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H1 The Nation The Democratic Foreign Policy Wars by ARI BERMAN

2008 Herzliya Conference Program January 20-23 ------- Conference Proceedings 2007

Davos WEF Annual Meeting 2008 23-27 January Programme

The Bush Visit and Tensions in the U.S.-Israel Relationship - Gerald M. Steinberg (Institute for Contemporary Affairs/Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)

NYT Memo From Tehran: A President’s Defender Keeps His Distance Ahmadinejad loses favor with Khamenei, Iran's top leader...

The Times The Barack Obama enigma: a JFK, a liberal Reagan or a Carter?

Salon Obama's double magic Obama's double magic By allowing voters to both vent their anger and overcome it, while embodying the transcendence of America's racial wound, Barack Obama offers not just hope, but alchemy. By Gary Kamiya

Washington Post Editorial See No Good Why do the Democratic candidates refuse to acknowledge progress in Iraq?

A Candidacy's Prose and Cons

By E. J. Dionne Jr

New Leaders Of Sunnis Make Gains In Influence U.S.-Backed Fighters Find Empowering Role

WSJ In Bhutto's Province, Calls to Secede Pakistan's province of Sindh, the country's second-largest, has been swept by nationalist rage in the wake of Bhutto's assassination, with many people starting to call for outright independence.

Globalizing Asia or Asian Globalization?

GuardianIranian ships 'threatened' US vessels American officials claim 'serious provocation' from Iranian warships at sea

Inheriting Iraq James Denselow With US expectations in Iraq now greatly reduced, it may be easier for the next president to disengage than it is for Bush

Syrian games without frontiers Jonathan Spyer: The involvement of Damascus in Lebanese politics is clearly interference which the west must now counter to avoid disaster

IHT Iraq needs a 'political surge' By YAHIA SAID Factionalism among the country's national leaders is frittering away progress on the local level.

Brookings Apres-Surge: The Next Iraq Debates Kenneth M. Pollack,

Democracy: inevitable no more ,By Madeleine K. Albright

Financial Times Barack Obama’s message to the world Obama is in favour of hope, unity and change Gideon Rachman

Gold is the new global currency

Gold’s rise shows investors are nervous, a key message for central banks, but it is in the interests of business that its bullish fans are proved wrong

Daily Star US candidates are vague on Middle East democracy By Steven A. Cook

Israel's true friends are...
Walt, Mearsheimer! LAT.

Jerusalem PostRice: No difference between W. Bank and e. J'lem settlements US secretary of state says Israel must stop building in those areas as part of its commitment to implement the first phase of the road map.

Halevy: When Bush meets Abbas He might ask himself whether power has already shifted away from Fatah.

US considering int'l force in W. Bank

National Security for the Twenty-First Century Source: Demos Full Document (PDF; 669 KB)

CFR Fuller: Despite Apparent Reelection, Saakashvili’s Popularity Not High

Erlanger: Low Israeli Expectations for Bush Middle East Trip

H2 ASAM 2008 Bakış (pdf)

PKK on the Run from US Intelligence-Driven Turkish Air Strikes DEBKA file

Iraqi Kurdish Paper Reports on PKK's Struggle Against Turkey

Visit by Turkish President Demonstrates Greatly Improved Relations With US

Turkish president to meet with Bush (AP)

Washington Times Oh, thanks, Mr. Gul (By Tulin Daloglu) There is no unimportant meeting at the White House, Mr. President, but what exactly are you hoping to accomplish?

FT WORLD NEWS: Women reject Ankara's idea of 'protection'

France is ready to champion larger EU France is to become a champion of further enlargement of the bloc, according to the French minister for Europe, in a change of approach likely to ease the accession of new members

Eurasia Group President Ian Bremmer Announces Top Risks and Red He. Herrings for 2008 8. Turkey: Tension will remain high between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Turkey's secularist forces, particularly the military.

EDM AKP PREPARES TO ANNOUNCE NEW CONSTITUTION

US expert accuses Barzani of playing terror card, corruption, tyranny

Gül takes energy agenda to Washington

ABD'li Senatör: Erdoğan-Bush görüşmesi terörle mücadele için önemli adımdı

BBC Monitoring Quotes From the Turkish Press 07 Jan 08

Nükleer köstebek Mark Grossman mı - Hürriyet

Türk-Amerikan ilişkileri, yeniden rayına oturuyor

Google News KurdishMedia Kurdish Kurdish Aspect BBC Monitoring

Kurdish Leader Looks Like Washington’s Iraqi PM Candidate

PKK terrorists may have acted on own initiative

Kürt İttifakı Arayışı - Mehmet Baki

AK Parti ve DTP'yi aşacak parti arayışı -

Şerafettin Elçi: PKK ve DTP'nin miadları doldu

Bölge partisini buldu, başka maya tutmaz

Barzani’den diyalog çağrısı

PKK liderleri de yıllar içinde siyasi anlamda taleplerini durmadan düşürmüş bulunuyorlar

Berlin'de Konferans: Türk-Kürt Uyuşmazlığı’nın barışçı çözümüne ilişkin perspektifler

Ahmet Taşgetiren Kaosun göbeğinde DTP

Ömer Lütfi Mete Uygarlığın A4 boyutu

Hakan Aygün PKK bu kez bitiyor!

Teröristlerin aileleriyle MSN üzerinden sohbet ediyormuş

PKK, katliamı dolaylı olarak üstlendi

Neçirvan Barzani iki yıl daha başbakan

Iraqi President's Son to Become Kurdistan Minister; Nechirvan Barzani Remains PM

Criticism of PUK By Iraqi President's Relative Seconded

"DTP'nin tavrı çatlağın işareti"

Turkish Attacks, Backed by US, Undermine Kurdish Gov

İlnur Çevik Attacks show PKK is digging its own grave

Kerim Balcı Education in the mother tongue

Neden DTP? Murat Belge

[Yorum - Bejan Matur] Kardeşlik, ölüm ve benzerlik

Murat Birsel PKK başarılı Kürt sever mi?

PKK ve uyuşturucu

Turkey, US, Neo Cons, PKK, KRG. The Kurdish Oil Question

Baykal’dan yeni açılım

Deniz Baykal: Devlet etnik olarak kördür

Serpil YILMAZ Irak'ta büyük özelleştirme öncesi yangın

Erhan Çelik Türkiye Irak petrollerinden payını çaktı...

Turkish Hizbullah Would Begin Killing If Not For The Arrests

'Kardeşime ilk kurşunu teslim olan asker attı'

Roj TV'nin kurucularından biri Antalya'da yakalandı

PKK, yerli gece görüş sistemi ile vurulacak

PKK'yı çıkartsın, Irak'a 10 kat yardım ederiz

Amed'deki patlamanın tek sorumlusu şoven ve faşist TC devletidir!

Diyarbakır'daki hain saldırıda bir öğrenci daha hayatını kaybetti

PKK'dan 'utanmaz' üstlenme...

PUK Leaders Oppose Renewal of Nechirvan Barzani As Iraqi Kurd Region PM

Bu da ’Yeşil’in adını kullanan ’derin’ çete

Erdoğan, Amerikan heyetiyle enerji ve terörü konuştu

Derya SAZAK PKK, terör, CHP

19 yıl önceki Kürt raporunu revize ettiBaykal, Kürt açılımının içini doldurarak, “Devletin kimseyi asimile etmeye hakkı yoktur” dedi ve ekledi

CHP'ye Diyarbakır ricası: Hükümete destek olun

Başkentte PKK operasyonu 19 kişi gözaltına alındı

Iraqi Kurd Warns Against Kirkuk Strife

Bombacının parmak izi parada aranıyor

Asker aileleri: Çocuklarımız hain değil

Katiller, güvenlik kameralarında yok

Iraqi President's Sudden Visit to Kirkuk Causes Mixed Reactions

Iraqi Kurdish Politician Fu'Ad Ma'Sum Interviewed on New Alliance

Kürtçe söyleyen çocuk korosu adliye yolunda

Bombacının eşkâli saptandı

Başkan Baydemir taziyede şok yaşadı

DTP'ye üç ay içinde dördüncü saldırı

Çocuklar Kürtçe şarkı için ifade veriyor

Iraklı Kürtlerden 2 petrol anlaşması daha

İran vanayı yine kapattı, Rusya ek gaz vermiyor

İran doğalgazı tamamen kesti

Güler: Gazla ilgili durumu yönetiyoruz

Egyptian Ambassador El Hadidi: ‘Turkey is my second home’

Google News Greece Cyprus Turkish Cypriot Press ABHaber

Şahin Alpay AB Bakanlığı kurulmalı

Tough days for Karamanlis on the eve of Ankara visit
Ariana FERENTINOU

2007 a year of instability
Sylvia TİRYAKİ

Türkiye ile AB arasında “stratejik enerji işbirliği planı” istendi

Latakia ferry line: What does it mean for the Turkish Cypriots?
Yusuf TÜNAY

Anti-Muslim slogan in Germany draws harsh reactions

Turkey to amend controversial law

Slovenya'dan Fransa'ya, 'Engel çıkarma' mesajı

Fikret Ertan Saakaşvili'nin reformları...

Hasan Kanbolat Georgia votes for stability and integration with the West

Çete operasyonunda derin bağlantılar

Mini Susurluk'a matkap darbesi

Paralı eğitimi savunmayı sürdürdü

Meral TAMERAKP, kadın çalışanların haklarını nasıl tırpanladı?

Ali Bulaç About universality

Meclis’teki şu taburu kaldıralım mı Paşam: Hay hay

Yabancıya tazminat var, Türk'e yok!

8 Ocak 2008 Basın Özeti

H3 Sıkıntılı dönem bitti

Sedat ERGİN Gül ne amaçlıyor, Bush ne hedefliyor?

CNN-Türk Ahmet Davutoğlu

(word doc) (video)

Cengiz Çandar Bu seyahat gerekli miydi

Görüşme ABD için önemli

Ruşen ÇakırAmerikan yönetimi günah çıkartıyor

Kürt İttifakı Arayışı - Mehmet Baki

İstanbul'un terör haritası

Hasan CEMAL Stratejik ortaklıkta iman tazeleme buluşması!

Sami KOHEN Gül-Bush zirvesinden ne beklenir?

PKK aradan çıkarsa Irak’ı ihya ederiz

Cevdet Aşkın Diyarbakır saldırısı PKK'nın ayağına dolandı

Baykal: Hava farklı Murat Yetkin

Taha AKYOL Diyarbakır faciası ve DTP

Güneri CIVAOĞLU Hedef jet pilotlarıydı

Devlet parayı üniversiteye değil öğrenciye versin

ERDAL ŞAFAK Paralı üniversite

301'de beş değişiklik

İran vanayı yine kapattı, Rusya ek gaz vermiyor

İran yarı yolda bıraktı!

Lale Sarıibrahimoğlu Iran should act like a respected partner of Turkey

'Af yasasının adı bile çok önemli'

Toptan: Türban sorunu anayasa ile çözülmez

Şahin Alpay AB Bakanlığı kurulmalı

Ergin Yıldızoğlu Günümüz ve yakın gelecek üzerine ileri derecede spekülatif düşünceler

Ertuğrul Özkök Avam dokunulmazlar

M Ali Birand PKK asıl Kürtleri vuruyor..

PKK'ya karşı Türk yapımı insansız uçaklar görevde

Dil tartışmalarıyla Türkiye parçalanır

Yargı: Mülakat sınavı kayıt altına alınsın

Mehmet Yılmaz Terörle mücadelede yanlış nerede yapılıyor?

Anlık istihbarat, operasyondan sonra destek buldu

İç Basında Türk Dış Politikası

Dış Basında Türkiye-AB İlişkileri Günlük Haftalık - Dış Basında Irak BBC Turkish 0700 VOA TSİ 06:30 Dış Basında Türkiye Turkish Press Review Google News Turkey Turquie Türkei TurcoPundit

Taha Kıvanç Gezinin ilk günü

Fehmi Koru PKK tasfiye olsun, Irak'a katkımız on katına çıkar

ALİ BAYRAMOĞLU Kürt vatandaşlarım…

TAMER KORKMAZ Pişmanlık Kanunu'nu Yazsam Yeniden!

İBRAHİM KARAGÜL El Kaide ihaleleri, nükleer kaçakçılık, Türk casuslar!

AKİF EMRE Strateji hastalığı

301’e ülke sınırı

Kabak tadı veren bir konu: 301
İsmet Berkan

TCK 301 ve mazoşist zihniyet Hasan Celal Güzel

Cabinet leaves 301 for later despite expectations

Sadece açıkça hakareti suç saymak bu kadar mı zor?

Yeni 301'inci madde suç kastı arayacak

Ahmet Taşgetiren Bu insanları nasıl rahatlatmalı?

Şiddet, siyaset ve kimi endişeler - Ali Bayramoğlu

Türkiye, dış dünya ve habercilik
Nuray Mert

Is injustice the source of terrorism? by BEKİR ÇINAR*

Can DündarTerör karşısında medya ne yapmalı?

Nuray Başaran Muhalefet lazımsa, onu da iktidar olarak biz yaparız

Mehmet Altan Medya sağırlığı

Cüneyt Ülsever Cumhurbaşkanı’nın takılarına taktım!

Enis Berberoğlu Seçileceğimi bilsem kesin aday olmazdım

Oktay Ekşi Merkez sağı katlettiler

Hadi Uluengin Taçlandırma zirvesi

Hüsnü Mahalli Gül, Bush ve çuval!

Ekrem Dumanlı Doğru zamanda doğru bir ziyaret

The right visit at the right time

Türk-Amerikan ilişkileri, yeniden rayına oturuyor

Cengiz Aktar

Gözümüz aydın, Türkiye merkez ülke olmuş

İhsan Dağı Amerika, Türkiye'yi yeniden keşfediyor

Fatih Altaylı Başrol için Washington'a değil, Holywood'a gidilir

Savaş SüzalCumhurbaşkanlarının ABD ziyaretleri ve Gül

President Gül heralds brand new era in relations with US

Mehmet Yılmaz Gizli içki yasağı palavrası

Yalçın Doğan Seksek oyunuyla içki yasağı

MUHARREM SARIKAYAÜç-sıfır-bir...

ERGUN BABAHAN İşbirliği sonuç verdi ABD ile sıkıntı aşıldı Roma ve Osmanlı mirasları ve barış

EMRE AKÖZ Elbette paralı üniversite

YÖK Başkanı açıklamasıyla tepki gördü

Umur Talu

HASAN BÜLENT KAHRAMAN

NAZLI ILICAK Leydi'nin topuk sesleri

MAHMUT ÖVÜR DP'de 'genç siviller' kazandı

YAVUZ DONATBir bilen (Demirel) ve 3 maymun

Ahmet Taşgetiren DP'nin sancısı - Ak Parti'nin yükselişi – İktidar emaneti

Mehmet Barlas Demokrat Parti’nin yeni genel başkanının hata yapma lüksü yok…

Mümtazer Türköne Siyasetin ve düşüncenin zemini

Serdar Turgut Demokrat sağın çöküşü

M. Gökçek: Bir dönem daha adayım

Mehmet Tezkan

Merkez sağ gözyaşına nasıl boğuldu..

DAVUT DURSUN Kamuoyu araştırmaları ve toplumsal eğilimler

DP'nin yeni vitrini

YÖK'te yeni döneme doğru

'Türban anayasaya girmeyecek'

ABDURRAHMAN YILDIRIMTürkiye'de krizli yıllarda bile para faizden kazanılıyor

Ercan Kumcu Bir enflasyon analizi

Beklenti yönetimi yetmeyecek Mahfi Eğilmez

OKAN MÜDERRİSOĞLU
Elektrik zammında geri adım!

Deniz Gökçe
Felaket değil siyaset!

Güven Sak Tempolu büyümenin engeli 'onlar' değildir

Seyfettin Gürsel Enflasyonda hızlı düşüş mümkün

Murat Yülek Trade deficit

Asaf Savaş Akat

2008 tahminleri

İBRAHİM KAHVECİ

Yavuz Semerci
Özelleştirme geliri verimli kullanıldı mı?

[TÜRKİYE'NİN 2008 GÜNDEMİ] 2008 ekonomide kritik yıl

Erdal Sağlam Piyasaların gözü artık yabancı TV kanallarında

Ambitious Turkish companies going global

FT COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL: Carrefour quits Migros stake race

COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL: Bidders line up for Turkish store chain

Ülker, UNO Ekmek'in yüzde 50'sini satın aldı

H4 New York Times U.S. Describes Confrontation With Iranian Boats Five Iranian boats took aggressive actions around three U.S. naval vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, an official said.

Memo From Tehran: A President’s Defender Keeps His Distance Ahmadinejad loses favor with Khamenei, Iran's top leader...

Suicide Bomber Kills Key Sunni Leader

Editorial

H5 Washington Post Editorial See No Good Why do the Democratic candidates refuse to acknowledge progress in Iraq?

New Leaders Of Sunnis Make Gains In Influence U.S.-Backed Fighters Find Empowering Role

Sunni Security Unit Leader, Colleagues Killed in Attack Encouraged by Bin Laden

U.S. Expresses Alarm After Iranian Boats Threaten Three American Vessels

Diplomats Give Rice Low Marks Only 18 percent of the U.S. Foreign Service think Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is doing a good job protecting their profession

In Israel, Bush Hopes To Reinvigorate Talks Since Annapolis, Mideast violence has escalated over long-standing territorial disputes and security concerns, leaving little optimism that fledgling dialogue will bring peace.

Ignatius: The World Agrees With Iowa

Congress and Climate Change The presidential contest should not stop legislative work on global warming.

On Eve of N.H. Vote, Campaigns Look Ahead Heartened, stunned, energized and exhausted, candidates are crafting long-term strategies in anticipation of protracted nominating battles.

Why I Still Back Hillary Clinton

By Robert Farmer John Kerry's 2004 campaign treasurer explains why he switched his support from Obama to Clinton.

A Candidacy's Prose and Cons

By E. J. Dionne Jr., Hillary Clinton may have unintentionally written the obituary for the Iowa and New Hampshire phase of her presidential campaign, and perhaps her candidacy, when she told voters on Sunday: "You campaign in poetry, but you govern in prose."

H6 GuardianIranian ships 'threatened' US vessels American officials claim 'serious provocation' from Iranian warships at sea

Inheriting Iraq James Denselow With US expectations in Iraq now greatly reduced, it may be easier for the next president to disengage than it is for Bush

Syrian games without frontiers Jonathan Spyer: The involvement of Damascus in Lebanese politics is clearly interference which the west must now counter to avoid disaster

Rights in practice Brian Whitaker: Considering how to deal with 'honour' killings may provide a model for human rights activism in other situations

Obama in overdrive as Clinton slips

Hillary Clinton braced for a second humiliating defeat in today's New Hampshire primary election

Believers flock to see Obama in the flesh

Clinton braces for defeat and vows to keep up fight

Churchill wannabes destroy any hope of a violence-free life in Pakistan

Pankaj Mishra: Benazir Bhutto's death is just the latest evidence of the disastrous legacy of western involvement in the country's politics

Rattling on about change Jeff Jarvis: US elections 2008: The debating Democrats are fighting over who's the real agent of 'change'. But what the hell does the word mean?

Blogging the Qur'an

Georgina Henry: Today we're launching a new blog exploring the chapters, themes and concepts contained in Islam's holy book

H7 Brookings Apres-Surge: The Next Iraq Debates Kenneth M. Pollack,

The Surge and American Military Triumphalism by Gareth Porter

Seven Questions: Gen. David Petraeus on Winding down the Surge

Daily Star US candidates are vague on Middle East democracy By Steven A. Cook

Shimon Peres: COMPREHENSIVE SANCTIONS AGAINST IRAN MAY AVOID MILITARY ACTION

Washington Times Johns Hopkins' Iraq numbers

WASHINGTON TIMES EDITORIALIt would be nothing short of horrific to contemplate 600,000 excess Iraqi deaths as a result of the war. That would be just as true today as it was in 2006, when claims of such a figure first emerged, implying a new Rwanda of nearly genocidal slaughter

Iran's naked ambitions (By Uzi Rubin)

American Accomplishments Mostafa Zein - Washington has begun to implement a new strategy in Iraq, after having realized its mistake in handing over authority to the Shiite leadership that had been residing in Iran for thirty years, and after having watched over the confessional civil war in which one million Iraqis were victims. Here it is now rectifying the matter by helping the Sunnis to attempt to diminish the influence of Tehran in Mesopotamia.

WSJ In Bhutto's Province, Calls to Secede

Pakistan's province of Sindh, the country's second-largest, has been swept by nationalist rage in the wake of Bhutto's assassination, with many people starting to call for outright independence.

Intel: Bomber meant to destroy evidence in Bhutto attack

USIP News Release: Pakistanis Want Larger Role for Both Islam and Democracy

Iht Pakistan's way forward

By PHILIP BOWRING

Elections set for Feb. 18 are the country's only way forward, provided there is a willingness by the Muslim League, the Pakistan Peoples Party and Pervez Musharraf to accept their result.

Pakistanis Flee Into Afghanistan By: Alastair Leithead | BBC News
Thousands of Pakistanis have fled into Afghanistan with the security situation deteriorating in Pakistan's tribal regions over the past week.

The Price of Action and Inaction By: Joseph L. Galloway | Miami Herald For every action, there's a reaction, and often even inaction triggers a reaction. The unfolding disaster in Pakistan after the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is in part a reaction to a series of inactions and actions by the Bush administration during the last six years

Hail Mary Pass in Pakistan - Jeff Stein, Congressional Quarterly

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

McCLATCHY Bush heads to Mideast amid low expectations

Main Sunni Group Vows No Deal With US

Iranians threatened U.S. ships in Hormuz: U.S. officials

Ahmadinejad loses favor with Khamenei, Iran's top leader...

Iran plays down naval confrontation in Persian Gulf

Asharq Al-Awsat Interview's Iraqi PM al-Maliki

CFR Challenges Cloud Bush Mideast Mission

Helena Cobban Bush in Middle East: Region underwhelmed/ aghast

Daily Star The Arab League can help, but only the Lebanese can fix their own country

For British Forces in Iraq, Protection Means Loss of Effectiveness By: David Axe | World Politics Review
British forces, say some military experts, in essence are making the same mistake their American counter-parts did in the first three years of the Iraq war: they have confused "force protection" with effectiveness.

Data Bomb By: Neil Munro and Carl M. Cannon | National Journal
Three weeks before the 2006 midterm elections gave Democrats control of Congress, a shocking study reported on the number of Iraqis who had died in the ongoing war. It bolstered criticism of President Bush and heightened the waves of dread -- here and around the world -- about the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

Iraq bombs hit Sunni stronghold

A double bombing kills 14 in Baghdad, including the head of a US-backed Sunni armed group fighting al-Qaeda

H9 Ha’aretz – Neither carrot nor stick A harsh response to Hamas in Gaza and to terrorists in the West Bank should go along with significant diplomatic moves vis-a-vis the Palestinian government

No great miracle will happen hereLet's not get our expectations too high. We are talking about weak leaders on both sides, leaders who can barely stand on their own two feet.

Shmuel Rosner: Ron Paul and an Israel without U.S. aid

Nadav Shragai: Mr. President, would you divide New York?

Rosner's Guest: Futurizing Judaism, redefining Zionism

Olmert and Abbas to seal deal on teams to tackle core issues

Jerusalem PostRice: No difference between W. Bank and e. J'lem settlements US secretary of state says Israel must stop building in those areas as part of its commitment to implement the first phase of the road map.

Halevy: When Bush meets Abbas

He might ask himself whether power has already shifted away from Fatah.

US considering int'l force in W. Bank

Olmert rules out shortening term

With Winograd report near, coalition members reportedly checking option of Livni succeeding.

· Jews by choice

A PBS mini-series charts US Jewry's uphill success story.

Our World: Bush's historical parallels[ CAROLINE GLICK

The president's last year in office [ BARRY RUBIN

Why US Muslims live in peace

By AMNON RUBINSTEIN
The 9/11 perpetrators were not aided by a single Muslim-American collaborator.

Fatah Disarmed? Not in Nablus

Bush: NIE Means Iran Is a Threat

Israel's White Bird by Uri Avnery

Yedioth Ahronoth 'Hizbullah is now stronger'
Defense Minister Barak says Shiite group has acquired more high quality-rockets; adds principle of using overwhelming force to press enemy to surrender quickly was apparently not implemented during Second Lebanon War

'We wish to enforce the law'

Foreign Minister Livni pledges Israel genuinely committed to removal of illegal outposts

Going too far Why is Israel proceeding with Road Map before implementation of first phase?

Bush: Iran Could Easily Have Another Nuclear Weapons Program

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

Israel's ticking time bombs

BBC Leaders prepare for key Bush tour Israeli and Palestinian leaders are set to meet to try to ease peace problems ahead of the US president's key tour.

Lasting legacy
How justified is George W Bush's optimism for his Mid-East tour?

Storm builds
Diplomatic fury about Har Homa settlement in East Jerusalem

From the Archive Israeli Experience in Deterring

Terrorist Organizations

Learning from Israel’s mistakes

State Department: How About An Unbiased, Totally Objective International Force In The West Bank?

Book Entry-Points to Palestinian Security Sector Reform Center for Democratic Control of Armed Forces

Hamas and Fatah Still at Loggerheads

H10 Christian Science Monitor Can the Arab League solve Lebanon's political crisis? The Arab League's secretary-general flies into Beirut this week in an effort to end the country's presidential stalemate.

As violence ebbs, the next hurdle for Iraq is political progress Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has vowed to capitalize on security gains to revive the political process in the coming year.

THE MONITOR'S VIEW

Bush drills for Middle East deals Israel's demand to remove Iran's threat before a Palestinian deal could hamper President Bush's effort for peace.

Look who's pro-U.S. now: Saudi Arabia It's now one of the most pro-US and antiterrorist Muslim countries

US-Iran naval confrontation in Gulf raises tensions

While the US State Department demands an explanation, Iran's Foreign Ministry calls the incident 'normal.'

Bush takes altered goals to Mideast

His trip includes Israel and the Palestinian territories

A cold-war case of CIA detention still echoes

The Yuri Nosenko affair unveiled US use of extreme isolation to try to 'break' the KGB defector.

New Hampshire turning 'blue'

Most independents say they'll vote Democratic

ASIA

Globalizing Asia or Asian Globalization?

Chinese Navy Floats Three-Carrier Plan By: Russell Hsiao | Asia Times
The People's Liberation Army Navy is believed to have grand plans for three aircraft carrier groups -- two of which could be patrolling the seas by 2016. That, along with Chinese air exercises in the East China Sea last September, is not welcome news in Taiwan or Japan.

China and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Missiles: Policy Issues
CRS

N. Korea Says It Fulfilled Nuclear Deal By: Paul Richter | Los Angeles Times
American and North Korean officials traded charges Friday over the lagging effort to shut down Pyongyang's nuclear program, raising new doubts about an initiative that the Bush administration has hoped would yield a rare diplomatic success.

H11 IHT Iraq needs a 'political surge' By YAHIA SAID

Factionalism among the country's national leaders is frittering away progress on the local level.

Surprising lessons from Israel By EMILY SCHAEFFER

Americans troubled by Guantánamo can learn from the experience of Israel, whose military courts have only amplified Palestinian resentment and foreign criticism

A Union of the West? Balladur says it's time By JOHN VINOCUR Edouard Balladur, the former French prime minister whose Gaullist establishment credentials stretch back 40 years, says the United States and Europe ought to form an organic alliance, a Union of the West.

Pakistan's way forward

By PHILIP BOWRING

Elections set for Feb. 18 are the country's only way forward, provided there is a willingness by the Muslim League, the Pakistan Peoples Party and Pervez Musharraf to accept their result.

Conspiracy and democracy in Pakistan

Real democracy will take a long time to build in Pakistan, but it's the only path to stability. And it needs to start now.

The ghosts of racism

By JAMES CARROLL

With Barack Obama's ascendancy, an old story is offered a new ending.

EUROPE European press review

Haass is wrong on transatlantic relations

France Bans Its Frenchness By: Gregory Rodriguez | Los Angeles Times France -- land of wine, women and rich food -- has been the global model of elegant indulgence and well-choreographed excess. Its overreaching smoking ban denies old Gallic wisdom: We all need to be a little bad once in a while

INSIGHT - JOE QUINLAN: The ring of prosperity that surrounds the core of Europe

Serbia 'Needs to Embrace the EU' The Independent Rejecting integration with the European Union will damage Serbia's attempt to keep hold of its breakaway Kosovo province, Serb President Boris Tadic said yesterday

Chic or cheek?
President Sarkozy draws flak over 'pop star' romance

H12 RFE/RL

BBC Georgian president 're-elected'

Mikhail Saakashvili is on course for re-election as president of Georgia, but the opposition cries foul.

Google News Azerbaijan

Armenia, Azerbaijan Mull CFE Treaty Withdrawal in Year of "Many Uncertainties" for OSCE
BY JEAN-CHRISTOPHE PEUCH
Russia has unilaterally frozen its commitments under the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty to protest NATO enlargement and what it claims is foot dragging by alliance members on ratification of an adapted version of the disarmament pact that was signed in 1999.

Armenia: Planned Presidential Election Exit Poll Creates Controversy
BY EMIL DANIELYAN
The United States has offered to organize and finance a first-ever exit poll in Armenia as part of an effort to promote a free-and-fair presidential election on February 19. The initiative has been endorsed by the election favorite, Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian, while causing serious misgivings among his main challengers.

EDM INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERS ASSESS GEORGIA’S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION POSITIVELY
- OPPOSITION REJECTS WESTERN OBSERVERS’ ASSESSMENT OF GEORGIA’S ELECTION

H13 The Times White woman v black man. Who wins?

Never underestimate the misogyny of the US voter. Barack has his flaws but he'll probably beat Hillary

David Aaronovitch

Iranians threatened to blow up US warshipsThe Pentagon has demanded an explanation from Tehran following the "careless, reckless and potentially hostile" incident

A Wilted Rose Georgian democracy limps on, far from fragrant

Clinton close to tears as cracks begin to show Hillary Clinton comes close to tears in New Hampshire as polls suggest Barack Obama is set to claim an emphatic victory

Clinton gets up close as crowds drift away

Watch Hillary Clinton well-up

In America, fear is the big vote-winner It is fear about America's economic future rather than unease over foreign policy that seems to be animating voters Gerard Baker

Georgia opposition seeks to overturn result

Opposition searches for evidence of rigged ballot and in bid to force winner Mikhail Saakashvili into a run-off vote

Wall Street Journal Obama and Iraq
If the senator really wants to change politics, he should stop demonizing his opponents.
By MICHAEL O'HANLON

Democrats in Denial
The Presidential candidates won't admit any Iraq surge success.

H14 Financial Times Barack Obama’s message to the world Obama is in favour of hope, unity and change Gideon Rachman asks if the language of change being used by the Democrats’ front-runner Barack Obama and now being imitated by all the other leading candidates for the US presidency is empty rhetoric – or whether something real is happening

Gold is the new global currency

Gold’s rise shows investors are nervous, a key message for central banks, but it is in the interests of business that its bullish fans are proved wrong

France is ready to champion larger EU

France is to become a champion of further enlargement of the bloc, according to the French minister for Europe, in a change of approach likely to ease the accession of new members

Saakashvili’s big gamble pays off

Georgian leader plans to be inaugurated on January 20 for a second term after his election triumph, with official results showing a convincing win

Obama feels ‘urgency of now’ in US poll lead “There is something stirring out there in America – you are writing a new chapter in American history,” Barack Obama tells a crowd that has queued for hours in the snow to see him. If the polls are to be believed, Mr Obama is right.

Fierce battle for independents

John McCain has a refrain he repeats every time he is about to tell a prospective voter something they do not want to hear

White House weighs up need for stimulus planSpeculation is mounting that President George W. Bush could propose a fiscal stimulus package to help keep the US out of recession in his State of the Union address this month.

America’s inflated asset prices must fall Adjustment is fraying nerves, says Stephen Roach

Eurozone economy shows only slow decline Economic prospects across the 15-country eurozone are declining only slowly, a European Commission survey indicates

US accuses Iran of harassing navy vesselsWashington warns Tehran against provocative military gestures that could flare out of control as it reveals how five Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats had threatened to blow up three US warships in the Strait of Hormuz

WORLD NEWS: UN admits problems with image

WORLD NEWS: Tehran plans 17% rise in spending

WORLD NEWS: Caught in a web of censorship

West finds ways into Saudi growth story International investment houses are looking to develop products to provide western institutional investors with new access to the Gulf’s largest bourse

Adulation, gratitude await Bush in Israel Despite diminished international clout and eroding popular support, US President George W. Bush will be greeted with open arms in Israel thanks to his unwavering support of the country

Why business ignores the business schools Michael Skapinker on irrelevant academics

Westminster sees parallels in Washington Philip Stephens compares Clinton and Brown

Europe’s school books demonise enterprise Stefan Theil sees an anti-market bias

Plumbers and Visionaries

This account of the EU’s financial infrastructure will interest specialists, general readers and fans of detective fiction, says Graham Bishop

Democracy: inevitable no more

,By Madeleine K. Albright

Editorial

H16 American Politics

Clinton Braces for LossClinton vows to continue the race for Democratic nomination even if she loses the New Hampshire primary by a wide margin, as polls suggest she could. But some associates have begun lobbying for her early exit if she loses big. A victory for Obama will bring fresh scrutiny and new challenges.

VIDEO...

Clinton’s Campaign Shows Stress Before Primary

Republicans shift focus to economic John McCain and Mitt Romney sparred over tax and immigration as economic issues returned to the top of the Republican agenda after the heavy focus on religion and social issues in Iowa

Third-party bid chances recede The growing popularity of Illinois Democrat Barack Obama helped quieten talk of a third-party presidential bid yesterday at a bipartisan forum that had been seen as...

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

Early Bird GovExec Swamp Gas The Swamp

The Democrats and the Surge - Fred Barnes, Weekly Standard

H17 Daily Telegraph US warship 'moments' from firing on Iranians

The White House told Iran last night that it risked provoking "a dangerous incident" after a weekend skirmish brought the two nations to the brink of conflict.

Diana 'feared she was being bugged' Surveillance expert found what may have been a bug in the apartments of Diana, Princess of Wales at Kensington Palace, the inquest into her death heard.

H18 Independent Revealed: a new bank rip-off Some of Britain's biggest banks have failed to pass on last month's base rate cut to mortgage holders, yet imposed even bigger cuts on savings interest.

US almost opened fire on Iranian boats, Pentagon says American warships were on the verge of opening fire on Iranian gunboats after they had threatened to blow them up.

Bagram detention centre now twice the size of Guantanamo

Mary Dejevsky: Is it worse to be a woman than a black man?

Saakashvili wins Georgia election

The Bhutto file: Will we ever know the truth?

H19Military Intelligence Terrorism

From the Archive Israeli Experience in Deterring

Terrorist Organizations

"Department of Defense Operations at U.S. Embassies" (pdf), DoD Directive 5105.75, December 21, 2007.

ElBaradei: Risk of Terror Attacks on Nuclear Facilities Greater Than Actually Getting Nukes

CIA: Concealing Prisoner Abuse? - Nat Hentoff, Washington Times

"Spartans in Darkness: American SIGINT and the Indochina War, 1945-1975" by Robert J. Hanyok, Center for Cryptologic History, National Security Agency, 2002.

CRS "Suits Against Terrorist States By Victims of Terrorism," updated December 17, 2007.

Crime Rates Fall in the First Half of 2007
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation

H20 Slate Black Is Electable

Barack Obama's skin color is an enormous advantage in the 2008 race.
Anne Applebaum

McCain and Obama

How the front-runners are alike.
Jacob Weisberg

Identity Crisis

There's something pathetic and embarrassing about our obsession with Barack Obama's race.
Christopher Hitchens

The Lessons of Benazir Bhutto

Crafting a better Pakistan policy by studying her achievements.
Mahnaz Ispahani

National Defense Magazine: Climate Change Will Result in Societal Upheavals, Think Tanks Warn

World Oil Transit Chokepoints, 2007

H21 Locke and Mill both believed in being open to the other side’s ideas. They are still inspiring free debate, such as we expect to see on Bigthink... more»

As economists like to say, talk is cheap. So when it comes to a problem like losing weight, go ahead and put a price on it... more»

Intellectuals like Lewis Mumford and Edmund Wilson disdained academics and oriented themselves toward an educated public... more»

Our emotional malaise is not just an accidental byproduct of capitalism, but a direct result of the competition it fosters... more»

$2,500 car unveiling by Indian company...

“My mother loved science, and believed in it (as she believed in reason) with a fierce, unwavering tenacity.” David Rieff on Susan Sontag... more»

It's goodbye to the mouse

Bill Gates uses his swansong to spell out vision of a digital decade

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