. So Google gets this idea... more»

Greek religion turned away from unrealistic hopes that all will work out in the end. Such skepticism about human intelligence has never been needed more than today... more»

It is as if the French suffer from an eternal affliction, writes Pierre Rosanvallon, a need to exaggerate their woes, turn them into fantasies... more»

Beneath neo-atheism’s surface is the kind of fury an adolescent feels that his parents might tell lies or violate their own rules. “Religion spoils everything”... more»

The Economist Robots Rise of the machines

The real problem is we're living too long Jeff Randall wonders what Churchill would have made of today's unholy alliance of puritans, health fascists and nanny-state control freaks.

Brainy Britons

How different things might be today if it weren't for the questing British mind. From the industrial revolution, to the digital age, the British have been at the forefront of creative enterprise.

Prevention not cure The message to come out of cancer and obesity reports is that extra political effort and financial support need to be put into prevention

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

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

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