052908f - 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 - Subscribe to FPR FPR Table - H4 NYT WP GU H7 ME Isr H10 CSM IHT Eur FSU Asia H13 Times WSJ FT LAT H16 USP DT Ind H19 Mil Int Ter Wonk H21 Misc

H1 Washington Post Bush 'Disappointed' by Ex-Aide's Harsh Memoir Highly critical of the administration, former press secretary's new book stuns former colleagues, who accuse him of disloyalty and a lack of credibility

Leading On Climate Change How Action in Congress Can Move the World By Tony Blair How action in Congress can move the world

Search Is Urged for Syrian Nuclear Sites U.S. Presses U.N. on 3 Alleged Facilities

Why You're Scared Fareed Zakaria | Our deeply flawed numbers on the rise of terror.

“Dana Milbank sketches Steve Hadley, the man who leaves no fingerprints.”

The IAEA Report: Implementation of the Safeguards Agreement and Security Council Resolutions in Iran (pdf) (IAEA)

Rand Doctrine of Eternal Recurrence — The U.S. Military and Counterinsurgency Doctrine, 1960-1970 and 2003-2006 Summary (PDF; 113 KB) + Full Document (PDF; 369 KB)

Financial Times America needs the United Nations Talk of a league of democracies, among Democrats and Republicans, shows nostalgia for the kind of diplomacy that ushered in two world wars. The next US administration should stick to reforming the UN – and face up to a multipolar world, says Mark Mazower

China moves beyond low cost production A fresh accent on technology and design is helping the world’s workshop to enter higher-value markets

Larijani elected as Iranian speaker The country’s former top nuclear official is in a position that offers a platform to curb the government of Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad in domestic politics and international diplomacy

Barak calls on Olmert to step down Israeli prime minister’s career is hanging by a thread after his most important coalition ally urged him to make way for a new leader because of a corruption inquiry

Los Angeles Times Who gets the Golan? By Yossi Klein Halevi Israel has no reason to trust Syria in talks over that strategic area. The Israeli mainstream, so the truism here goes, is so desperate for peace that, in the end, it will overcome misgivings over relinquishing territory and mistrust of Arab intentions and endorse any diplomatic initiative aimed at solving the Middle East conflict.

SYRIA: Israeli hopes for a Tehran-Damascus rift collapse

Ahmadinejad rival Ali Larijani wins key Iran post

The well-connected former chief nuclear negotiator is elected speaker of parliament

Juan Cole Sadr demands Referendum on SOFA; Sistani said to Support Referendum

NYT Rival to Iran’s President Is Elected Speaker

Israeli Defense Chief Asks Olmert to Quit

Guardian From high life to low ebb Leader: Barely a year passes without a senior minister begging Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, to go

Can we have world-class universities as well as social justice in education? Timothy Garton Ash: Europe resists US-style college fees but, as Oxford fundraisers know, we need to find that kind of money to compete

My questions for Obama

Fidel Castro: The brightest and best of the presidential hopefuls seeks to extend a cruel, immoral Cuba blockade

Medvedev Reaches Out to China By: M.K. Bhadrakumar | Asia Times Beyond the flowery language employed during Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to China -- his first trip abroad since taking office -- there is a disquieting undertone to the emerging "strategic partnership".

Foreign Policy Seven Questions: How Countries Get Rich

An Oil Saviour? The Economist
If history had been kinder, Iraq could now be producing at a comparable level to Saudi Arabia. Instead, three wars, 13 years of sanctions and five years of internal conflict have eroded Iraq's oil infrastructure and human capital.

Secterianism Is Destroying the Islamic Nation By: Aaidh al-Qarni | Asharq Alawsat Internecine conflicts and sectarian fighting have paralyzed Muslims, broken their ranks, and caused their enemies to gloat over their misfortune. This is because each sect claims that it is the only sect that is right and everyone else is wrong

Middle East: Michael Broning, director of the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation in Amman, warns that talk of a Sunni-Shiite divide in the Middle East could develop into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Asia Times Bush's Iraq wrangles alarm lawmakers Legislators in both Baghdad and Washington are concerned over talks between Iraq and the United States over a deal to determine the relationship between the countries. Iraqis feel they are being rail-roaded, while US Democrats fear President George W Bush's attempts to set the Iraq framework will tie the hands of the next president - whom Democrats strongly hope will come from their ranks

US-made oil disaster has mileage Numerous factors, from speculation to poor infrastructure, are at play in the recent strong gains in the price of oil. Yet behind many is the hand and policies of the United States. A change in Washington's behavior would resolve more than just the price issue. - Hossein Askari and Noureddine Krichene

Anti-U.S. Sadr Calls for Protests By: Qassim Abdul-Zahra | Associated Press Militant Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr called Tuesday for followers to hold weekly protests against a U.S.-Iraqi security deal under negotiation that could lead to a long-term American troop presence

Why Doesn't al-Qaeda Attack
the US? by Michael Scheuer

Daily Telegraph Nazir-Ali: Islam fills UK's 'moral vacuum' Decline of Christian values is destroying Britishness and creating a "moral vacuum" which radical Islam is filling, bishop warns.

Washington's Spinning Permanent Campaign

Christian Science Monitor When talking with terrorists makes sense Used wisely, talks provide leverage, not appeasement. By Paul Staniland

A reporter returns to Iraq – and finds guarded optimism The evidence is seen in late-afternoon strolls in the park, meetings with long-missed friends, relief over an improved economy.

U.S. rebuilds French connection The Pentagon hopes better ties will strengthen NATO and boost the mission in Afghanistan

$4 gas – it's our fault The 1970s energy crisis shocked us into action. Then we resumed bad habits.

Slate Worse Than Bush

When it comes to foreign policy, McCain is more of a neocon than the president.
Fred Kaplan

Flack Attack Scott McClellan burns the Bush administration? John Dickerson

Talking to Hamas

The group's exiled leader on Syria, Palestinian politics, and Vanity Fair.
Deborah Amos

Will the International Community Abandon Lebanon?

That's for the Lebanese people to decide.
Shmuel Rosner

The Times Take a lead: keep petrol expensive One of Gordon Brown's greatest mistakes was abandoning the fuel-tax escalator. Now is the time to admit it Anatole Kaletsky

Barak tells Olmert: stand down or face election Israel's Defence Minister has demanded that the scandal-hit Prime Minister step aside from office to clear his name

The end for Olmert the Houdini?

There is far more at stake in Israel's latest political crisis than the already tarnished reputation of Ehud Olmert Richard Beeston

Tensions for Nato over Georgia and Ukraine Moscow warns the Western alliance that extending membership to the former Soviet republics is a 'red line issue'

Iran rival shakes Western hopes

Iran's new Speaker, seen as a challenger to President Ahmadinejad, disappoints diplomats with confrontational address

Country Analysis Brief: Russia
Source: Energy Information Administration

Microfinance meets the market
Source: World Bank Policy Research Working Papers Full Report (PDF; 165 KB)

H2 SOLİ ÖZEL Ortadoğu ve Türkiye (1)

Özdem Sanberk ABD’de yeni yönetim ve dış politika

Guardian Secular Turks attack religious council's code for women

Bedeli Türkiye mi ödeyecek ...

US asks Turkey to join intelligence-sharing network

Teröre Karşı Güçlü Ortaklık

Babacan: Muslim majority faces religious freedom problems

‘Türkiye’de Müslümanların da din özgürlüğü kısıtlanıyor’

Turkey seeks to become energy transit hub United Press International

Turkey, Russia deal on broader economic cooperation

AI: Fair trial concerns persist in Turkey

Turkey Beefs Up Investment in Kurdish Regions Spiegel Online

İç Basında Türk Dış Politikası Dış Basında Türkiye - BBC Turkish 0700 VOA TSİ 06:30 Turkish Press Review Google News Turkey TurcoPundit

Google News Fırat News Agency KurdishMedia Kurdish Kurdish Aspect Dış Basında Irak BBC Monitoring Inter-national

Güngör Uras GAP’a hareket getirmek G.Doğu’ya bereket getirir

Kardeşlik Projesi HASAN CELAL GÜZEL

Turkey raises profile in long-neglected Mideast

Reports: Turkish soldiers, Kurds clash; 2 dead

Planda eksiklik: Yetişkinler eğitimi
TARHAN ERDEM

Cevdet Aşkın Büyükanıt'ın tashihi, PKK'nın zamana karşı yarışı

Davetin de bir adabı vardır

YASİN DOĞAN

Kerim Balcı A Kurdish-language television station at last

Kürtçe yayına vize bugün

Suriye-İsrail 2'nci randevu 5 Haziran'da

Ardan Zentürk Erdoğan-Olmert: Yıkmaya çalışan kim?

Suriye stratejik bir yanlışın eşiğinde

‘Kürt sorununa çözüm istiyoruz’ mitingi

Arslan Bulut Erdoğan'ın projesi Bölgeler Türkiyesi!

2 PKK’lı öldürüldü

Fresh Iranin Shelling Targets Kurdistan Region Border Areas

Google News Greece Cyprus Turkish Cypriot Press ABHaber Dış Basında Türkiye-AB İlişkileri Günlük Haftalık

AB netlik ayarı yapıyor

Semih İdiz Miliband’a kızmadan kulak verelim

Şahin Alpay Atina'dan bakınca Kıbrıs

Sami Kohen Kıbrıs’ta bir mucize olur mu?

Rauf Denktaş Minareler göründü mü?

Türkiye'den göçen Ermeni aile ABD'de ölü bulundu

KKTC slams France over military drills with Greek Cyprus

France offers Turkey assurances on EU talks

Rehn’e laiklik sorgusu

Lagendijk'tan Hürriyet'e bir ağır eleştiri daha

France's Club Med Plan Riddled With Problems Deutsche Welle,

Komutan geldi, tacize mola

Avrupalılar, CHP'nin reform tavrına bakacak

Baklayı ağzından çıkardı

Patrikhane'de dostluk mesajı

AKİF EMRE

Hedo Okur Tuncay Nihat Altintop

Euro 2008 team preview No3: Turkey Turkey are one of the tournament's most unbalanced teams. That's not a reference to the last time they took on Switzerland, rather to the fact that they boast a plethora of flair midfielders yet are frequently undone by an inability to perform basic chores up front and, in particular, at the back.

Fehmi Koru As I stand applauding

Türkiye’ye dönen özel harekâtçı tutuklandı

Ankaralılara 21 gündür haberleri olmadan Kızılırmak suyu içirdim

Gökçek'in su sırrı

Kontenjan artışlarına rektörler tepki gösterdi

‘Bana bir masal anlat, baba’ ya da Şevket Altuğ’u özlemek PERİHAN MAĞDEN

Serdar Turgut
Bazı yazarların işi zor

Karadayı ve Erdil Paşa da Yassıada'da görev yapmış

29 Mayıs 2008 Basın Özeti

H3 Murat Yetkin Özel Birim mi?

Bu soruların yanıtı evet ise durum gerçekten çok vahim

Benim güvencem kim kardeşim

Dinleme kaseti Vakit'te mi?

Vakit'in haberindeki ilginç ifade

Ekim’de ara seçim olabilir

Devlet suçüstü yakalandı

Suçlamayı kabul etmiyoruz

Böceğe takılan diyaloglar!

İlginç iddia: Dinleme yok, açık bırakılan telefon var

Ortaya delil koymadan devleti suçlamak etik değil

Gayrimüslimler kadar Müslümanlar da sıkıntılı

CHP’s bugging allegation stirs tension

Türkiye, bu dinlemeleri çözemedi

Danıştay bağlantısı Ergenekon fotosunda

Baykal: CHP’yi hükümet dinletiyor

Vahim iddia: Devlet dinledi ve servis yaptı

Amerika’da iktidar dinledi, devrildi

Telekulak iddiası için savcılık harekete geçti

Saldırıdan sağ kurtuldu Danıstay’a başkan oldu

Öz'ü soruşturmaya yine izin çıkmadı

Mahkeme, iki şahide değil CHP'li vekilin iddiasına inandı

Erdoğan bilmeden olur mu

Fırat’tan tuhaf çıkış

Türkiye’de milliyetçilik ve şiddet arttı

Gözleri var görmezler!

Milyon dolarlık iddia

Şok iddia: Balkaner, Veli Küçük'e 2.5 milyon dolar aktardı

AKP’li Fırat: İddialar paranoya, Baykal’la yargıda hesaplaşacağız

İlk mesajı hoşgörü oldu

Dinlemeyi emniyet güçleri yaptı

Müdahaleler milliyetçiliği artırdı...

MHP de kuşkulu

Eski MİT'çinin 'dinleme' yorumu

Babacan'dan dinsel özgürlük yakınması

Ergenekon'u Emniyet'e sordu

Tutuklu sayısı 48'e yükseldi

’Eşimin cam önüne oturmasını istemem’

"Ortam dinlemesi" mi?..

Günlük gazete başlıkları

Son Dakika Milliyet Hürriyet Zaman

Cengiz Çandar Brüksel'deki Türkiye

Ahmet Taşgetiren GAP’ın en yeni anlamı

Ruşen - Çakır

Taha Akyol Gizli kulak skandalı

Fikret Bila Baykal’ın haklı tepkisi

Hasan Cemal Erdoğan ve Güneydoğu’da inandırıcılık sorunu...

Aslı Aydıntaşbaş Herkes zaten dinleniyor

Fehmi Koru Şerlerin anası As I stand applauding

Taha Kıvanç

Şamil Tayyar

Ali Bayramoğlu

Yasemin Çongar

Hüseyin Gülerce Gülen medyası da ne demek?

Ertuğrul Özkök Telekulak olup dinledim

Mustafa Karaalioğlu Dinleme ve fırsat

Ahmet Hakan Abdestli, namazlı bir istihbarat örgütü

M Ali Birand PKK, kara kara düşünmeye başladı

Cüneyt Ülsever Şerif Mardin ve Türkiye’de felsefenin sefaleti (III)

Öğretmen, imam ve Şerif Mardin
NURAY MERT

Şerif Hoca 'mahalle'yi üzdü

Emre Kongar Şerif Mardin Ne Dedi?

Ekrem Dumanlı Ne imamı tanıyorlar ne öğretmeni

Mümtazer Türköne Yargıca güvenmek

Serdar Turgut Yandaş medya

İsmail Küçükkaya
Erdoğan’ın sisteme vermek istediği mesaj

Enis Berberoğlu

Güneri Civaoğlu Büyük birader kulağı

Can surgeon Tayyip Erdoğan cure the disease?
Burak BEKDİL

Yargıyı hiç mi tartışmayalım?

Can Dündar Öndergate

Oktay EkşiSonunu düşünmeyince

Bekir Coşkun Muhtıra...

Özdemir İnce

Mehmet Altan Ben de dinlemedeyim...

Yılmaz Özdil Kulakları var duyarlar...

Mehmet Y Yılmaz Başbakan buna seyirci kalamaz

Ömer Lütfi Mete 29 Mayıs ağlama günümüz

TAMER KORKMAZ

Bilal Çetin Dinleme skandalları ve siyasi sorumluluk...

Melih Aşık Darbe süreci...

[Bir darbe modeli olarak 27 Mayıs ] Kızılelma Koalisyonu'nun ilk denemesi

[Yorum - Eser Karakaş] Hukuk ve ekonomi

[27 MAYIS] Türkiye'nin kabuğunu kırdığı yıllar

Güler Kömürcü Kimse kaldı mı?!

Oray Eğin
Ertuğrul Özkök neden sürekli yurtdışında?

MUHARREM SARIKAYA

ERDAL ŞAFAKERDAL ŞAFAK
555

ENGİN ARDIÇBaşbakanı kim öptü?

ERGUN BABAHANHukuk sorgusu

EMRE AKÖZKemalizm ile hayat geçer mi?

Umur TaluFazla yer yok...

HASAN BÜLENT KAHRAMAN

Mustafa Erdoğan Yenilen sadece Cumhuriyet değil

NAZLI ILICAKİçki ve laiklik

MEHMET BARLASMedya-siyaset ilişkilerindeki hastalık tedavi edilmelidir

Sabahattin Kibaroğlu Bürokratından Başbakan'a İhlas Finans'taki hortumlamaya göz yumdu iddiası!

YAVUZ DONATHaydi "bölgeye!.."

Şükrü Küçükşahin Çankaya, Çankaya kalacak mı?

'AK Parti ile siyaset güvenilir kurum oldu'

yalçın: Sav'ın dine hakaret etmesine üzüldüm özür dilemeli

Demirel'e postal fırlattılar

Eski savcı tedavülden kalkmış

ABDURRAHMAN YILDIRIM

Sorunun çözümü kartın cazibesini azaltmak mı?

Hurşit Güneş 30 yıl sonra dünyayı başkaları mı yönetecek?

Ercan KumcuKamu finansman dengesinde görünüm

Erdal SağlamPopülizmin bir adı da elektrik

Kredi kartı çıkmazı (2) KORKMAZ İLKORUR

Daha fazla özveri mi? FATİH ÖZATAY

Deniz Gökçe
Dünyada figüransak, kredi kartına müdahale edin!

H4 New York Times Editorial I Knew It All Along For all of its self serving, Scott McClellan’s book serves one good purpose: It is a reminder that we still don’t know how far President Bush waded in a “culture of deception.”

New York to Back Same-Sex Unions From Elsewhere

Obama Weighs a Visit to the Troops in Iraq

H5 Washington Post Bush 'Disappointed' by Ex-Aide's Harsh Memoir Highly critical of the administration, former press secretary's new book stuns former colleagues, who accuse him of disloyalty and a lack of credibility

Leading On Climate Change How Action in Congress Can Move the World By Tony Blair How action in Congress can move the world

Search Is Urged for Syrian Nuclear Sites U.S. Presses U.N. on 3 Alleged Facilities

Why You're Scared Fareed Zakaria | Our deeply flawed numbers on the rise of terror.

The Man Who Wasn't There, Still Here By Dana Milbank "Anybody seen Steve Hadley? Anybody seen Steve Hadley?"

Obama's Cautious Policy Stand The Democrat offers a "new kind of politics," but his proposals differ little from the party line.

Bush's Self-Doubt, Cheney's 'Magic'? Precinct | Will McClellan's book cement feelings against Bush? The List: Top 10 Tell-Alls

U.S. Experts Bemoan Nation's Loss of Stature in the World of Science

Ex-Colleagues Ask, 'What Happened?' Former Bush Aide Stuns Many With Critical New Book

Citing Its Resources, Iraq Appeals for Development Partners

Israel's Olmert Pressured to Step Down Head of Allied Party Says Corruption Scandal Has Hampered Premier's Ability to Lead

A Past at Rest in Rwanda By David Ignatius It's not that Rwandans have forgotten, but that they seem to have willed themselves to live in the present.

111 Nations, Minus the U.S., Agree to Cluster-Bomb Ban

In Rebuking Minister, McCain May Have Alienated Evangelicals

Clinton Crosses a Line By Robert D. Novak,

Loyal Democrats talk about Clinton in the same terms that Republicans have used for 16 years.

Citizens' Groups Step Up In China Wary Rulers Allow Role in Quake Aid

McCain's Question Time By George F. Will,

Proposed public question sessions would further diminish Congress's dignity.

Editorial GI Twist Striking a pose, Barack Obama says posturing on veterans' benefits is out of bounds.

Hamilton Jordan's Message to Obama By David S. Broder Obama's biggest challenge as president could lie in trying to govern against the grain of his own party

H6 Guardian From high life to low ebb Leader: Barely a year passes without a senior minister begging Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, to go

Can we have world-class universities as well as social justice in education? Timothy Garton Ash: Europe resists US-style college fees but, as Oxford fundraisers know, we need to find that kind of money to compete

My questions for Obama

Fidel Castro: The brightest and best of the presidential hopefuls seeks to extend a cruel, immoral Cuba blockade

Bush aide attacks Iraq 'propaganda'

Former senior aide accuses president of deliberately manipulating public opinion over war

Former Lebanon PM regains his post Fouad Siniora to head national unity government under a deal to end 18 months of political conflict

Cardinal urges Muslim leaders to oppose violent jihad Muslim leaders must be more outspoken about violence in the name of religion, says Pope's principal adviser

Saudi oil may be past its peak already Letters: George Monbiot cements a misunderstanding that has plagued environmentalism for three decades

Bolton dodges 'war crimes' arrest bid George Monbiot fails in bid to make citizen's arrest of ex-Bush official, John Bolton, at the Hay festival

The case for Webb Michael Tomasky US elections 2008: Why the most debated of Obama's possible vice-presidential choices is still the best person for the job

Prophecy of retribution

David Goldberg: The 1907 writings of one traveller to Palestine vividly describe the roots of the region's enmity

Hospital surgery death rates to be made public Government believes that publication of the figures will drive up standards and improve patient choice

US cluster bombs to be banned in UK Government will ask the US to get rid of its cluster bombs based in Britain as Brown moves for ban

Q&A: Cluster bombs

Ramadan's festival Sarfraz Manzoor: Hay festival 2008: Tariq Ramadan returns to the fundamentals of faith, but brings back an enlightened, progressive Islam

Arctic deal denounced as 'carve-up'

Environmentalists criticise territorial deal signed by five nations seeking control of the polar region

Climate change threat to US crops

America faces dramatic challenges in next 50 years from drought, wild fires and changing ecosystems

H7 Secterianism Is Destroying the Islamic Nation By: Aaidh al-Qarni | Asharq Alawsat Internecine conflicts and sectarian fighting have paralyzed Muslims, broken their ranks, and caused their enemies to gloat over their misfortune. This is because each sect claims that it is the only sect that is right and everyone else is wrong

Middle East: Michael Broning, director of the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation in Amman, warns that talk of a Sunni-Shiite divide in the Middle East could develop into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Talking to the Brotherhood By: Dominic Moran | ISN Security Watch
Muslim Brotherhood movements in Jordan and Israel face major challenges as they seek to negotiate their relations with state and society

Asia Times Bush's Iraq wrangles alarm lawmakers
Legislators in both Baghdad and Washington are concerned over talks between Iraq and the United States over a deal to determine the relationship between the countries. Iraqis feel they are being rail-roaded, while US Democrats fear President George W Bush's attempts to set the Iraq framework will tie the hands of the next president - whom Democrats strongly hope will come from their ranks

US-made oil disaster has mileage Numerous factors, from speculation to poor infrastructure, are at play in the recent strong gains in the price of oil. Yet behind many is the hand and policies of the United States. A change in Washington's behavior would resolve more than just the price issue. - Hossein Askari and Noureddine Krichene

Al Awsat Nasrallah Does Not Represent Lebanon : Tariq Alhomayed

An article on how to rule the world after Bush

What About the Bush Doctrine? By: Jeff Jacoby | The Boston Globe
Remember George W. Bush? He was the president who warned in 2002 that Iran and North Korea were part of an "axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world." On his watch, he vowed, the United States would "not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most destructive weapons."

McCain-Obama Foreign Policy Debate Ignores Reality in Iraq By: Charles Crain | World Politics Review The sniping between Barack Obama and the GOP over negotiating with rogue state leaders and other unsavory characters is even more removed from reality than the usual campaign rhetoric

Al Hayat Michel Sleiman and Tough Choices Elias Harfouch - Here we are, finally, witnessing the first day of President General Michel Sleiman's term in office. This "miracle" was unlikely had the Doha Accord not managed to hold back the two conflicting camps from slipping further toward full confrontation. This, however, was not free of charge.

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

Anti-U.S. Sadr Calls for Protests By: Qassim Abdul-Zahra | Associated Press
Militant Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr called Tuesday for followers to hold weekly protests against a U.S.-Iraqi security deal under negotiation that could lead to a long-term American troop presence

Rice to Push Sunni Arabs on Iraq Ties - David Gollust, VOA

Rice: The World Must Do More for Iraq - Associated Press

Iraqi Prime Minister to Seek Debt Relief - Associated Press

Sunnis Suspend Talks with Iraqi Government - Associated Press

Iraq / Pentagon Briefings

UN hosts key conference on Iraq Envoys from some 100 nations gather in Sweden for a UN conference reviewing reforms in Iraq.

Assad Dismisses Israeli Demand on Iran –

Improved Iraqi Forces Contribute to Four-Year Violence Low – AFPS

Bush Acknowledges 'Learning as We Go' - Michael Abramowitz, Washington Post

New challenge Parliament speaker could rival Iran's president at polls

Siniora reappointed as Lebanon PM Lebanon's parliament agrees to nominate incumbent Prime Minister Fouad Siniora to lead a new government.

Welcome home
Syria encourages the return of its large ex-pat community

Al-Iraqiyah TV Interviews Iraq's Zebari on Lebanese Accord

H9 Ha’aretz – Editorial After Olmert The orderly move would be a transfer of the premiership to Livni as Kadima prepares to elect a permanent leader

Olmert to Kadima: Give me time to prove my innocence

A lull of no return A cease-fire in Gaza is part of the system of divide and conquer that will enable Israeli control over the long term

Syria says Olmert's weakness may affect negotiations

Sources: Money laundering the key charge in Olmert case

ANALYSIS / Legal significance of options Barak offered Olmert

Report: U.S. urges UN search for Syrian nuclear sites According to Washington Post, U.S. pressing U.N. to broaden scope of searches in Syria

Poll: What political option is better for Israel?

Rosner's Guest / U.S. policy strengthening Iran, says head of dovish U.S. Israel lobby Jeremy Ben-Ami: Whenever Americans 'rattle sabers,' Ahmadinejad rallies more Iranians around the flag

Guest: If Iran can't be stopped diplomatically, we should contain it

Attack on Iran? Not today (WTR)

Barak draws harsh criticism for calling on Olmert to quit post

Palestinians pin hopes of economic recovery on high-tech companies

Bradley Burston: The talkbacker as terrorist

The story of Obama and the 'A' word

The Ultimatum / With elections just around the corner, Barak takes charge

Jerusalem PostOlmert responds to Barak: I have no intention of resigning

Analysis: Staving off political purgatory By DAVID HOROVITZ
PM vowed to resign if charged. But the message is also: He certainly won't resign otherwise

'Political crisis will harm peace talks' Abbas voices concerns; Likud forecasts "big challenges;" Cabel: Barak's words were significant.

Yedioth Ahronoth Israel: Iran Continuing Its Deception over Nuclear Program

Syria to Increase Military Cooperation with Iran -

Daily Alert.org – Hebrew Press Editorials (2008) - Middle East Progress - EJC Israeli Press Review – Google News Israel - Palestine

Study Finds Strong Jewish and Arab Consensus for Peaceful Coexistence in Israel - Todd L. Pittinsky, Jennifer J. Ratcliff, and Laura A. Maruskin (IMRA/Harvard Kennedy School)

If Olmert Is Toast, So Is Bush Bid to Broker Peace Deal

Trusting Syria on the Golan Heights - Yossi Klein Halevi

Dahlan: Iran, Qatar Supported Hamas During Gaza 'Coup' By: Khaled Abu Toameh | The Intelligence Summit Former Fatah security chief Muhammed Dahlan said Wednesday that he was not surprised by Hamas's "coup" in the Gaza Strip and that he had warned different parties about the Islamic movement's plans

The U.S.-Israel-Egypt Trilateral Relationship: Shoring Up the Foundation of Regional Peace - David Makovsky (Washington Institute for Near East Policy)

H10 Christian Science Monitor When talking with terrorists makes sense Used wisely, talks provide leverage, not appeasement. By Paul Staniland

A reporter returns to Iraq – and finds guarded optimism The evidence is seen in late-afternoon strolls in the park, meetings with long-missed friends, relief over an improved economy.

U.S. rebuilds French connection The Pentagon hopes better ties will strengthen NATO and boost the mission in Afghanistan

$4 gas – it's our fault The 1970s energy crisis shocked us into action. Then we resumed bad habits.

McCain's middle way on nuclear weapons He criticized both parties and wants new pacts with Russia and China.

Israeli Prime Minister Olmert faces increasingly precarious tenure Corruption allegations by a US businessman have prompted the defense minister to call for him to step down.

U.S. courts best venue to try terror cases, study says The analysis of 107 cases after 9/11 adds fuel to the debate over whether military tribunals are needed.

Serbian signs of the times are not in Cyrillic A symptom of Westernization: Serbs read and write as well with the Latin alphabet.

ASIA

Asia Times China's army looks beyond its shores
The United States, India and Japan have softened perceptions of their might by making humanitarian assistance abroad a central role for their military forces in the Asia-Pacific region. China's People's Liberation Army has been much more circumspect in this regard. But that could change as Beijing weighs up the positives of foreign intervention

News (Pakistan) Pakistan: An editorial marks the ten year anniversary of Pakistan's first successful nuclear test.

Pakistan: Defense Analyst Shireen Mazari asks whether Pakistan has wasted its nuclear achievement, while writer M B Naqvi examines the costs, political and otherwise, of Pakistan's decision to go nuclear.

H11 IHT Roger Cohen: The year that changed the world By ROGER COHEN There are many strands to the annus mirabilis of 1968 - the Prague Spring, the Paris barricades, Flower Power - but all involved an uprising against a stifling post-war order

Spain to block Basque referendum on "right to decide" The Spanish government said Wednesday that it would block a plan by authorities in the Basque Country for a referendum-style vote on ties with the rest of Spain and ending a decades-long conflict with ETA rebels.

Brown warns of oil shock as protests grow in Europe As protests against the soaring cost of fuel threatened to widen in Europe, Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain warned on Wednesday that the world confronted a global shock caused by skyrocketing oil prices

Truth or consequences

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN What would a mythical, truth-telling presidential candidate say about the best energy policy for America?

The rich get hungrier

By AMARTYA SEN The global food problem is not being caused by a falling trend in world production, it is the result of accelerating demand

EUROPE European press review

Poland Stalls Bush's 'Lame Duck' Deal on Missile Shield By: Ian Traynor | The Guardian President George Bush's hopes of sealing agreement to site parts of the Pentagon's missile shield in central Europe before he leaves office are fading fast, according to senior Polish officials who despair of reaching to reach a deal with the United States before the end of the year.

Germany and Poland Find That Trying to Get Along Has Its Benefits By: Nicholas Kulish | The New York Times
It’s springtime in Europe and something like love is in the air again for an unlikely pair. Germany and Poland have finally patched things up again

For French smokers, plus ça change By Stephen Clarke France's recent ban on lighting up in cafes has backfired so badly that the law may not survive.

Food crisis reaches Europe (UPI) -- The global food crisis has reached Europe: While EU countries aim to help stabilize food prices and increase aid to developing countries, dairy farmers in Germany and in several other European countries announced strikes that may render shelves empty.

Fuel price surge
European readers' reaction to oil prices and blockades

Mardell's Europe
Would an Irish 'No' to the Lisbon Treaty be a 'catastrophe'?

The Serbian Socialists' Dilemma By: Anes Alic | ISN Security Watch
As Serbia stands poised at crucial fork in the road, the Socialists, risen from the dead, must choose between progress and popularity.

H12 RFE/RL

Google News Azerbaijan

Georgian Interior Minister: Russia Pushing Abkhazia By: Olga Allenova | Kommersant
Georgia demanded an apology from Russia yesterday and compensation for damages from the Georgian unpiloted aircraft shot down over Abkhazia on April 20. Georgian called that an act of aggression

Russian think-tank rattles US
Even before opening its doors, the first Russian think-tank based in the United States has sparked controversy. While the Russian Institute for Democracy and Cooperation says it wants to study US democracy, critics see it as a new propaganda tool for the Kremlin as it sharpens its attacks on the West

H13 The Times Take a lead: keep petrol expensive One of Gordon Brown's greatest mistakes was abandoning the fuel-tax escalator. Now is the time to admit it Anatole Kaletsky

Barak tells Olmert: stand down or face election Israel's Defence Minister has demanded that the scandal-hit Prime Minister step aside from office to clear his name

The end for Olmert the Houdini?

There is far more at stake in Israel's latest political crisis than the already tarnished reputation of Ehud Olmert Richard Beeston

Tensions for Nato over Georgia and Ukraine Moscow warns the Western alliance that extending membership to the former Soviet republics is a 'red line issue'

Iran rival shakes Western hopes

Iran's new Speaker, seen as a challenger to President Ahmadinejad, disappoints diplomats with confrontational address

China asks Japanese military for quake help Extraordinary request to detested enemy will produce symbolism that few could have imagined possible two weeks ago

China and Japan: earthquake diplomacy China's invitation to Japanese troops will change relations in Asia

Let's join the new democracy gang The UN is a hindrance in tackling rogue states. We should try America's latest big idea

Rosemary Righter

Why is science going backwards?

We all thought we'd be living on Mars by now not just landing a space craft on the surface

Joe Joseph

Cluster bombs: don't ban them

Cluster munitions are useful if used carefully. A ban would bring international problems

Oliver Kamm

Former aide accuses Bush of deceit over Iraq White House denounces book by former press secretary that describes Iraq invasion as a 'strategic blunder'

Wall Street Journal Oil Exporters Unable to Match Demand Petroleum shipments by the world's top oil exporters decreased last year, despite a 57% increase in prices, a shift that defies traditional market logic and looks set to continue

Blame Congress for High Oil Prices
By Mackubin Thomas Owens
Our solons have needlessly restricted the supply of energy

Obama's Revisionist History
By Karl RoveFrom his lapel pin to his preacher, the story just keeps changing.

Can Charity Change China?
By Leslie Hook The earthquake unleashed forces beyond party control.

Why Hillary Goes Nuclear By Daniel Henninger Wonder Land: With a platform so similar to Obama's, her only remaining play is to go personal.

Bitter Aftertaste
By James Taranto
Jimmy Carter reminds us that when we elect a president, we may be getting more then we bargained for.

H14 Financial Times America needs the United Nations Talk of a league of democracies, among Democrats and Republicans, shows nostalgia for the kind of diplomacy that ushered in two world wars. The next US administration should stick to reforming the UN – and face up to a multipolar world, says Mark Mazower

China moves beyond low cost production A fresh accent on technology and design is helping the world’s workshop to enter higher-value markets

Larijani elected as Iranian speaker

The country’s former top nuclear official is in a position that offers a platform to curb the government of Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad in domestic politics and international diplomacy

Barak calls on Olmert to step down

Israeli prime minister’s career is hanging by a thread after his most important coalition ally urged him to make way for a new leader because of a corruption inquiry

Security chief decries ‘war on terror’

The west needs a more comprehensive strategy to counter al-Qaeda propaganda and the US should stop using the term “war on terror”, according to a top intelligence official

Bush supporters denounce McClellan memoirs Administration members criticise the former press secretary, whose book depicts the president as a self-deceiving incompetent who lacks the courage to admit mistakes

MORE COMMENT ONLINE: How much oil?

Sarkozy calls for EU immigrant crackdown Prime minister’s plans for France’s EU presidency could see asylum-seekers forced to apply for refugee status in advance and more effective deportation measures

Eurozone inflation rebounds to record levels Eurozone inflation has surged back to the record levels seen earlier this year, German data suggests, as soaring oil prices all but ruled out any early cut in interest rates

MIDDLE EAST FOCUS: Iran exchange fails to reap benefits

Investors increase bets on US rate rise Investors increased their bets that rising oil prices would force the Federal Reserve to raise US interest rates this year, pushing the yield on the 10-year Treasury bond above 4 per cent for the first time since January

Trust the development experts – all 7bn Freedom, not growth, is key, says William Easterly

Belgrade’s pro-EU faction pushed out of power Nationalist parties opposed to the European Union’s West Balkan integration plans agreed to form a city administration for the Serbian capital

More than ‘leaning against the wind’

Central bankers have reason to be self-critical – where monetary policy is not enough to curb asset price inflation, we need to do something instead when seeing imbalances building up, writes Lars Heikensten

WORLD NEWS: Opec exit makes up in symbolism what it lacks in impact

WORLD NEWS: Jakarta quits oil cartel in shift to imports

The price of a loan from the Fed

Wall Street will have to accept new limits from the central bank. Where there can be an argument is on the nature of the rules

On the march Solidarity has its limits. American and British trade unions are seeking salvation in size, but the idea of a truly global union remains fanciful

Ban on cluster bombs agreed More than 100 governments agreed a draft treaty to ban the use of cluster munitions in the face of strong warnings from the US to its allies not to do so

Ban the bomblets Cluster munitions should soon be regarded, as chemical and biological weapons are now, as unusable by civilised nations even amid the inhumanity of war

H15 Los Angeles Times Who gets the Golan? By Yossi Klein Halevi

Israel has no reason to trust Syria in talks over that strategic area. The Israeli mainstream, so the truism here goes, is so desperate for peace that, in the end, it will overcome misgivings over relinquishing territory and mistrust of Arab intentions and endorse any diplomatic initiative aimed at solving the Middle East conflict.

SYRIA: Israeli hopes for a Tehran-Damascus rift collapse

Ahmadinejad rival Ali Larijani wins key Iran post

The well-connected former chief nuclear negotiator is elected speaker of parliament

Editorial

China aims to show it can juggle

Officials say the recent quake has offered a rare opportunity for the Olympic host to practice its crisis management skills

McCain to Obama: Go see Iraq

The Republican says the Democrat is ignorant of the "facts on the ground" there.

Italian tells of spying on spies

A top cop in Italy recounts how he blew the lid off one of the Bush administration's most controversial counter-terror tactics.

China president, Taiwan official meet in Beijing

The first meeting between the heads of the two ruling parties in six decades is another sign of warming relations between the two governments

Israel's defense minister says Olmert must step down

As bribery allegations swirl around the prime minister, questions about his future abound

H16 American Politics

Will the youth vote win it for Obama this fall?

realclearpolitics memeorandum ABC’s The Note – US News Political Bulletin Early Bird GovExec Swamp Gas The Swamp

Lydia Saad / Gallup: Hillary Clinton's Swing-State Advantage

Gallup Daily: McCain 46%, Obama 45%

Wall Street Journal:

Scott McClellan's Confession

MSNBC: White House Officals Are ‘Flat Out Angry,’ Calling McClellan ‘Traitor,’ ‘Benedict’

Obama Says He Is Considering Iraq Trip

Bob Barr is new piece in electoral puzzle The Libertarian nominee could spell trouble for McCain if Ron Paul backers defect from the GOP.

Clinton's Letter to Superdelegates —

A review of The Age of Reagan: A History, 1974-2008 by Sean Wilentz (and more).

A review of White House Ghosts: Presidents and Their Speechwriters by Robert Schlesinger.

A review of Counselor: A Life at the Edge of History by Ted Sorensen (and more, and an interview).

Kemp was right: McCain would be too dangerous as president

Rendell: ‘Very unlikely’ Clinton will win — (CNN) - Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell - who has been one of New York Sen. Hillary Clinton's biggest backers - said Wednesday that she would make a “far better candidate” than frontrunner Barack Obama in major swing states, but is “very unlikely” she will be the Democratic nominee this fall.

National Review: Is Obama Willing To Meet Ahmadinejad, But Not Petraeus?

H17 Daily Telegraph Nazir-Ali: Islam fills UK's 'moral vacuum' Decline of Christian values is destroying Britishness and creating a "moral vacuum" which radical Islam is filling, bishop warns.

H18 Independent Nuclear power expansion needed to cut reliance on oil, says Brown Gordon Brown has signalled a "more ambitious" expansion of Britain's atomic energy programme beyond replacing the nation's ageing nuclear power stations as he warned the world faced a long-term problem of high oil prices.

Falling out with the President: the devious world of George Bush

As presidential spokesman until 2006, Scott McClellan had the task of defending some of the administration's most unpopular decisions. But his new book reveals what he really thought of his master

Hamish McRae: Crude prices may have peaked but developing countries hold the key

Olmert urged to stand down over corruption claims The Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's most powerful coalition partner has called on him to step aside in the face of widespread anger at allegations that he had repeatedly received envelopes stuffed with cash from a US businessman.

H19 Military Intelligence Terrorism

Rand Doctrine of Eternal Recurrence — The U.S. Military and Counterinsurgency Doctrine, 1960-1970 and 2003-2006 Summary (PDF; 113 KB) + Full Document (PDF; 369 KB)

The Only Thing We Have to Fear ... By: Fareed Zakaria | Newsweek Finally we have a well-researched, independent analysis of the data relating to terrorism, released last week by Canada's Simon Fraser University. Its findings will surprise you.

The Beginning of the End for Al Qaeda?

FM 3-0: Operations on the Cusp of Postpositivism
by Christopher R. Paparone, Small Wars Journal Download interim version of article as PDF

Deal reached to ban cluster bombs More than 100 countries, meeting at a conference in Ireland, agree on a treaty to ban the use of cluster bombs.

The Ancient History of
Military Reform by William S. Lind

More and more and more on Philip Bobbitt's Terror and Consent.

The Revolt Against al-Qaeda - Richard Fernandez, The Belmont Club

Informal Networks and Insurgency - Tim Stevens, Ubiwar

Al Qaeda's Civil War? - Noah Shachtman, Danger Room

Our American Mind for War - Thomas Bruscino, Claremont Institute book review
US COIN and Institutional Learning - Tim Stevens, Ubiwar

H20 Slate Worse Than Bush

When it comes to foreign policy, McCain is more of a neocon than the president.
Fred Kaplan

Flack Attack Scott McClellan burns the Bush administration? John Dickerson

Talking to Hamas

The group's exiled leader on Syria, Palestinian politics, and Vanity Fair.
Deborah Amos

Will the International Community Abandon Lebanon?

That's for the Lebanese people to decide.
Shmuel Rosner

Where Farm Policy Meets the Food Crisis - Council on Foreign Relations

Pop Finance

Eagerly Awaiting a Warmer Arctic By: Gwynne Dyer | The Japan Times
As the Arctic ice melts, it opens up the possibility of drilling for gas and oil. But whose gas and oil will it be?

The Race for the Arctic Seabed Arrives in Greenland Der Spiegel
A number of countries want the oil that might lie beneath the floor of the Arctic Ocean. Five of them are meeting this week to establish some ground rules for the land grab

Counterterrorism, Conflict Prevention, or Hunger: Which Would You Spend Money On? By: Ronald Bailey | Reason
The Copenhagen Consensus 2008 Conference, in which leading economic experts aim to prioritize the world's biggest problems, has begun. The idea is that there is an "extra" $75 billion to spend over the next five years on pressing global challenges, and the Copenhagen Consensus will identify where we can get the biggest bang for our aid bucks.

Why Do Economists Make Such Dismal Arguments About Trade? By: Robert Driskill | Foreign Policy My fellow economists are manning the barricades to defend free trade from a growing public backlash. But with globalization increasingly seen as a threat, our arguments are falling on deaf ears. Maybe it’s time to stop claiming we know what is best for everyone?

How to feed the world Tim Leunig

If the price of feeding the starving is vegetarianism, battery chickens or nuclear power, then surely it is worth paying

Emissions Trading: The Evolution of an Economic Idea from Concept to Global Implementation

H21 Peter Singer on how religious people are still unable to provide a satisfying answer to the age-old question of why God allows suffering.

An article on the digital future of books.

From THES, a review of I Wish I'd Been There: Twenty Historians Bring to Life Dramatic Events that Changed the World by Byron Hollinshead and Theodore K. Rabb

Monkeys Control a Robot Arm With Their Thoughts

A small bite for a monkey... a giant leap for mankind Two monkeys have been trained to eat morsels of food using a robotic arm controlled by thoughts that are relayed through a set of electrodes connecting the animal's brain to a computer, scientists announced.

Home-grown footballer plan backed The European Commission would not object to the Uefa’s new rules encouraging the inclusion of locally trained players in dominant clubs, says sport commissioner

Oxford shakes up British higher education with fundraising drive It launched the $2.5 billion billion campaign Wednesday to help the school better compete with Ivy Leagues and other world-class

The Most Famous Journalist in the World By: Sabin Willett | Miami Herald The world's most famous journalist isn't Peter Arnett or Bob Woodward or Carl Bernstein or Dan Rather. His name is Sami al-Hajj. Chances are you've never heard of him. That should worry you.

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