073008f - 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 Rand US Should Rethink "War On Terrorism" Strategy to Deal with Resurgent Al Qaida Full Document All terrorist groups eventually end. But how do they end? The evidence since 1968 indicates that most groups have ended because (1) they joined the political process (43 percent) or (2) local police and intelligence agencies arrested or killed key members (40 percent). News Release

Project on National Security Reform Cites Need for Restructuring of U.S. National Security System News Release Preliminary Findings Report

Wall Street Journal U.S., Iraq Closer to Security Deal Negotiations between Washington and Baghdad over a long-term security pact are heating up, the result of the White House's embrace of a flexible timeline for pulling troops. The optimism marks a turnaround from just a month ago, when big differences seemed to have deadlocked talks over the terms of a continued American military presence in the country

Failed Trade Talks Signal Shift

World trade talks collapsed over food tariffs, reflecting a dramatic shift in the influence and interests of China, India and Brazil. The failure by negotiators at the WTO leaves the so-called Doha Round of talks dead in the water for "the foreseeable future," said EU trade chief Peter Mandelson.

Financial Times Doha trade talks collapse The Doha round of global trade talks, now in its seventh year, broke up without agreement on Tuesday after nine days of tense negotiations

The world cannot grow its way out of this slowdown It is surprising how many policymakers and pundits believe economic policy should aim to keep pushing demand up. If all regions attempt to stimulate demand, there will be higher commodity prices and ultimately a bigger crash in the not-too-distant future, says Kenneth Rogoff

Iraqi Army Seeks Out Insurgents and Arms in Diyala, Backed by U.S. Forces

Carnegie The Rise of the Rest: How the Ascent of Russia and China Affects Global Business and Security

USIP The Future of the US Military Presence in Iraq

Israel's Airstrike on Syria's Nuclear Reactor: Preventive War and the Nonproliferation Regime

Spencer Ackerman provides an update on the US Department of State's Counterinsurgency: A Guide for Policy-Makers (October 2007 version).

Asia Times Good cop, bad cop: Pakistan reels
Even as the United States rebukes Pakistan over its performance in the "war on terror", it hands Islamabad four F-16 fighter jets as a reward for siding with Washington. Then the US launches a missile attack into Pakistani territory, killing an al-Qaeda commander. These contradictions test Islamabad's will, to the advantage of the Taliban and al-Qaeda. - Syed Saleem Shahzad

'Pushover' Maliki stands his ground Many in the George W Bush administration dismiss Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's demand for a United States timeline for withdrawal of its troops as political posturing, assuming that he will abandon it under pressure, just as he did in 2006. But Maliki now has much greater purchase to defy Bush than he did two years ago. - Gareth Porter

Russia takes control of Turkmen (world?) gas
Gazprom, Russia's energy leviathan, has signed two major agreements in a new scheme to purchase gas from Turkmenistan. This deals the United States a huge defeat in the race for Caspian gas and strengthens Moscow's hand in setting the price of world gas. - M K Bhadrakumar

Christian Science Monitor

Iraqis more secure, but few are finding jobs Most jobs are in the military, police, and intelligence forces. But Iraqis say those jobs are only attained through family ties or bribes.

Can Iraq's new calm hold?

Improved security has boosted optimism, but US commanders want to be assured it is "irreversible."

Sons of Iraq made Iraq safer. What's their mission now? The US military is trying to transition 103,000 Iraqi neighborhood guards into steady work.

Obama and McCain as neo-neocons They compete over who can better attack Al Qaeda in Pakistan – unilaterally.

Los Angeles Times The death of Belgium? By Ian Buruma

Flemish and Walloon nationalism threatens the country. The European Union could face a similar fate.

Guardian Miliband: Labour needs to change and change now

Exclusive: Foreign secretary, writing in the Guardian, calls for clarity of leadership

Last-ditch WTO talks collapse

US objects to 'special safeguard mechanism', designed to protect farmers in the developing world

National insecurity Martin Woollacott: The Pakistani army must change its tactics if it is to halt a descent into chaos

The world isn't flat – it's networked David Singh Grewal: Globalisation does not 'flatten' opportunity in the world: rather it forces everyone to conform to an underlying standard

Daily Telegraph Bush spikes some of McCain's guns The Republican candidate is looking like the odd man out as the President moves closer to Obama's positions on Iraq and Iran, says Irwin Stelzer.

Petraeus: Iraqis could regain control by 2010 General David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq, has offered his most optimistic assessment so far.

The Times Obama: voters are nervous about me John McCain is ahead in the latest poll despite his lacklustre campaign and Barack Obama's successful international tour

India and Pakistan in Kashmir clash A 16-hour gun battle across a disuputed border in Kashmir is described as the most serious violation of the 2003 ceasefire pact

Maddox India deserves help as the problems pile up India’s smooth success has been taken for granted. That is a mistake

Al-Qaeda's creep into North Africa As the jihadists face defeat in Iraq and Afghanistan, they are moving stealthily into a new power base Amir Taheri

Heritage Foundation Saving the NPT and the Nonproliferation Regime in an Era of Nuclear Renaissance

Ha’aretz – Israeli officials: Syria taking peace talks seriously

Editorial: Why aren't we taking on rampaging settlers?

Abbas: If Israel frees Hamas prisoners, I will dismantle PA

The future belongs to Asia Bill Emmott, 'Rivals: How the power struggle between China, India and Japan will shape our next decade' Download item (89KB PDF)

Pakistan: Bush Administration Sticks with Pakistani Military
BY RICHARD WEITZ President George W. Bush is talking to Pakistan’s civilian leaders, but the US presidential administration continues to exhibit a stubborn preference for maintaining close ties with the Pakistani military, an institution that is widely discredited inside the South Asian state

Struggle ahead for Afghanistan

WHEN THE next president enters the Oval Office in January, he will face the toughest foreign policy decisions of any president since Franklin Roosevelt. But the toughest of all will involve the struggle for Afghanistan. (By Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould, Boston Globe)

Independent Leading article: The trade talks are over. What now?

H2 Washington Institute The Future of the Iraqi Kurds Soner Cagaptay, editor - What is the Kurdish Regional Government's current status in northern Iraq, and what implications does it hold for the United States? Is Kurdish independence a likely scenario? (Full text)

BBC Rendezvous with the PKK Clive Myrie tells how he recently travelled to northern Iraq to put allegations of terrorism to the group's leader

Guardian Turkish society on trial

Stephen Kinzer: Two major court cases in Turkey this week hold the keys to the future of democracy and the rule of law in the country

BBC Turkish jets 'attack PKK hideout' The Turkish military says its fighter planes have attacked a hideout of the Kurdish rebel PKK in northern Iraq.

Washington-Ankara-Tahran hattındaki Tel Aviv virajı -

‘Darbeler PKK’yı uyuşturucuya yöneltti’

Petrolcü Perle

AK Parti tehdit değil

Foreign media warn of risks of AK Party closure

'AK Parti kapatılırsa hepimiz kurban oluruz'

Ergenekon davası tam Da Vinci’lik!

EDM ERGENEKON INDICTMENT DASHES HOPES OF FINAL RECKONING WITH TURKEY’S “DEEP STATE”

Comment from Jane’s Middle East Editor on the Bombings in Turkey
Jane's

Turkish Strikes in Northern Iraq 'Retaliation' for Istanbul Bombing

Al Hayat The Turks Are Fine; We Are Jealous! Jamil Theyabi - Is Turkey on the verge of a new revolution in politics, arts, culture, and sports? Has the Turkish mentality changed with the desire to retrieve a European-influenced "Ottoman" empire?

The fundamentalist persuasion of Turkish secularism by RALPH HUBBEL*

'Silah ihtiyacımızın yarısını yerli kaynaklardan sağlayacağız'

Nükleer diplomasi

Gül'ün Erivan yolu Bakü'den geçecek

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

MİT ajanının sızdığını PKK'lılar da kabul etti

Nagehan Alçı Sorumlu TAK (Kürdistan Özgürlük Şahinleri) mı?

Sami Kohen Kerkük bombası

Nasuhi Güngör ‘Kürt Gladio’su var mı?

Kerkük diken üstünde

İsrail-Suriye diyaloğu dördüncü turunda

Kardeş kavgası çıkarmak için Mersin'i pilot bölge seçmişler

Kerkük'te gerilim
Iraklı müsteşar Muzaffer Aslan'a sorduk

33 erin şehit edilmesinde azmettirici Perinçek mi?

Talabani’den Gül’e Kerkük telefonu

Turkish planes attack rebel Kurds in Iraq

PKK'dan müteahhit teröriste infaz kararı

‘Darbeler PKK’yı uyuşturucuya yöneltti’

PKK’yı dolandırıp inşaatçı oldu

Brian Katulis The Kirkuk Impasse

Iraqi Kurdish Press Highlights 29 Jul 08

Kurdish Exiles in Germany Feel Pain of Protracted War at Home Deutsche Welle

Cevdet Aşkın

India Keen to Be Part of Turk Pipeline Plan

Olmert Sends Envoys to Turkey For More Syria Talks

Amnesty International Urges Iran to End Discrimination Against its Kurdish community.

Ankara’da değil İstanbul’da ağırlanacak

Iraqi Kurds Protest in Arbil Against Provincial Election Law

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

"Kıbrıs’ta uzlaşmacı başkanlar dönemi", Hugh Pope in Star (Turkey)

US basketball to be tested by tall Turks

Bush'un Erivan elçi adayı onaylandı

Downer: Liderler çözüm sözü verdi

Cuntz: Türkiye, Irak veya Afganistan değil

Hedo Okur Tuncay Nihat Altintop

KEY skandalı

Milyonlarca kişinin TC kimlik ve sigorta numarası gibi kişisel bilgilerinin KEY listelerinde yayımlanması tartışma yarattı.

Biyoloji öğretmeni evrime 'mesafeli'

Türkiye'nin ilk milli tankı için imzalar atıldı

Milli tank için düğmeye basıldı

‘Sayın Koç tank için 78.5 ay bekleyemeyiz, işi hızlandırın’

Üniversitenin seçilmiş kralları -

A savory Turkish delight A jar of eggplant and red peppers in olive oil is a delicious reminder of a trip to Turkey.

Feathered fight clubs spur outrage A brutal blood sport to some, a time-honored tradition for others, cockfighting is illegal in Turkey but survives in clandestine dens across the country. Defenders of the practice are fighting tooth and nail to have the sport legalized and given back to the public. - Fazile Zahir

H3 Ergenekon şemasında Deniz Baykal da var

Ergenekon’u Danıştay’a bağlayan dokuz köprü

Ergenekon reenkarnasyona uğradı

Çukurambar senaryoları

MİT ajanının sızdığını PKK'lılar da kabul etti

Baykal savcıya meydan okudu: Çıkar cübbeni

Kardeş kavgası çıkarmak için Mersin'i pilot bölge seçmişler

Neden gizli gizli buluştunuz

Kapatma davasında karar için kritik gün

Kapatma davasında son aşamaya doğru

AKP davasında hızla finale doğru

Emekli DGM Başsavcısı’nın Ergenekon analizi

Hayal’in avukatını tutan “hatırlı kişi” ortaya çıktı

Bu yıl terfisi gelen generallerin tam listesi Ya terfi edecekler, ya da emekli edilecekler...

Dava bitmeden Hak Parti kuruldu

"Ergenekon'un 1 numarası Şener Eruygur" iddiası

Emekli Tümgeneral Pamukoğlu parti kuruyor

'AKP kapatılırsa Erdoğan Cumhurbaşkanı olacak'

Kapatma davası sürerken ortaya müthiş bir iddia daha atıldı

JP Morgan'ın raporu Borsa'yı uçurdu

Tekin Glock satışında bulunmuş

Savcılar Muzaffer Tekin’in Baltalimanı’nda buluştuğu üç kişi ile Glock marka silah sattığını iddia etti.

Ergenekon uses Workers' Party as cover for illegal activities

Erbakancı görünümlü Ergenekoncular

Ergenekon'un kirli yuvası: Dilovası

Polis, teröristin görüntülerini tespit etti

YAŞ sorusuna kızdı: Böyle hassas şeyler sormayın

Devlet kurumlarında Ergenekon paniği!

İşte Özden Örnek'in kayıp röportajı

Son Dakika Milliyet Hürriyet Zaman

Cengiz Çandar Güngören'deki alçaklığın ardında kim, niçin var

Ahmet Taşgetiren MİT nerede? ---- Ergenekon'un ideolojik açmazı

Ruşen - Çakır

Taha Akyol Anayasal yargının görevi?

Fikret Bila Baykal: Bir araya gelirim

Hasan Cemal Tahran’dayım ama aklım kapatma davasında...

Murat Yetkin Gül’ün Erdoğan’la alışılmadık buluşması

İsmet Berkan Karanlık güç sıkıntısı çekmeyen ülke

Bilal Çetin

6’ya 5 rüzgarını kim estiriyor?

Fehmi Koru Bölünmüş yoğun hayatlar

Taha Kıvanç Başsavcı'nın itirazı var...

Eyüp Can Baykal'dan Yüksek Askeri Şura yorumu

Şamil Tayyar

Ali Bayramoğlu Radikal demokrasi ile makul adamlar ----

Yaşanan toplumsal tahribat ve siyaset

Yasemin Çongar

Ertuğrul Özkök Oh! Hayatım kurtuldu

Fatih Altaylı Erdoğan'ın kapatma sonrası planı

Serdar Turgut Kapatma kararı zor gözüküyor

İsmail Küçükkaya Tarih kritik, görüşme önemli...

Mustafa Karaalioğlu Nükleer gerilim hattında diyalog

Ahmet Hakan Konya’dan bildiriyorum

Sabahattin Önkibar El Cezire TV'ye AKP kapatılmazsa İkinci Cumhuriyet fiilen kurulur dedim

M Ali Birand

Cüneyt Ülsever Demokratsız demokrasi

Enis Berberoğlu

Gülay Göktürk

Askerin hukuk saygısı
MEHMET ALİ KIŞLALI

İddianamenin şifresi
AVNİ ÖZGÜREL

İBRAHİM KARAGÜL

Türkiye'yi aşan büyük irade, roller dağıtıyor

Güngör Mengi

Ne dönüyor?

Okay Gönensin

En büyük tuzak

Mehmet Tezkan

Gül ile Erdoğan yeni partiyi mi konuştu!

Can Ataklı

Cumhurbaşkanı-Başbakan gizli görüşe yapamaz

Oktay Ekşi Tuhaf değil mi?

Tufan Türenç Terör nutukla değil istihbaratla önlenir

Özdemir İnce Yazı mı tura mı?

Mehmet Y Yılmaz Gizli buluşma muamması

Yalçın Doğan Hayatımızı değiştiren iddia

MUHARREM SARIKAYA

ERDAL ŞAFAK Barış mı, savaş mı?

İdeolojilerinin farklı olmasına rağmen... ORAL ÇALIŞLAR

ENGİN ARDIÇ Cirmi kadar yer yakar

ERGUN BABAHAN
Yürümek

EMRE AKÖZ Piyasa düşmanları nasıl bir karar alır?

Umur Talu Tüm silahların seri numarası taşlanarak silinmişti!

HASAN BÜLENT KAHRAMAN

'Dağdan gelip bağdakini kovanlar'

NAZLI ILICAK Darbecileri kırağı çaldı

[Yorum - Etyen Mahçupyan] Ergenekon'un temel gerçeği

MEHMET BARLAS Fobi yönetimi ve "Aman oyuna gelmeyelim" sendromu

MAHMUT ÖVÜR

YAVUZ DONAT 70 milyon hukukçu

Ekonomi

Cari açık için 10 öneri

ABDURRAHMAN YILDIRIM

Yabancı iyimser yerli niye karamsar?

Ercan Kumcu Piyasada para yok

Erdal Sağlam

Ege Cansen Dükkan kiraları

Hurşit Güneş Kronik sorundu, korkunç sorun oldu

İBRAHİM KAHVECİ "Ekonomi çok iyiymiş" bizi kim kandırıyor?

Deniz Gökçe Şikayet çözüm değildir!

İ.Hüseyin Yıldız
Sanayileşme politikası

Güngör Uras Faizle birlikte ‘enflasyon’ da ‘cari açık’ da yükseliyor

Political Memo: McCain Goes Negative, Worrying Some in G.O.P.

Obama’s Quest to Find a Running Mate Sends His Researchers on the Road

Senator Charged in Scheme to Hide Gifts of Oil Firm

U.S. Blacks, if a Nation, Would Rank High on AIDS

H5 Washington Post Trade Talks Crumble in Feud Over Farm Aid

Editorial Doha's Demise China casts a dismaying veto on global free trade.

Strategy Against Al-Qaeda Faulted

Report Says Effort Is Not a 'War'

Sunni Insurgents Targeted in Diyala Province Iraqi-Led Offensive in Volatile Region Near Baghdad Also Takes Aim at Smugglers, Shiite Militias

A Dwindling Oil Supply? - Steven Mufson

Book World: 'A Path Out Of The Desert'

Karadzic Extradited to The Hague

Charged with genocide, former Bosnian Serb leader to appear before U.N. war crimes tribunal

Sen. Stevens Indicted On 7 Corruption Counts Longest-Serving GOP Senator Is Accused of Making False Statements About Money From Alaska Oil Firm

President Obama Continues Hectic Victory Tour By Dana Milbank,

Barack Obama has long been his party's presumptive nominee. Now he's becoming its presumptuous nominee

Economic Harmony on the Left

By Harold Meyerson, Page A15

Barack Obama's meeting Monday with 20 economic advisers was remarkably harmonious.

The Homeownership Obsession

By Robert J. Samuelson, Page A15

We think everyone should own, but many families can't or shouldn't

U.S. Wary of Pakistani Appeal for More Cooperation

Olympic Reprieve Iraq is allowed to send two athletes to the Beijing Games by a bureaucracy that singled it out for punishment.

Rights Group Reports Torture by Palestinian Security Forces

Bush Tells Chinese Dissidents He Will Push Beijing to Make Reforms

Culture of Corruption By Dan Froomkin

H6 Guardian Miliband: Labour needs to change and change now

Exclusive: Foreign secretary, writing in the Guardian, calls for clarity of leadership

Comment: David Miliband

Foreign secretary under pressure to take PM's job

Politics blog: How worried should Brown be?

Last-ditch WTO talks collapse

US objects to 'special safeguard mechanism', designed to protect farmers in the developing world

National insecurity Martin Woollacott: The Pakistani army must change its tactics if it is to halt a descent into chaos

The world isn't flat – it's networked

David Singh Grewal: Globalisation does not 'flatten' opportunity in the world: rather it forces everyone to conform to an underlying standard

Labour's Scotland problems will soon become English Geoffrey Wheatcroft: The party's embrace of devolution was cynically motivated. Now it has backfired horribly. But can Cameron capitalise?

Alaskan Republican in fraud probe

Legendary senator Ted Stevens, 84, has been under investigation by the FBI for more than a year

Lukewarm turnout at Karadzic rally

15,000 Serb nationalists converge on Belgrade in attempt to challenge pro-western government

Spread of HIV/Aids slows - UN study Drop in infection due to cautious sexual behaviour and improved treatment, says UN study

Burma and Zimbabwe witness the last gasps of the supreme global sheriff Martin Jacques: The west can no longer impose its will on the increasingly powerful and self-confident nations of the developing world

Faith is not the answer Terry Sanderson: Whatever you think of our modern-day woes – and some aren't even all that woeful – religion doesn't offer the solution

China is a law unto itself Jonathan Fenby: Amnesty International reports that the host of the 2008 Olympics hasn't become any more cuddly – but it comes as no surprise

H7

World trade talks end in collapse Talks to help liberalise global trade have reportedly collapsed after failing to agree on how farm trading rules should be reformed

Al Awsat The Syrian-Israeli Courtship : Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed

Islam and Human Rights: In the Name of Islam

Maha Azzam, August 2008 The World Today, Volume 64, Number 8/9 Download article here

Lowy Institute After Doha: the search for Plan B

What 's Motivating Shift in US-Iran Policy? Voice of America

Afghanistan surpasses Iraq as deadliest spot for U.S. troops With only 11 American troops killed so far in July, the month is likely to see the lowest American death toll in Iraq since U.S. troops invaded in 2003. Troop deaths in Afghanistan stood at 23, making July the first month when more Americans died there than in Iraq.

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

US-Iraq forces begin new offensive in Diyala (AP)

Iraqi, US Forces Meet No Resistance in Diyala Op

Iraq's rebuilding planned at nearly $120 billion

Iraqis attack al-Qaeda stronghold

Iraqi forces backed by American troops launch a major operation against insurgents in the Iraqi province of Diyala.

WSJ Turf War Hits Iraq's Oil Industry Iraq's central government is trying to reassert control over South Oil, the state-owned oil company, by reassigning top executive Jabber el-Leaby. South Oil is resisting the removal, and the squabble has some worried the company is being sucked into Iraq's crippling political infighting

Iranian Press Menu 29 Jul 08

US trying to salvage gains in Mideast talks

H9 Ha’aretz – Israeli officials: Syria taking peace talks seriously

Editorial: Why aren't we taking on rampaging settlers?

Knesset approves expanding powers of national security chief

Abbas: If Israel frees Hamas prisoners, I will dismantle PA

Olmert: Syria must choose between peace and isolation Olmert and Livni at odds over concessions to Syria; PM: Chances for success greater than risks

ANALYSIS: Israeli security forces losing control in the West Bank IDF officers are having difficulty keeping the escalating protests against the security fence in check

U.S. says settlements are 'problem' as Israel-PA talks shift to Washington Rice: Mideast won't improve without Palestinian state; Qureia slams plan for new West Bank housing

Jerusalem Post Did German minister illicitly strike €100m. deal with Iran? Contract for liquefied natural gas "not compatible" with Merkel's Knesset address, says head of the German-Israeli friendship society.

Barak: No option off the table on Iran In Washington, defense minister reaches agreement with Gates on upgrading Israel's defense systems

Can bores be president? What is more important: charismatic leadership or quiet moral purpose?

Yedioth Ahronoth 'In two months we'll be safer'

Defense Minister Barak in Washington, secures US promise to link Israel to missile alert system

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

CFR Should Hamas Be Included in the Mideast Peace Process?

Why the US should support Israel-Syria talks Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Israeli soldier fires at Palestinian crowd, killing 10-year-old boy

Israel, Syria Find New Incentives to Make Peace After Stalemate By: Janine Zacharia | Bloomberg News
Israel and Syria have suddenly found fresh reasons to try to make peace after eight years of stalemate

Blast rockets Hamas training camp in Gaza, 5 hurt (AP)

H10 Christian Science Monitor

Iraqis more secure, but few are finding jobs Most jobs are in the military, police, and intelligence forces. But Iraqis say those jobs are only attained through family ties or bribes.

Can Iraq's new calm hold?

Improved security has boosted optimism, but US commanders want to be assured it is "irreversible."

Sons of Iraq made Iraq safer. What's their mission now? The US military is trying to transition 103,000 Iraqi neighborhood guards into steady work.

Obama and McCain as neo-neocons They compete over who can better attack Al Qaeda in Pakistan – unilaterally.

Taliban's war of words undermines Afghanistan's nation building A successful propaganda campaign has weakened public support for the Afghan government and its international backers, according to a new report from the International Crisis Group.

Serb radicals rally around Karadzic Further delay in his extradition to the UN war crimes tribunal, where he faces 11 charges including genocide, could undermine President Tadic's pro-Europe government.

A global bid to connect Muslims and Christians Faith leaders' quest for understanding, commonality begins Tuesday at Yale.

ASIA

China's Low Self-Esteem

Newsweek on why the Olympic host suffers from a national "inferiority complex."
Morgan Smith

The future belongs to Asia Bill Emmott, 'Rivals: How the power struggle between China, India and Japan will shape our next decade' Download item (89KB PDF)

Pakistan: Bush Administration Sticks with Pakistani Military
BY RICHARD WEITZ President George W. Bush is talking to Pakistan’s civilian leaders, but the US presidential administration continues to exhibit a stubborn preference for maintaining close ties with the Pakistani military, an institution that is widely discredited inside the South Asian state

Struggle ahead for Afghanistan

WHEN THE next president enters the Oval Office in January, he will face the toughest foreign policy decisions of any president since Franklin Roosevelt. But the toughest of all will involve the struggle for Afghanistan. (By Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould, Boston Globe)

Doubts Mount on Afghan Surge By: Rowan Scarborough | The Washington Times While U.S. commanders and both presidential candidates are pressing the Pentagon to send more troops to Afghanistan, several military and Afghanistan analysts say a surge there will not solve and could even worsen the problems of a country famous for resisting foreign interference

Pakistan Plans a Push Into Tribal Areas By: Julian E. Barnes | Los Angeles Times
U.S. officials have long sought more action from Islamabad on the troubled region, a haven for militants. But many worry the military isn't prepared for counter-terrorism work

The South China Sea Hydra
Nautilus Instiute
An article reporting on emerging conflicts between China and ASEAN countries

H11 IHT The messy divorce of Orthodoxy President Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine chose the anniversary of the advent of Christianity in the Slavic kingdom that predated both Ukraine and Russia to call for Ukraine's Orthodox Christians to separate from the Russian Church

David Brooks: Schools and skills

America rose because it got more out of its own people than other nations. That stopped in 1970.

King Abdullah's experimentBy CLAUDE SALHANI In addressing the issue of religion as a source and motivation for today's violence, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is moving in the right direction.

Peacekeeping on the cheapBy SALIM SALIM The United Nations mission can still play a key role in addressing the crisis in Darfur, but not if it continues to suffer from a lack of resources.

EUROPE European press review

Los Angeles Times The death of Belgium? By Ian Buruma

Flemish and Walloon nationalism threatens the country. The European Union could face a similar fate.

CEPS The Perfect Storm: The political economy of the Fischler reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy

Albania's Do-Nothing Parliament By: Ledion Krisafi | World Press
In Albania, things are done too quickly or too slowly. First of all, we are an extremely bureaucratic state, and second, the parliament is a bureaucratic organization in which the chief bureaucrats resolve cases only when they want to.

Karadzic on his way to The Hague

Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is being flown from Serbia to The Hague to face war-crimes charges.

H12 RFE/RL

Google News Azerbaijan

EDM ECONOMIC FUNDAMENTALS ARE WORRISOME FOR THE MEDVEDEV-PUTIN “TANDEMOCRACY”

- CZECH REPUBLIC OFFSETTING RUSSIAN OIL SUPPLY CUTS FROM ALTERNATIVE SOURCES

- IS UKRAINE ON THE BRINK OF AN ENERGY CRISIS?

H13 The Times WTO talks collapse over tariff protection

Negotiations fell apart after a dispute over tariffs that would have enabled emerging countries to impose higher duties

Obama: voters are nervous about me John McCain is ahead in the latest poll despite his lacklustre campaign and Barack Obama's successful international tour

India and Pakistan in Kashmir clash A 16-hour gun battle across a disuputed border in Kashmir is described as the most serious violation of the 2003 ceasefire pact

Maddox India deserves help as the problems pile up India’s smooth success has been taken for granted. That is a mistake

Al-Qaeda's creep into North Africa As the jihadists face defeat in Iraq and Afghanistan, they are moving stealthily into a new power base Amir Taheri

Coal shortage leaves China facing power cuts Closure of unsafe mines and rising cost of coal is threatening an electricity crisis across Chinese industrial heartland

Violence erupts as Karadzic rally turns nasty Dozens injured as Serbian nationalists opposed to the extradition of Radovan Karadzic throw petrol bombs at police

Wall Street Journal U.S., Iraq Closer to Security Deal Negotiations between Washington and Baghdad over a long-term security pact are heating up, the result of the White House's embrace of a flexible timeline for pulling troops. The optimism marks a turnaround from just a month ago, when big differences seemed to have deadlocked talks over the terms of a continued American military presence in the country

The Demise of Doha
India dug in its heels, but the U.S. pushed for the wrong compromise.

Barack's European Vacation

By Thomas Frank
The Tilting Yard: Made new friends, got great pictures, now the economy.

Greasing the World Economy Without Doha
By Daniel Ikenson Tariffs are only one of the important barriers to trade.

H14 Financial Times Doha trade talks collapse The Doha round of global trade talks, now in its seventh year, broke up without agreement on Tuesday after nine days of tense negotiations

The world cannot grow its way out of this slowdown It is surprising how many policymakers and pundits believe economic policy should aim to keep pushing demand up. If all regions attempt to stimulate demand, there will be higher commodity prices and ultimately a bigger crash in the not-too-distant future, says Kenneth Rogoff

Hypocrisy, booze and the British tradition It was ever thus. We ‘decorous’ English have in reality always been a most dissipated and licentious people, writes Geoffrey Wheatcroft

Pulling back from the brink in Abkhazia A firm stance by the west and a statesman-like approach by Georgia’s leader can avert a conflict, writes David Phillips

US home prices plunge by 15.8%

Drug research needs serendipity

David Shaywitz and Nassim Taleb on big pharma

US consumer confidence rebounds

Consumer confidence in the US rose this month from 16-year lows, with Americans’ view of their current situation unchanged but their expectations of the future improving slightly

Obama holds bipartisan economy talks The Democratic candidate welcomed three prominent Republicans to an ‘economic summit’ aimed at displaying his consensus-building abilities

Opium trafficking in Afghanistan

While the small poppy farmer escapes the attentions of the authorities, the big drug barons do not. Karzai must end their impunity

H15 Los Angeles Times The death of Belgium? By Ian Buruma

Flemish and Walloon nationalism threatens the country. The European Union could face a similar fate.

Strike on Iran still possible, U.S. tells Israeli Ehud Barak, the Israeli defense chief, is visiting at a time when Washington has seemed to soften its stance toward Tehran

Pakistan plans a push into its tribal areas U.S. officials have long sought more action from Islamabad on the troubled region, a haven for militants. But many worry the military isn't prepared for counter-terrorism work

Editorial A deficit of discipline

Washington's reckless fiscal policies have created a massive debt -- and we're going to pay the price.

Iraq army flexes its muscle in Diyala province The operation, aimed at militias and Al Qaeda in Iraq, aims to show the military's increasing independence from U.S. forces

Is victory worth the damage?

Would victory in Iraq be worth the war's cost? The debate continues

Pickens on his energy plan

Primary Source: Petroleum giant T. Boone Pickens explains his proposal to save the U.S. from the throes of foreign oil

Police defuse 18 bombs near another Indian market Police defused 18 bombs found Tuesday near the main diamond markets in the city of Surat and issued a sketch of a young man believed to be linked to one of two explosives-filled cars discovered there

H16 American Politics

Gallup Daily: Obama 47%, McCain 41%

The Politico: The campaign is all about Obama — If you made a movie about the general election campaign so far, John McCain would be a supporting actor

Barack Obama, Shaman

By Michael Knox Beran
From City Journal: How Machiavelli anticipated the Democratic nominee's charisma.

John Judis Back to the USSR Could the Arizona senator, despite his extreme rhetoric of the bomb-bomb-Iran variety, be less like a cowboy politician and more like the man who re-opened relations with China and signed a wealth of arms control agreements with the Soviets?

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

As a Professor, Obama Enthralled Students and Puzzled Faculty — CHICAGO — The young law professor stood apart in too many ways to count. At a school where economic analysis was all the rage, he taught rights, race and gender. Other junior faculty dreamed of tenured positions; he turned them down

Alaska's Sen. Ted Stevens indicted by federal grand jury — WASHINGTON — Sen. Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican in the U.S. Senate and one of the chamber's most powerful members, was indicted Tuesday in Washington, a result of a year-long investigation into corruption in Alaska politics

H17 Daily Telegraph Bush spikes some of McCain's guns The Republican candidate is looking like the odd man out as the President moves closer to Obama's positions on Iraq and Iran, says Irwin Stelzer.

Petraeus: Iraqis could regain control by 2010 General David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq, has offered his most optimistic assessment so far.

Miliband lines up to challenge Gordon Brown

World trade talks collapse

Talks which promised to pull millions of people out of poverty and bring food and energy prices under greater control collapse.

Leader Lessons of Doha The remarkable thing about the Doha round of World Trade Organisation talks is not that they have collapsed, but that they came as close as they did to success.

John McCain in war of words with Russia

H18 Independent Trade talks fail over US farm feud Nine days – and seven years – of painful negotiations to boost the world economy by bulldozing obstacles to free trade have collapsed in Geneva.

Sean O'Grady: A missed chance to give worlda tax cut

Leading article: The trade talks are over. What now?

Curse of the DNA register One million innocent Britons 'criminalised', says damning report

Belgrade as seven jailed for Srebrenica genocide Police battled hardline Serbian nationalists on the streets of Belgrade last night after a demonstration protesting against the planned extradition of the former Bosnian Serb leader, Radovan Karadzic.

Front-runner Miliband admits Labour mistakes David Miliband has admitted Labour has made a series of mistakes and revealed his frustration at the party's inability to fight back against David Cameron's resurgent Conservatives.

H19 Military Intelligence Terrorism

Mercenaries at work
The ongoing process in the United States of the transfer of military and intelligence functions (and much of a US$66 billion budget) to private, often anonymous operatives, has made it easier for enemies to penetrate American intelligence. This has greased the slippery slope to the loss of professionalism within the community of intelligence analysts, in turn heightening the risks of war by accident, or by presidential whim. - Chalmers Johnson

Study questions US strategy against al-Qaida

Obama and the Taliban
United States presidential hopeful Barack Obama's has spoken of the close association between al-Qaeda and the Taliban. His linkage of the two groups mirrors the George W Bush administration's policy and over-simplifies a far more complex reality, against which force and violence will likely fail. - Mark LeVine

For Sale: High-Tech, Lethal Weapons By: Jody Ray Bennett | ISN Security Watch
Private military companies are expanding their offerings to clients with the latest in high-tech weapons, but some question their effectiveness.

Spencer Ackerman provides an update on the US Department of State's Counterinsurgency: A Guide for Policy-Makers (October 2007 version).

Intelligence reform at the Dept. of Energy: Policy issues and organizational alternatives (PDF; 165 KB) Source: Congressional Research Service (via U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Energy and Commerce)

H20 Slate

CFR What Does It Take to Achieve High, Sustainable, and Inclusive Growth in Developing Countries?

Foreign Investment and National Security: Economic Considerations
Source: Congressional Research Service (via OpenCRS)

H21

Till death do us part. Can anyone, in or out of a marriage, explain it? A mystical melting of man and woman into “one flesh”?... more»

At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, Herbert Hoover had his aides pick up every stray bit of paper left on tables or thrown out. Smart move... more»

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