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H1 White House State of the Union

Washington Post Editorial Final State Rather than review a troubled record, President Bush aims for some last-year achievements.

Asia Times A China base in Iran? With the French setting up a small military base in the United Arab Emirates and with the US's presence in the Persian Gulf well established, growing Iran-China cooperation on the energy and trade fronts is bound to spill over into more meaningful military cooperation. The first step would be to allow Beijing a base at one of Iran's Persian Gulf ports or on one of its islands. - Kaveh L Afrasiabi

New York TimesBush Speech Focuses on War and Taxes Facing an unstable economy and an unfinished war, President Bush used his final State of the Union address to call for passage of his tax rebate package and patience in Iraq. Text: The Address | The Democratic Response

News Analysis: A Defiant Look at What Little Lies Ahead

In Turkey, a Step to Allow Head Scarves

DAVID BROOKS The Kennedy Mystique Something fundamental has shifted in the Democratic Party, now that a throng of Kennedys has endorsed Barack Obama.

Financial Times The battle for food, oil and water The costs of food and energy are rising fast. The availability of water is also becoming an issue, from Australia to Africa. The struggle for these three basic commodities – food, energy and water – came up repeatedly for discussion in Davos, writes Gideon Rachman. And the biggest driver of increased prices is growing wealth in China and India

Iran warns against hasty security resolution Tehran urges the UN security council to wait for the next report from the international nuclear watchdog before adopting a third resolution, saying it would respond ‘seriously’ to hasty action

From the Archive The Israeli "art student" mystery - Salon.com For almost two years, hundreds of young Israelis falsely claiming to be art students haunted federal offices -- in particular, the DEA. No one knows why -- and no one seems to want to find out.

Iran’s new order, Nasrin Alavi

Guardian Putin's Balkan mischief Morton Abramowitz A diplomatic offensive needs to be launched to undercut Russian opposition to independence for Kosovo

EurasiaNet The Iranian-Turkmen Gas Row: And the Winner is ... Russia
BY YIGAL SCHLEIFER A natural gas-supply dispute between Turkmenistan and Iran has the potential to significantly alter the Caspian Basin’s energy export calculus in Russia’s favor.

Christian Science Monitor

No way to avoid Hamas now Excluding the militant group won't secure peace in the Middle East.

Los Angeles Times A Cold War redux is seen on the horizon Though the U.S. plays down tensions, some observers say Russia sees advantages to being an enemy

Asia Times Neo-cons shaken, but not deterred Washington's foreign policy "realists" are on the rebound against their battle-hardened neo-conservative rivals. The hawks are down, but far from out, writes lapsed neo-con author Jacob Heilbrunn in a new book about what he refers to as a "mindset". Neo-cons are now scrambling to detach themselves from President George W Bush and Iraq and entrench themselves ever more deeply into institutional Washington. - Jim Lobe

IHT KOSOVO, CHINA AND TAIWAN Whose problem is it? By DREW THOMPSON AND NIKOLAS GVOSDEV Faced with indications that the United States and most member-states of the European Union will recognize Kosovo - while Russia will not - China will have to decide where its interests most closely lie.

Turkey's Brave New World -- Part III | Stratfor

Ümit Fırat: Kürt meselesi bir aşk acısı değil ki zamanla küllenir diye bekleyelim!

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