1225-2007f - 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 Foreign Affairs The Rise of China and the Future of the West Can the Liberal System Survive? By G. John Ikenberry China's rise will inevitably bring the United States' unipolar moment to an end. But that does not necessarily mean a violent power struggle or the overthrow of the Western system. The U.S.-led international order can remain dominant even while integrating a more powerful China -- but only if Washington sets about strengthening that liberal order now.

Slate Six Months That Could Change Iraq Three possible post-surge scenarios Fred Kaplan

Foreign Affairs Anglo-Saxon Attitudes Owen Harries Walter Russell Mead rightly argues that the United Kingdom and the United States made the modern world. But his call for Washington to pursue both a maritime grand strategy and Niebuhrian realism will not fly.

Yitzhak Benhorin / Ynetnews:
US report: Israel would weather nuclear war with Iran

Jerusalem Post Israel could survive nuclear war’ If a nuclear war between Israel and Iran were to break out 16-20 million Iranians would lose their lives - as opposed to 200,000-800,000 Israelis

Ha’aretz – Foreign Min.: Syria feels it must wait out Bush term Ministry: Damascus hopes next U.S. pres. will back peace talks; FM: Egypt effort to stem arms flow 'awful'

Call to Order / Olmert gives National Security Council a room of ...their own

Japan gives up plan on national security council Japan decided to give up the plan to build a national security council similar with the US one

GuardianObama's American revolution Dominique Moisi The next US president needs to adopt a more humanistic approach to bring the world on-side and Barack Obama is the ideal candidate

When the powerful can live beyond the law, corruption is never far away Max Hastings: In Russia, as elsewhere, a lack of transparency feeds a gangster culture that hamstrings social and economic progress

We must persevere Joschka Fischer It would be unparalleled political folly if, because of a lack of foresight, the west were to squander its successes in Afghanistan

Non-nuclear fallout: The response to the intelligence community's recent assessment troubled policy wonks on both sides of the Iran debate, all of whom agree that a threat remains. By Laura Rozen

• 'Where Is Bashar al-Assad Heading?' by Eyal Zisser, Middle East Quarterly

Bush Seeks to Restore Tattered US Image With Heavy '08 Travel
Bloomberg

Al Hayat Lebanon, A Very Precious but Fragile Treasure Kim Howells - Lebanon is like a very precious but fragile treasure buried in the heart of the Middle East; it contains one of the most developed democratic systems in the region; it is a complicated patchwork of confessional and ethnic groups well-practiced in the art of coexistence; its progressive and enlightened society has always been a beacon for other parts of the region.

Michael McFaul and Kathryn Stoner-Weiss (Stanford): The Myth of the Authoritarian Model: How Putin's Crackdown Holds Russia Back - A growing conventional wisdom holds that Vladimir Putin's attack on democracy has brought Russia stability and prosperity -- providing a new model of successful market authoritarianism. But the correlation between autocracy and economic growth is spurious. Autocracy's effects in Russia have in fact been negative. Whatever the gains under Putin, they would have been greater under a democratic regime.

From the Archive American Political Science Association (APSA) 2007 Meeting Papers

"Considering a war with Iran: A discussion paper on WMD in the Middle East" – Dr. Dan Plesch, Director of the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy (full text pdf)

From The American Interest: Barry Posen on foreign policy after George W. Bush: The case for restraint Click to read comments from Francis Fukuyama, Josef Joffe, Walter Russell Mead, Niall Ferguson, Owen Harries, G. John Ikenberry, Lilia Shevtsova, Stephen D. Krasner, Wang Jisi, James Q. Wilson, Bronislaw Geremek, C. Raja Mohan, Ruth Wedgwood and Itamar Rabinovich.

Now Iraq Needs a Surge of Political Will – Trudy Rubin, Baltimore Sun

How's al-Qaeda Doing? You Decide by Michael Scheuer

Christian Science Monitor Oil prices may go down in 2008 Larger supplies, more energy alternatives, and a slowing economy could be factors.

Sino-Indian army exercises bring two Asian powers closer

Forty-five years after a border war, the two nations begin to collaborate on security

Putting the Freeze on a Frozen Conflict – Sabine Freizer, Boston Globe

Pakistan’s Fateful Election – Amir Taheri, New York Post

Nation Conversation with a Wise Man Barbara Crossette | The United Nations' chief troubleshooter and mediator, Lakhdar Brahimi, considers what should come next in Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan and why US foreign foreign policy went so wrong.

H2 Wall Street Journal Turkey Faces Hurdles to Changes Wall Street Journal Economic Overhaul Could Fall Victim To Political Clashes

No casualties in Turkish attacks, Kurdish PKK says

From the Archive Report -Beyond Suspicion: Rethinking U.S.-Turkish Relations Ian Lesser Download File, PDF 809 KB Report -Beyond Suspicion: Rethinking U.S.-Turkish Relations Ian Lesser Download File, PDF 809 KB

Bush, Erdoğan vow to keep up cooperation against PKK

Kurdish self-determination 'by all means' Middle East Times

From Quadrant, Islam's Trojan Horse? An article on Turkish nationalism and the Nakshibendi Sufi Order.

Bush backs Turkish strikes on Kurdish rebels: Anatolia

NYT U.S. Doubts Kurds’ Claims of New Attack by Turkey

Turkey – Iraq: An Unbecoming Appearance – Tulin Daloglu, Washington Times

Talabani ve Barzani ayrı telden

UPI Turkish Bombing of Kurds Raises Concerns

Iraq Kurds warn Turkey over raids
BBC News

Kurds see the reality: US can't give up Turks New Anatolian

Kurdish leaders fail to speak with one voice

Raids will go on for a year

Stop the attacks in Iraqi Kurdistan
GulfNews Editorial

Bush sees 3-way fight against PKK
CNN

Iraqi Kurds, Vice-President Sign Accord, Discuss Turkey

The US-Turkish-Iraq Triangle Hartford Courant

Inconsistency and double-dealing mark US policy toward the Kurds By STEPHEN ZUNES

Police Stop Would-Be Bomber in Istanbul

Turks In Northern Iraq Strategy Page

Turkey Again Bombards Iraq
Spiegel

Iraqi President Calls for Peaceful End to Turkey-PKK Conflict
Bloomberg

Google News KurdishMedia Kurdish Kurdish Aspect BBC Monitoring

Acilen ‘muhafazakâr Kürt’ lider aranıyor!

'İşbirliğine devam' telefonu

DTP'den Öcalan’ın nakli için mektup kampanyası

[Fbis] OSC: Iraq: PUK, KDP, IIP Sign Memorandum of Understanding; President Talabani Cited

İktidar getiren Köy-Des'e güçlü destekle devam

Operasyonun kodları

Kuzey Irak'a sıkışmış bir 'N' hikâyesi

PKK, ABD'ye tehdit savurdu

Şimdi de Skorsky ve Kobra’lar göz açtırmadı

3. Bombardımanda ölen PKK’lıların mezarları

Ehlen ve sehlen Devlet-i Osmaniyye

Andrew Finkel Clouds of dust in northern Iraq

[Yorum - Bejan Matur] Memleket neye denir?

PKK'nın kanlı yüzünü görünce kaçtım, şimdi çok huzurluyum

Takipteki canlı bomba metro girişinde yakalandı

Evi bomba deposu

Erhan Çelik 01 Karayılan, elma dersem çık... –

Önleyici vuruşu teröre bağlamak tepkiyi azaltıyor William M. Arkin

Kürt sorunu mecliste çözülür MUHAMMED NUREDDİN

Polisten terörist profili: Yaşları ve eğitim ortalamaları düşük

Yola devam

11:20 WT: Hiçbir terörist organizasyonun Kürt halkını temsil etmeye hakkı yok

Metroya bomba son anda önlendi

Ortak düşman PKK'yı konuştular

Sınırda şifre BBG

Çantasında A-4 patlayıcısıyla ele geçirildi

PKK'nın iddiası: Kayıp vermedik

Baykal: PKK çöküşünün yansıması

DTP'li vekil, rehin askerlere kart attı

"Bombardımanda çok vatandaşımız öldü"

''Bir teröristin eylemini yapmadan yakalanması tecrübenin ifadesidir''

İşte taş üstünde taş bırakmadığımız kamplar

Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament Speaker on Turkish Attacks, Oil and Gas Law, Kirkuk

Iraqi Kurdistan Leader Takes Strong Stand Against Turkish Military Action

Chatham House’daki ‘Kürd Konferansı -1- -2-

Iraq Demands South Korean Firm Halt Oil Exploration in Kurdish Region

Iraq: Kurdistan Lacks Media Freedom - Poll

Prof. Türköne'ye 'Amed' tepkisi

Demirtaş'a 'sahte rapor' muayenesi

Iraq Kurds warn Turkey over raids The leader of Iraq's northern Kurdish region condemns Turkish air strikes, saying innocents have died.

Çok rahatsız olan PKK'yı temizler

Baykal: Suçun yok sayılması af demektir

Bush'tan al desteği

�Kürt sorunu bir yurttaşlık sorunudur�

Meclis'in gündeminde 'tanık koruma' yasası var

Cemil Çiçek'ten Barzani'ye PKK yanıtı

Azeri Expert Warns of PKK Threat - Website

Iran Export to Iraq Via Kurdistan Border Falls

Barzani bölgesinde terörist kabristanı

Turkey’s Civil Operation Plan Against Kurdish Terrorism

Talabani: Savaş ilan edecek halde değiliz

Kürtlerin havasını bozan alo

Iraqi Kurds have to see the new realities of Iraq

Kirkuk’s importance not lost on US
By SCOTT TAYLOR

Kirkuk IPs: Dangerous, Most Sought After Occupation

Kurds and Arabs fail to bridge differences Azzaman.com

George 'Saddam Hussain' Bush Aids Turkey's War Crimes against Kurds. Copy and send Protest letter!

Google News Greece Cyprus Turkish Cypriot Press ABHaber

Ahmet Taşgetiren Sarkozy “Kral çıplak” dedi

"Yunanistan, Trakya üzerinden Türkiye'ye saldıracaktı!"

ABD’nin Kıbrıs harekatı arşivinde şok bilgiler

US archive unveils Greek plans for attacking Turks in Thrace

Serdar Turgut Sarkozy’ye kızalım da...

Alman televizyonu Alevileri kızdırdı

'Türkleri koruyun'

Sami KOHEN Batı'da dini akımlar

Neşe Türkiye'siz övülür mü?
Slavoj Zizek -

Select Interface Language:
Greek News Washington, DC- For the first time in nearly a decade, the US Congress has singled out the removal of Turkish troops from Cyprus as a priority issue

Kardak'ta gergin saatler

Hasan Kanbolat Turkey’s bid for membership on UN Security Council

Armenia, Armenia Ara Chutjian

AİHM’den Türkiye’ye Yüksekova cezası

AİHM'den Türkiye'ye Yüksekova cezası

Oktay Ekşi Almanya’da Türk olmak

AKİF EMRE Patolojik olan Sarkozy mi “Avrupa fikri” mi?

'Füze kalkanı'na karşı Rusya'dan misilleme tehdidi

Türk profesörler dünyaya sıfır çekti

Rahibi bıçaklayıp soluğu Ülkü Ocağı’nda almış

2. Tecavüz, türban ve Alevilik

Gül ‘dost’ gazetecilerle buluştu

Hapse girerken ’takayasu’ oldu

El Kadı müfettişi Kaçar'a iade

YUSUF KAPLAN

Çağ yabancılaşması, palyaçoluk ve eurobesk'lik

Basın Konseyi'nden Emniyet'e tepki

Yargıtay'da dengeler değişiyor –

214 bin karara imza atan Yargıtay başkanı emekli oldu

Mühendisin intihar mektubunu kim yazdı

Türk edebiyatında metin darbeleri -Sadeleştirme kisvesi altında yapılan değişiklikler, dilimizi bizden uzaklaştırırken öz kültürümüzde de büyük tahribata yol açıyor. Aksiyon, “edebî cinayetleri” masaya yatırıyor.

Oray Eğin Türkiye Fehmi Koru’yla gurur duyuyor

Eser Karakaş ‘Erke dönengeç’ çok ciddi

Ermeniler her an gitmeye hazır

Makarios eşcinsel miydi

Otel ve TV sahibi sendikalar 10 yıldır devlet denetimi görmüyor

'8 milyon aileye kömür dağıttık'

Benim valim, kamyonla fakire kömür dağıttığı gün bu ülke uçar

Ecevit'in yayınlanmamış fotoğrafları

H3 Metehan Demir Erdoğan Bush'a gerçekten ne söyledi?

Canlı bombaya son dakika pususu Kandil'den metroyu havaya uçur emri

Fikret BİLA PKK'ya karşı 'bileşik kaplar' formülü Çuval geride kaldı

Kürt meselesi, havuç, sopa Murat Yetkin

'PKK konusunda arabulucu olabilirim'

Kürt konusunda yeni gelişmeler ve planlar Hasan Celal Güzel

Cengiz Çandar Ne istediğimizi biliyor muyuz

Cevdet Aşkın Ankara'ya 'PKK'yı vurmadan Irak'a haber ver' baskısı

Ahmet Taşgetiren Kim söylemiş bunları?

Ahmet Taşgetiren Sarkozy “Kral çıplak” dedi

Ruşen Çakır|DTP'yi anlamak/1234

Üç parçaya bölünen PKK, 'PJAK' oluyor –

Kesici Amerika'da ne konuştu?

[Yorum - Altan Tan] Etnik siyasetin son kozu laiklik mi?

Bilal Çetin PKK�yı bitirme stratejisinin üç temel unsuru...

Survey: Over 50 percent of PKK terrorists below 25

Türkiye’de 12 terör örgütü var

"Yunanistan, Trakya üzerinden Türkiye'ye saldıracaktı!"

ABD Başkanı'na CIA şikâyeti CIA, Türkiye'de operasyon yapıyor mu?

Kıbrıs harekâtına ABD göz yummuş

Taha Kıvanç Roman ve gerçek

M Ali Birand 2007 AKP’nin yılı oldu...

Cüneyt Ülsever Barzani ne ister?

Baykal 'En güç iş hükümeti iknaydı'

MUHARREM SARIKAYA Siyasi açılım mı?

MAHMUT ÖVÜR Kürtler ne istiyor? 'Özerklik mi federasyon mu?'

Güler Kömürcü Azınlık tuzağı!

Enis Berberoğlu28 Aralık kararları

İlter Türkmen 2007 sonunda bazı gözlemler (2)

[NEWS ANALYSIS] Kurdish politics at critical junction

Cengiz Aktar Askerî başarılar siyasî başarısızlıklar

Tuğluk'un samimi yazısı Nuray Mert

Turkish contractors achieve nearly $20 billion in foreign projects

Hakan Aygün PKK ne kadar kayıp verdi

Murat Belge Yüzde 20, yüzde 80'in hayatını karartıyor

DTP'den ilginç çıkış: Sınır ötesi operasyonlar kalıcı barışa vesile olabilir

Lale Sarıibrahimoğlu Military spending to continue increasing

MELİHA OKUR Göktürk Türksat'ı nasıl vurdu?

Derya SAZAK Yüksekova, AİHM, Şemdinli

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 Roman ve gerçek

Fehmi Koru Sorular ve cevaplar

Ahmet Taşgetiren

İslam ülkesi görüntüsünden rahatsızlık

Ali Bayramoğlu

Fazıl Say meselesi ve mutat seçkin krizi...

İBRAHİM KARAGÜL Cumhurbaşkanı ve Başbakan'a çağrı: Bu ölümler aydınlatılmalı!

Mustafa Karaalioğlu Mahalleliden mahalleye mesaj

Taha AKYOL İnönü'yü tanımak

Şahin Alpay Türkiye-ABD ilişkilerinde yeni sayfa mı?

Ertuğrul Özkök Mami'nin ölümü

Ahmet Hakan

Mehmet Yılmaz Kuşkuları gidermek çok önemliydi

Özdemir İnce Soyaçekim ve aile dehası

Azınlık hissi sağlıklı değil İsmet Berkan

İhsan Dağı Menderes, Türkeş ve Bahçeli

Mümtazer Türköne Sorun çözme yöntemleri

Erke dönergeci Murat Belge

EMRE AKÖZ Entelektüel kıvranış

Umur Talu

HASAN BÜLENT KAHRAMAN

NAZLI ILICAK Gurur duyuyoruz

Fatih Altaylı Özkök artık Aydın Doğan'ı takmıyor mu?

Mehmet Tezkan

AKP�nin elindeki tarihi fırsat!

YAVUZ DONAT Kırat masalı

Mehmet Altan Başbakan’ın Mezhebi...

Baykal: Bu hükümet bizi çok zorladı

ABDURRAHMAN YILDIRIMFaiz indirimine IMF freni mi?

Turkey considers new program options with IMF

Ercan Kumcu 2007’de öğrendiklerimiz

Güven Sak Kaplan yavrusu edinmek istiyor muyuz, istemiyor muyuz

Erdal Sağlam Bankacılar IMF ile ihtiyari stand-by’dan yana

İbrahim Öztürk Büyüme neden yavaşladı? (2)

GDP growth: 2007 and 2008

Volkan Akı AKP’nin gündem haritası nasıl?

While social security reform is delayed, medical deficit rises

ING Closes Acquisition of Turkey's Oyak Bank

Konutlarda elektriğe %15 zam

Doğuş’un Garanti’deki hissesi yüzde 30’a çıktı

Böyle satış ancak Garanti'de olur

Yalçın Doğan Biri bize şu yüzde 17’yi anlatsın

HSBC CEO: Sub-prime turbulence in the offing for Turkey

Turkish contractors achieve nearly $20 billion in foreign projects

YASED: Foreign direct investment must be 5 percent of GNP

Seyufettin Gürsel DPT’nin tahminlerine katılmıyorum (1)

Güngör URAS Etanol sevdasından hububat ve diğer gıda maddesi fiyatları artıyor

Yaman TÖRÜNER Sorular

2007'nin ekonomik karnesi
Mahfi Eğilmez

Finans ve evrim Korkmaz İlkorur

2007 seçim yılı durgunluğu, 2008 umudu

H4 New York Times

Editorial

H5 Washington Post The U.N. Insignia Emerges as a Global Target for Al-Qaeda Attacks

Israeli Cluster Bombing Ruled Within the Law

Military Ends Probe of Strikes on Lebanon

Editorial Thailand in Transition The generals allow an election. Now they should stay out of the way.

Heirs of China's New Elites Schooled in Ancient Values

H6 GuardianObama's American revolution Dominique Moisi The next US president needs to adopt a more humanistic approach to bring the world on-side and Barack Obama is the ideal candidate

When the powerful can live beyond the law, corruption is never far away

Max Hastings: In Russia, as elsewhere, a lack of transparency feeds a gangster culture that hamstrings social and economic progress

We must persevere Joschka Fischer

It would be unparalleled political folly if, because of a lack of foresight, the west were to squander its successes in Afghanistan

Poor investment Brian Katulis The US is finally placing conditions on the financial aid it gives Pakistan, but the measures do not go far enough

Challenging the powers that be

Dean Baker US elections 2008: When it comes to economic policy - especially trade - only one of the Democratic frontrunners seems set to take on Wall Street

The Republican party: all Hucked up

Quin Hillyer US elections 2008: Mike Huckabee's ascendance proves that the old, Reaganite conservative coalition no longer has a voice in Washington

Climate of suspicion Seumas Milne: People who would have no problem recognising anti-semitism as a form of racism still claim Islamophobia is about ideology, not ethnicity

Blair, the Muslim? Ajmal Masroor Britain's former prime minister has spoken in praise of Islam - so why has he become a Catholic and not a Muslim?

A test case for the UN Philip Honour

The UN has a chance to salvage its reputation and redefine itself for the 21st century, but not until the situation in Darfur is stabilised

H7 Non-nuclear fallout: The response to the intelligence community's recent assessment troubled policy wonks on both sides of the Iran debate, all of whom agree that a threat remains. By Laura Rozen

• 'Where Is Bashar al-Assad Heading?' by Eyal Zisser, Middle East Quarterly

Bush Seeks to Restore Tattered US Image With Heavy '08 Travel
Bloomberg

Al Hayat Lebanon, A Very Precious but Fragile Treasure Kim Howells - Lebanon is like a very precious but fragile treasure buried in the heart of the Middle East; it contains one of the most developed democratic systems in the region; it is a complicated patchwork of confessional and ethnic groups well-practiced in the art of coexistence; its progressive and enlightened society has always been a beacon for other parts of the region.

Texts don't make Islam
Readers do. David Frum, Moment.

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

America Not Sincere About Negotiation With Iran Paper

Tehran plans 19 nuclear power plants...

Iran Wants Talks With US Ambassador...

Muqtada al-Sadr's Power Grab

Pentagon seeks edge in 'battlefield of mind' Military struggles to reform roughly 25,000 Iraqi prisoners in US custody

BBC Monitoring Quotes From Iranian Press 24 Dec 07

LA Times In one Iraqi village, a taste of what might be U.S. troops reach out with aid as part of an effort to secure an insurgent stronghold.

Ambassador skeptical of Iran's plan for Iraq American Ryan Crocker says he's not convinced that Tehran is committed to helping stabilize its neighbor

War and peace
A year of contrasts for Iran and its controversial leader

H9 Ha’aretz – Foreign Min.: Syria feels it must wait out Bush term Ministry: Damascus hopes next U.S. pres. will back peace talks; FM: Egypt effort to stem arms flow 'awful'

Call to Order / Olmert gives National Security Council a room of ...their own

Three reports during the war The committee, Marcus says, will be harsh in its judgment of the prime minister for "the rashness and lack of judgment that characterized Ehud Olmert."

Gideon Levy: Don't be fooled by impression of quiet in West Bank

Akiva Eldar: Why can't Israel's left make peace demands?

Only the Palestinians can transform their political future (WTR)

Jerusalem Post Israel could survive nuclear war’ If a nuclear war between Israel and Iran were to break out 16-20 million Iranians would lose their lives - as opposed to 200,000-800,000 Israelis

IAF interested in new US-made jet

Israel considers plane capable of vertical take-off, fearing targeting of runways during war.

'Diaspora must have say on J'lem future' Head of J'lem think-tank disputes gov't policy to exclude Diaspora leaders from decision-making.

The Ayatollah Khomeini legacy

'Legacy' used to support differing perspectives of Islamic Republic.

Beyond aliya Israel's goal should be for both Israel and the Diaspora to grow.

Army Prepares Public for Missile Attack - Yaakov Katz (Jerusalem Post)

Yedioth Ahronoth

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

Israeli cluster bomb use 'legal'

Israeli military prosecutors say the use of cluster bombs last year in Lebanon was legal under international law.

H10 Christian Science Monitor Oil prices may go down in 2008 Larger supplies, more energy alternatives, and a slowing economy could be factors.

Sino-Indian army exercises bring two Asian powers closer

Forty-five years after a border war, the two nations begin to collaborate on security

Opinion: Judging America's presidents Don't be so quick to vilify. Consider Andrew Jackson.

Opinion: The global shift against the death penalty Last week's UN vote for a moratorium on the death penalty is a welcome step.

CIA: rogue or victim in tapes flap? Republicans step up attacks on agency, while Democrats point to the White House as the culprit.

Public giants in private markets

Countries like China, awash in export cash, are buying into Wall Street. Do such investments have strings?

Jews and Muslims See the US as a Place to Make Peace

ASIA

Foreign Affairs Long Time Coming John L. Thornton Is China democratizing? The country's leaders do not think of democracy as people in the West generally do, but they are increasingly backing local elections, judicial independence, and oversight of Chinese Communist Party officials. How far China's liberalization will ultimately go and what Chinese politics will look like when it stops are open questions.

China's New Dictatorship Diplomacy Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt and Andrew Small
Beijing has recently stepped back from its unconditional support for pariah states, such as Burma, North Korea, and Sudan. This means China may now be more likely to help the West manage the problems such states pose -- but only up to a point, because at heart China still favors nonintervention as a general policy.

India's Hindu nationalists hang on to stronghold in crucial state election Hindu nationalists won a crucial test of political support today with a resounding victory in a state election, fought in the shadow of anti-Muslim riots that left more than 1,000 people dead in 2002

Japan gives up plan on national security council Japan decided to give up the plan to build a national security council similar with the US one

China's Newly Rich Values Class

Entrepreneurs, new among nation's elite, rely on courses to enstill traditional manners in children

H11 IHT

EUROPE European press review

Europe's Eastern Promise
Ronald D. Asmus After the Cold War, NATO and the EU opened their doors to central and eastern Europe, making the continent safer and freer than ever before. Today, NATO and the EU must articulate a new rationale for enlarging still further, once again extending democracy and prosperity to the East, this time in the face of a more powerful and defiant Russia.

The Future of Radical Islam in Europe

Albanian Media Continue Focusing on Kosovo Independence 17 - 21 Dec 07

Thousands sought over child porn Germany pursues 12,000 suspects in what is said to be its biggest case of internet images of child abuse.

Italy seeks Condor plot suspects
Prosecutors in Italy issue 140 arrest warrants over the decades-old South American plot Operation Condor.

H12 RFE/RL

Michael McFaul and Kathryn Stoner-Weiss (Stanford): The Myth of the Authoritarian Model: How Putin's Crackdown Holds Russia Back - A growing conventional wisdom holds that Vladimir Putin's attack on democracy has brought Russia stability and prosperity -- providing a new model of successful market authoritarianism. But the correlation between autocracy and economic growth is spurious. Autocracy's effects in Russia have in fact been negative. Whatever the gains under Putin, they would have been greater under a democratic regime.

Experts Warn Russia Seeks Influence Over Vast Caspian Oil Reserves
Voice of America -

Armenia, Armenia Ara Chutjian

Google News Azerbaijan

Georgian Government Claims Opposition Campaign Manager Plotted Coup

Georgia's Plebiscites: The Forgotten Vote?While domestic and international audiences are busy scrutinizing Georgia's upcoming January 5 presidential vote, little attention has yet been paid to plebiscites planned for the same day on a parliamentary election date and Georgia's accession into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

CSM Uzbekistan's elections labeled 'undemocratic'

Islam Karimov, the only president since independence from Soviet rule, received 88.1 percent of the vote in a weekend election

H13 The Times

Wall Street Journal

H14 Financial Times

H15 Los Angeles Times

Editorial

In one Iraqi village, a taste of what might be U.S. troops reach out with aid as part of an effort to secure an insurgent stronghold.

Ambassador skeptical of Iran's plan for Iraq American Ryan Crocker says he's not convinced that Tehran is committed to helping stabilize its neighbor

Ordeal leaves Iranian dissident with doubts After 40 days in a notorious Tehran prison, a student activist wonders if he should have heeded his father's warnings to avoid politics

H16 American Politics

Time: How Clinton lost her invincibility

Clinton, Obama Are Odds-on Picks for Presidency - Albert Hunt, Bloomberg

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

Early Bird GovExec Swamp Gas The Swamp

Kristol calls Paul 'un- American,' 'crackpot'
Conservative commentator pans Paul's argument that Civil War was a mistake.

Challenging Cheney Newsweek A National Archives official reveals what the veep wanted to keep classified--and how he tried to challenge the rules

H17 Daily Telegraph

H18 Independent

H19Military Intelligence Terrorism

Foreign Affairs Stopping Nuclear Terrorism Michael Levi Nuclear terrorism poses a grave threat to global security, but seeking silver bullets to counter it does not make sense. Instead of pursuing a perfect defense, U.S. policymakers should create an integrated defensive system that takes advantage of the terrorists' weaknesses and disrupts their plots at every stage, thereby chipping away at their overall chances of success.

Analyst: In wrong hands, FBI biometrics 'can follow you forever'

Al-Qa’ida’s Foreign Fighters in Iraq: First Look at the Sinjar Records (PDF; 825 KB) Source: Combating Terrorism Center at West Point

A war of words, waged behind bars In Spain, 30 Muslim men are charged in a courthouse bomb plot. Their letters, mostly written from prison, chart the formation and radicalization of a group said to be aligned with terrorist networks.

Preparing Hospitals and Clinics for the Psychological Consequences of a Terrorist Incident or Other Public Health Emergency Source: RAND Corporation

British Media Exploited by Intel Agencies: Once in a while, the public gets a peek inside the world of disinformation

Ghosts of Iranian Terror Past & Future

H20 Slate Six Months That Could Change Iraq Three possible post-surge scenarios Fred Kaplan

Why has the Bush administration lost interest in North Korea?
Christopher Hitchens

Global Corporate Citizenship
Klaus Schwab Global corporate citizenship means that companies must not only be engaged with stakeholders but be stakeholders themselves alongside governments and civil society. Since companies depend on global development, which in turn relies on stability and increased prosperity, it is in their direct interest to help improve the state of the world.

Public Footprints in Private Markets
Robert M. Kimmitt The massive growth of sovereign wealth funds -- pools of capital controlled by governments and invested in private markets abroad -- should not cause alarm. But it does raise legitimate questions for the United States, pointing to the need for new policy principles for both the funds and the countries in which they invest.

From Mosaic to Harmony: Multicultural Canada in the 21st Century (PDF; 500 KB) Source: Policy Research Initiative (Government of Canada)

Symposium: Religion and Morality in the Public Square Source: St. John’s Journal of Legal Commentary
Articles (PDFs) include: Religion and Morality in the Public Square: Excerpts from Keynote Address; Religious Reasons in Public: Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom, But Be Prepared to Prune; Religiously Based Judgments and Discourse in Political Life; Political Reason; Is Religious Ignorance a Crime Against the First Amendment?; Religion and Group Rights: Are Churches (Just) Like the Boy Scouts?; The Limits of Group Rights: Religious Institutions and Religious Minorities in International Law.

H21

Facebook is so last year - welcome to the hit websites of 2008

Jazz great Oscar Peterson dies

What made John Ruskin run from the bridal bedroom? His wife’s pubic hair? Greek statues had no pubic hair! Yet another Victorian sex story... more»

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