1214-2007f - 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 USIP Report: Political Progress in Iraq During the Surge Rend Al-Rahim Francke Download full PDF report

CSIS Alternative Futures for Russia to 2017

Der Spiegel Weighing the Global League: Study Ranks World Powers

Ha’aretz – Israel accepts most of U.S. intelligence analysis on Iran

The Economist Must they be wars without end? Iraq and Afghanistan are not wars without end. But "winning" either struggle will take many years, and cannot be achieved by force alone

Iraq Can a lull be turned into a real peace? The surge of American troops has dramatically reduced violence. But Iraq's politicians may still squander an obvious chance for reconciliation

Christian Science Monitor

Egypt and Saudi Arabia make new overtures to Iran Are US Arab allies playing 'good cop' with Ahmadinejad to US 'bad cop'?

Opinion: How Iran's president is being undercut The US report on Iran's nuclear aims may actually hurt Ahmadinejad. By Vali Nasr and Ray Tayekh

Asia Times Ties on Iran's nuclear program loosenNew cracks in Washington's hardline stance against Iran's nuclear program are emerging, including US experts calling for limited uranium enrichment capability or simply for strict nuclear transparency. The White House and Iran might not yet agree, but it's clear that the time to end United Nations sanctions has arrived, and the US's own sanctions on Iran are now due for reconsideration. - Kaveh L Afrasiabi

Syria Prepares Its Grand Comeback By: Michael Young | The Daily Star To better understand the assassination of General Francois Hajj on Wednesday morning in Baabda, one has to view it against the backdrop of the statement by Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa a day earlier.

Al Awsat Appeasement Yesterday and Appeasement Today : Amir Taheri

H2 The Economist Turkey's economy A cloud no bigger than a hand The Turkish economy is doing well, but it is also vulnerable

UPI Analysis: Turkish worries over Iraq By CLAUDE SALHANI

PINR "The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway: The First Step in a Long Process" Full text of report

NYT AGE OF RICHES; A New Breed of Billionaire Husnu M. Ozyegin has spent $50 million building 36 primary schools and girls’ dormitories in the poorest parts of Turkey

EDM ILLEGAL MIGRATION STRAINING TURKEY’S TIES WITH GREECE, EU

ARMENIANS DEMAND JUSTICE, NOT RECOGNITION AZG by Harut Sassounian

International Analyst Network Turkey’s transformation inevitable, but Anti-Christian and ultranationalist mood gain force.

BM, Malatya'da yaşanan katliamı yakın takibe aldı

Google News KurdishMedia Kurdish Kurdish Aspect BBC Monitoring

Suriye de kendi PKK’lılarını dağdan indirme planı yapıyor

Psikolojik harp polemiği

AKP'nin Alevi açılımına ''ABD ilgisi''

'Eve döndü' serbest kaldı

Iraqi Kurdistan Region Premier in Baghdad for Talks With Central Government

Kurdish Parliament Approves Restrictive Press Bill

PKK, Kuzey Irak’ta hoş karşılanmıyor

US favors political resolution to PKK issue, says top official

'Güvenlik Bölgesi' ilan edilen yerler belli oldu

Talabani, AB ve Türkiye Büyükelçileri ile toplantı yaptı

Eve döndü, o şimdi serbest Lisede okurken dağa çıkıp 12 yıl PKK kamplarında faaliyet yürüttükten sonra teslim olan F.D., Diyarbakır 6. Ağır Ceza Mahkemesi’nce TCK’nın 221’inci maddesi uyarınca serbest bırakıldı

Kod adı 221

Keşkül ve çay eşliğinde PKK sorunu tartışıldı

İsrafil Kumbadar Meclis'teki PKK'lılar sadece DTP'liler midir Sayın Büyükanıt?

Durmuş Hocaoğlu Büyük Manevra ve Psikolojik Harekât: III

Federal Iraq Kurdish Aspect

Kirkuk Police Recruitment Drive Turns Into Riot

Iraqi Kurdish Press Highlights 13 December 2007

"From Ankara to Annapolis : Turkey and the Middle East Peace Process" By Selin M. BOLME, SETA

'Kürtler namus için kadınları yakıyor'

Google News Greece Cyprus Turkish Cypriot Press ABHaber

Ferai Tınç Gümrük birliği tabu değil

Sami KOHEN AB ile yeni ayar

M Ali Birand Erdoğan, AB’ye seyirci kalıyor

Barçın Yinanç Kosova, Abhazya, Karabağ ve Kuzey Irak

Mehmet Altan Efsanenin dönüşü mü?

Babacan: AB çocuk oyuncağı oldu

Hedefimiz Türkiye’den toprak ABD’deki Ermeni toplumunun ileri gelenlerinden, gazeteci-yazar Harut Sasunyan, "Ermenilerin nihai amacının, iddialarının tanınması ve Türkiye’den tazminat ve toprak alınması olduğunu" belirterek, bu hedefe yönelik yeni bir strateji izlemelerini önerdi.

AB ve Orta Asya Murat Belge

Türkiye'yi almamak barbarlıktır

Kazakistan'da füze pazarlığı

Kazak petrolü de Bakü-Ceyhan'a akacak

‘Kazak petrolünü görmek istiyoruz’

Kazakhstan pledges to supply oil for BTC pipeline

AB zirvesi başlıyor

İki sahil botu Türk kara sularını ihlal etti

[Yorum - Alev Alatlı] Rus halkı Putin'den ne bekler?

We need 'tamadas,' not historians or lobbyists Ziya MERAL

Şemdinli davası bu kez 'askerî mahkemede' başlıyor

Emniyet'te gençleşme

Gizli kameradaki ’şükür’ namazı

BM Malatya katliamı için devrede

'Kuran'da başörtüsü yok' dediğine pişman ettiler

Akademik özgürlük mü dediniz?
İsmet Berkan

Umut davası arapsaçına döndü

Jandarma'dan 'kayıp üsteğmen' açıklaması

Fazıl Say Böyle giderse ilerde Türkiye’den ayrılırım

Dünyada kara yüzeyi en sıcak geçen yıl 2007

Erdoğan'a 'kelle' cezası

Oray Eğin Sabah’a ve patronuna tavsiyeler

facebook’ta 2 milyon Türk cirit atıyor!

14 Aralık 2007 Basın Özeti

H3 Şamil Tayyar Genç subaylar sendromu

MHP askerle arayı açıyor Murat Yetkin

Terör Sorununda Af ve Pişmanlık Hasan Celal Güzel

Cevdet Aşkın ABD'den PKK'ya siyasi çözüm, Erbil'den Mahmur'a jest çağrısı

Fikret BİLA Bahçeli'nin vizyonu

Cengiz Çandar Siyaset mi, imama kızıp oruç bozma siyaseti mi

Bahçeli: Başörtüsü yasağına rızamız yok, kaldırılmalı

EMRE AKÖZ Org. Büyükanıt hangi blokta?

Barçın Yinanç Kosova, Abhazya, Karabağ ve Kuzey Irak

Mehmet Metiner "Dağ sorunu"nu çözmek -

Perceptions of Kurds and Turks by BEJAN MATUR*

KORAY DÜZGÖREN Sorun, “Çözümü istemek ya da istememek” hepsi bu...

Bilal Çetin Bahçeli’nin türban yasağını kaldırma formülü...

‘İhbar şartı’ esneyecek

Taha AKYOL Çoklu modernleşme

Ferai Tınç Gümrük birliği tabu değil

M Ali Birand Erdoğan, AB’ye seyirci kalıyor

Ankara'da hava ağır M.Ali Kışlalı

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 Nur Serter'e sorular

Fehmi Koru Bugünün terör tablosu

İBRAHİM KARAGÜL

Hasan CEMAL
Başka çaremiz yok Büyükanıt Paşa!

Mehmet Barlas TÜSİAD’ın muhalefeti neden CHP’nin muhalefetinden daha etkili…

Bahçeli Birlikte TV’ye çıksınlar

Cemevi kanunla ibadet yeri olmaz

Ertuğrul Özkök Sokuşturma çetesi

Mehmet Yılmaz Üniversitenin asıl sorunu YÖK

Ahmet Hakan İlle de bizden olsun

Nasuhi Güngör YÖK başkanı nasıl seçildi?

Mehmet Tezkan

Özgürlükçü müsün, demokrat mı?

Savaş Süzal Bush'u görme sırası Abdullah Gül'de

Özcan Yeniçeri Pişkinlik yasası!

İsmail Küçükkaya Söz Bahçeli’de

Serdar Akinan Kerteriz değişirken...

Serdar Turgut Kriter nedir?

Ahmet Hakan: İHL'ler artık kapansın

İlnur Çevik Turkish military is contradicting itself

Fatih Altaylı Cumhuriyet bu kadar kolay mı teslim olacaktı!

Oktay Ekşi Anayasa tekrar gündemde

Tufan Türenç Mühim olan türban gerisi faso fiso

Özdemir İnce Hakaret bunun neresinde?

Büyükanıt, bayraklar, AKP
Haluk Şahin

ETYEN Mahçupyan Is the headscarf a political symbol?

Yalın Doğan Sırada hangi Fransız şirketi var

Yeni tür ırkçılığın halleri
Namık Kemal Zeybek

'Türban' tartışmaları ve bilimsel araştırmalar

'Alevi Diyanet'i olmaz'

MUHARREM SARIKAYA Bahçeli çizgisi...

ERDAL ŞAFAK

ERGUN BABAHAN

Umur Talu

HASAN BÜLENT KAHRAMAN CIA'nın bantlarıyla küreselleşme

NAZLI ILICAK "Harembüs"

MAHMUT ÖVÜR AK Parti 'tarihe' nasıl geçer?

YAVUZ DONAT 'Sigarasız' bir kahvaltı

ABDURRAHMAN YILDIRIM Dışa bağımlılık yüzde 26'dan 73'e nasıl çıktı?

OKAN MÜDERRİSOĞLU
Batık bankaların maliyeti 60 milyar $

Ercan Kumcu Dünya gündeminden seçmeler

Erdal Sağlam

Hasan Ersel Büyüme ve yapısal değişim sorunu

MB’den faizde yarım puanlık indirim

Sosyal güvenlik reformuna 3. erteleme

TMSF 16 milyar doları kurtardık 44 milyar dolarlık batı

Volkan Akı Ekonomide 2007’yi kaybettik zorunlu bir sürece girdik

Hurşit GÜNEŞ Memurlara zam yapmanın yöntemi

İstanbul nasıl finans merkezi olur?
Uğur Gürses

Deniz Gökçe Özel tüketim canlanıyor!

TÜSİAD insists on more measures to fend off vulnerability

'Enflasyondaki yükseliş geçici' dedi, faizi yarım puan indirdi

Derya SAZAK Lale Devri'nin sonu

H4 New York Times Editorial Notes From the Global War on Terror Americans need to know what President Bush knew on both Iraq and Iran, and when he knew it. Anything less is unacceptable.

Gore Joins Chorus Chiding U.S. at Climate Talks

H5 Washington Post Many See China Rivaling U.S. in Influence by 2020, International Survey Finds

Inspector General for Iraq Under Investigation FBI, Congress Among Those Probing Allegations of Overspending, Mismanagement

Enabling The Kremlin How Condoleezza Rice's Words Help Putin Tighten His Grip By Andrei Illarionov, How Rice is helping Putin tighten his grip.

Poll Shows More Optimism on War After Record Lows, Bush Gains With Republicans, Independents

E.U. Leaders Endorse New Charter: Treaty Follows Failure to Pass a Constitution for 27-Nation Bloc

Europeans Raise Ante at Bali Climate Talks U.S. Stance on Emissions Targets Prompts Threat to Boycott Bush Forum

House Passes Bill to Ban CIA's Use of Harsh Interrogation Tactics

An Overdose of Public Piety By Charles Krauthammer, The right answer to 'Do you believe the Bible?' is, 'None of your damn business.'

National Security and Intelligence

Dana Priest

Plan B For Pelosi And Reid By E. J. Dionne Jr The GOP is to blame for congressional gridlock. Now let's move on

Kasparov Ends Bid for Russian Presidency Putin Critic Says Official Harassment Kept Him From Convening Nomination Meeting

Gaddafi's French Shopping Spree Has Critics Unhappy With Sarkozy

H6 GuardianUS threatens Bali agreement Americans call for targets to be made voluntary as deal looks unlikely amid fierce EU opposition

Europe's big four raise stakes on Kosovo EU summit urged to agree to independence plan amid fears that Russia would oppose new UN mandate

World Bank urges Israel to ease Palestinian blockade Restrictions threaten efforts to boost economy but Tony Blair is confident $5.6bn donor target will be met

Ministers prepare plan to nationalise Northern Rock Global credit squeeze undermining private sector sale of mortgage lender

Bali's double standards Kevin Watkins: International pacts on carbon cutting are unfit for purpose - we need another Marshall plan

American Sabotage By: Tony Juniper | The Guardian The United States is trying to sound constructive at the latest climate talks being held at the Bali summit, but its real aim is to put the boot in.

Heading for the rocks Banking crisis: Reality can be a hard thing to face, especially on a cold and comfortless December morning

Brown's Afghan adventure

James Denselow The prime minister is switching Britain's military focus from Iraq to Afghanistan, where he hopes the troops will have more effect

H7

BBC Climate talks near end amid row On the last day of UN climate talks in Bali, delegates remain deadlocked over future cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

2007 data shows warming

Parallel worlds of planet Bali

Will a new climate deal work?

Asia Times It's a fragile 'quiet' in IraqThe decline in violence in Iraq rests uneasily on several unrelated and loosely related processes. The "surge" is certainly one, but it is not foremost. Iranian pressure is another, as is the forced relocation of 2 million or so Sunnis who have fled to foreign countries. The attendant fragility of these factors does not inspire confidence that the decline in violence can continue. - Brian M Downing

Syria Prepares Its Grand Comeback By: Michael Young | The Daily Star To better understand the assassination of General Francois Hajj on Wednesday morning in Baabda, one has to view it against the backdrop of the statement by Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa a day earlier.

Al Awsat Has Al Qaeda Changed its Base? : Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed

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

As One Iraqi City Reels, Others Are Hit

Russia and Iran Agree Nuclear Power Station Timetable

Saudi Arabia's Economic Liberalization By: Erlend Paasche | ISN Security Watch
With political reform presenting an increasing challenge in Saudi Arabia, analysts wonder if the key to change lies in ongoing economic reform.

Assassins Freed in Germany, Welcomed by Tehran Radio Free Europe Some 15 years after Iranian agents killed three top members of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) and one of their supporters in a Berlin restaurant, Germany on 10 December released and deported two of the crime's masterminds.

Daily Reports on Syria's Efforts to Join WTO, Liberalize Foreign Trade

BBC New front
Algiers bomb attacks typify the approach of the "new" al-Qaeda

Hezbollah Denies Its Leader Is No Longer Heading Military Flank

Hezbollah Mystique Undiminished

Iran: Wrapping Up For Winter, And The Morality Police

Hold the Cheers (Iraqi refugees were the best indicator of how bad things got in last year's violence. Some are going home now, but it's too early to proclaim the end of the civil war. Four reasons the trickle back to Iraq isn't turning into a flood

Muqtada Hits the Books; Said to aim at one day being Ayatollah

H9 Ha’aretz – Israel accepts most of U.S. intelligence analysis on Iran

Bush warns Syria not to interfere in Lebanese politics

Israel's Security Cabinet Weighs IDF Action in Gaza

Jerusalem Post PA officials admit problems with reforming security forces

Report: Nasrallah demoted by Khamenei 'Asharq Alawsat' says Iran furious over his conduct during war; military wing led by Na'im Kassem

EU promises 'robust' action against Iran German official: The next action will be more than the last UNSC resolution. It won't be a repetition

What Abbas Can Do - Editorial (Jerusalem Post)

Poll: 82% of American Jews Believe Arabs Seek Destruction of Israel (American Jewish Committee)

Yedioth Ahronoth 'Iran-Syria bond unshakable' Syrian President Bashar Assad insists country's relations with Iran stay strong despite Damascus' participation in the Annapolis peace conference. 'Relations will not be shaken for any reason or under any circumstance,' he says

Landau Dangerous friendship Foreign Minister Livni can befriend Condi Rice if she wishes, but not at Israel’s expense

Livni: Talks with Syria impossible at present

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

Annapolis: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Henry Siegman - We know what was the half-life of the institutions Palestinians built that were successful. Only their rubble remains, and it should serve as a reminder of the futility of such efforts in the absence of political understandings that show some awareness of the Palestinians' ongoing dispossession and respect for their political rights

US Envoy: Israel Never Violated Nuclear Treaty, Since It Refused to Sign It

The Economist Israel Negotiations on a knife-edge Israel's government may not last long enough to strike a peace deal

FT Palestinians call for Israel to ease curbs Palestinian prime minister warns that only the easing of Israeli restrictions on movement and trade in the West Bank and Gaza can revive the collapsing Palestinian economy

BBC Red Cross demands Mid-East action

The Red Cross calls for immediate political action to contain the crisis in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

UN: Gazans need hospital access

Legality of Gaza sanctions

Credibility at risk in peace process, diplomat warns Egypt's envoy to the United States said yesterday that the Israeli-Palestinian peace process begun in Annapolis last month is poorly thought through and will not succeed without a timetable and specific steps, which the Bush administration has yet to outline.

Where Is the Issue of Education for Peace in the Olmert-Rice-Abbas Initiative? - Dore Gold (ICA/JCPA)

BBC Monitoring Quotes From Israel's Hebrew Press 13 Dec 07

Two Israeli Banks Accused of Sending Millions of Dollars to Hamas Entities

BBC Monitoring Headlines, Quotes From Palestinian Press 13 Dec 07

H10 Christian Science Monitor

Egypt and Saudi Arabia make new overtures to Iran Are US Arab allies playing 'good cop' with Ahmadinejad to US 'bad cop'?

Opinion: How Iran's president is being undercut The US report on Iran's nuclear aims may actually hurt Ahmadinejad. By Vali Nasr and Ray Tayekh

THE MONITOR'S VIEW In Russia, post-Putin is Putin

Algeria bombing prompts question: Can Al Qaeda spread across North Africa? Islamic militants linked to Osama bin Laden's network claimed Tuesday's attack in Algeria.

In Bali, new incentive for developing nations to curb emissions

Forest-preservation pledges of $166 million this week could entice them to take part in a post-Kyoto climate deal.

Senate energy bill: first skirmish over US greenhouse-gas regulation

ASIA

The Economist Pakistan Musharraf and his box of tricks

Japan's foreign policy The return of the Fukuda doctrine

Orwellian architecture in China The Ministry of Truth

China braced for fresh wave of baby boomers

Population surge will come from children born under freer family planning rules in the 1980s now at marriageable age

China and US to speed treaty on investingBeijing wants greater access to US assets

China’s Financial Markets: how they are emerging as a global force

Why it is dangerous for Europe to bash China Warning from Patrick Messerlin and Razeen Sally

Calling China's bluff

David Thorpe The Chinese government is trying to deflect attention from its own climate change responsibilities onto Europe and the US

In Japan, denial over Nanjing still holds sway after 70 years At a war memorial on a recent evening, former Imperial soldiers rejected the notion of a Nanjing Massacre, even as some Japanese try to present a more balanced view

US looks on as Malaysia wobbles
On paper, Malaysia is exactly the sort of moderate Muslim country with which the US should nurture relations. But simmering domestic issues and protests are being met with a clampdown on civil liberties, clouding the future of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi. Washington's reaction is yet to be seen, but at stake are a free trade agreement and the security of the Strait of Malacca. - Tony Wilson

Strange bedfellows emerge in Pakistan
Just weeks ahead of Pakistan's national elections, militants based in the tribal areas, the country's premier urban-based Islamic party, civil society and even al-Qaeda find themselves on the same side. They are lined up against the political parties now under the military establishment's wing headed by President Pervez Musharraf. - Syed Saleem Shahzad

The paradox of East Asian peace
North Korea is hard-pressed to give up its nukes. The United States is reluctant to give up its hegemonic position in East Asia. These are the dilemmas posed by the strongest and the weakest powers in the six-party talks. The middle powers - China, Russia and South Korea - are the most supportive of a potential regional peace and security mechanism, leaving Japan as the wild card. - John Feffer

2007 Report to Congress on China’s WTO Compliance (PDF: 2.1 MB) Source: U.S. Trade Representative

H11 IHT

EUROPE European press review

BBC EU leaders sign landmark treaty European Union leaders sign a reform treaty in Lisbon designed to replace the ill-fated EU constitution.

Q&A: The Lisbon Treaty

Brown belatedly signs treaty

Viewpoints: Lisbon Treaty

Kosovo viewpoint
It's time for Europe to act, even without a UN resolution, says envoy

Kosovo: Partitions without end
Gwynne DYER

The Economist Kosovo's future Balkan bagatelle

French foreign policy Sarkozy's moral test

Religion in Europe The discovery of tolerance

French political language The decline of the abstract noun

France's Hidden Discrimination By: Hamid Senni | International Herald Tribune
France must learn how to include all of its people in the country's social, economic and political life. Diversity is no longer one option, but the only option.

H12 RFE/RL Iraq: Sunnis, Sadrists Attack US Security Pact

The Milosevic Mold

Media crackdowns, shadowy external enemies, phony opposition parties, inflated voter turnouts, and a strong nationalist ideology. The nastier aspects of Putin's Russia could have been taken directly out of the playbook of Slobodan Milosevic

The Economist Russia's new leadership Spot the president Putin's bid to remain in power is bad for Russia, for democracy and for the world

Gazprom gets cozier with Tehran

Google News Azerbaijan

Georgia: Doing Things the Putin Way?

Medvedev Quiet on Foreign Policy By: Simon Saradzhvan | The Moscow Times This may be a reflection of Medvedev's dislike for the strong anti-Western rhetoric that seems to have become almost obligatory for senior officials over the past year, and his silence promises an incremental rapprochement with the West if he becomes president, analysts said Wednesday

Sidekick-in-Chief By: David Satter | The Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Russian President Vladimir Putin put an end to endless speculation Monday and tapped Dmitry Medvedev, a first deputy prime minister, to succeed him. A day later Mr. Medvedev, in turn, suggested that the incumbent should become prime minister after leaving the presidency. The events appeared to be carefully prepared.

Putin's Choice: Charm Could Be Unlucky By: M.K. Bhadrakumar | Asia Times
Vladimir Putin's endorsement of Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev as the official Kremlin candidate for the upcoming presidential elections will charm Western powers (Medvedev, formerly the head of Gazprom, is reportedly a Black Sabbath fan) and Beijing.

Asia Times Putin's choice: Charm could be unlucky Vladimir Putin's endorsement of Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev as the official Kremlin candidate for the upcoming presidential elections will charm Western powers (Medvedev, formerly the head of Gazprom, is reportedly a Black Sabbath fan) and Beijing. But he's virtually an unknown as far Russia's old ally India is concerned, and the charm could wear thin soon. - M K Bhadrakumar

Harassment of Human Rights Activists is Widespread in CIS -- Report

EDM TYMOSHENKO VOTE SHOWS COALITION’S LIMITATIONS

- IMEDI TELEVISION REOPENS AMID GEORGIA’S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN

H13 The TimesAl Gore: 'Act now - Bush is going' The Nobel Prize winner was the latest heavyweight American politician to round on his own government over the issue

Al Gore: free of diplomatic niceties

800 years on, still a great read

Both American and Britain owe a debt to Magna Carta, especially in the days of Guantanamo

Ben Macintyre

Basra cancels Christmas after murders Christians have been told to shun trees and gifts after a brother and sister were killed on eve of Britrish handover

Farmers return to cleaned up Musa Qala Troops have made a clean sweep of the Afghan town over which the Taleban held sway for 10 months

Wall Street Journal

American Intelligence - Claude Moniquet The writer, a former field operative for the French foreign intelligence service, heads the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center.

H14 Financial Times Global shares hit by bank plan doubt Global equities suffered heavy falls as investor doubts grew over whether sweeping measures by central banks to tackle the credit crunch would be sufficient to defuse the crisis

COMMENT: A physicist's theory of the transatlantic relationship One summer Einstein’s students complained that the problems he had asked them to solve were the same ones he had set a year earlier. Well yes, Einstein agreed, they were indeed identical – but the answers had changed. Apocryphal or otherwise, the story serves as a useful metaphor, writes Philip Stephens

EU weighs future as leaders sign treaty Europe’s leaders will turn their eyes to the pressing challenges of the future after signing a treaty they hope will banish uninspiring and damaging debates about European Union institutional reform for many years to come

WORLD NEWS - CREDIT CRUNCH: Currencies speculation wide of mark

WORLD NEWS: Democrats retreat in Congress Congressional Democrats have been forced into retreat in a series of important legislative battles this week, as they near the end of a fractious and often frustrating first year in control of Capitol Hil

Brown’s late signing of EU treaty attacked Delay seen as disregard for bloc

China and US to speed treaty on investing Beijing wants greater access to US assets

Why it is dangerous for Europe to bash China The EU has real commercial problems with China. But tit-for-tat protectionism will make things worse, not better, say Patrick Messerlin and Razeen Sally

Gaddafi’s circus Nicolas Sarkozy should spend less time grandstanding with dubious foreign leaders and redouble his efforts to reform France’s economy

The real primary race starts here The first real votes will be cast in Iowa on January 3. For now, this small and unrepresentative state commands extraordinary attention from US presidential hopefuls

COMMENT: A stress-test for Britain's economy

Monetary policy is out of sync George Magnus calls for pre-emptive easing

H15 Los Angeles Times

EditorialThe CIA tapes

Congressional outrage over their destruction should lead to new anti-torture rules.

Torture's Blame Game By: Rosa Brooks | Los Angeles TimesThe nation as a whole shares blame for allowing 'enhanced' interrogations. Sometime late in 2005, the CIA destroyed videotapes showing hundreds of hours of interrogations of two top Al Qaeda suspects -- while continuing to imply to the 9/11 commission and the courts that no such interrogation tapes had ever existed.

Helicopters for Darfur

Countries that pay lip service to the humanitarian crisis aren't sending the aircraft to help. Do they care?

H16 American Politics

Time Can Anyone Win This Thing?
The race for the Republican presidential nomination is turning into a rare and unpredictable free-for-all. That's what happens when a party lacks a front runner, is low on intellectual steam--and its best candidates all have notable defects

The Economist Barack Obama The triumph of hope over experience?

Lexington The cracks begin to show Hillary Clinton no longer looks inevitable

WP The Ghost of a Father Barack Obama | When he speaks of his absent father, Obama summons a quotation: "Every man is either trying to make up for his father's mistakes or live up to his expectations."

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

Early Bird GovExec Swamp Gas The Swamp

Huckaboom to Huckabust?

The surprise front-runner for the Republican nomination may find a few banana skins lie in wait Gerard Baker

USA TODAY: Surge's Success Holds Chance To Seize The Moment In Iraq; Dems 'Lost in Time'...

Hillary Clinton's Illiberal Belligerence
by Stephen Zunes
Hillary Clinton on Iraq

H17 Daily TelegraphAs we depart Iraq, a greater battle looms

The Basra handover represents a key step forward for democracy in Iraq. Progess is being made - which is more than can be said for Afghanistan, says Con Coughlin.

US troops may replace British in Basra

Russia to complete Iran's atom plant

Credit crunch signals permanent power shift

While western consumers have been dancing the night away, Asian tigers have been prowling the world in search of industrial and financial prey, writes Jeff Randall.

Agree or disagree, but never hide

If he disagrees with the EU Treaty, the PM should have withdrawn Britain from it. If he believes in it, he should have signed with pride and alacrity, writes John Kampfner

Case for EU referendum remains

If Gordon Brown is so uncomfortable at being associated with the EU treaty that he avoids the formal signing, then he should honour that pledge and let the people decide.

H18 Independent Al Gore: The world can't wait for George Bush

Bali climate change summit hears a passionate appeal for action by the Nobel Prize-winner

Leading article: After the phoney war, the real battles begin

H19Military Intelligence Terrorism

UPI Feature: Looking for IEDs IED, the acronym for improvised explosive device, is shorthand for terror in Iraq and with good cause. Since the capture of Baghdad in 2003 and the start of the insurgency, the jerry-rigged bombs have accounted for more than half of U.S. military deaths.

CSIS Integrating 21st Century Development and Security Assistance

House Votes to Outlaw Waterboarding

The Economist Reforming jihadists Preachers to the converted

Judge Declares Mistrial For 6 of Liberty City 7

Chicago bomb defendant cleared A US jury clears one man of attempting to blow up Chicago's Sears Tower, while six others may face a re-trial.

UK Army 'losing a battalion a year to drug abuse'

H20 Slate

Annual Energy Outlook 2008 (Early Release)
Source: Energy Information Administration

Should People Work Longer, and Will They?
Urban Institute

Understanding the Subprime Mortgage Crisis
Source: Social Science Research Network (SSRN)

H21 Health: Study Shows Why the Flu Likes Winter

Under the moon The origins of the England team’s failure to qualify for Euro 2008 lie in more than managerial misjudgments and lacklustre performances

Overhyped, but blogs are here to stay

Colour and Fire The Football Association has made the right choice in Fabio Capello

Sweet Wars

The proof of the pudding is in the eating, not the nationalist nomenclature

There are worse things than not reading a book; buying a book and not reading it would be one of those — that is a real tale of woe

From Physics and Philosophy, Helge Kragh (Aarhus): The Controversial Universe: A Historical Perspective on the Scientific Status of Cosmology

Google News / Slate Today's Papers/ Editorialist / The Ag memeorandum / antiwar.com - book forum / 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 - Gideon Rachman - 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