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H1 Ha’aretz – Editorial Turn over every stone The official announcement published yesterday in three capitals - Jerusalem, Damascus and Ankara - about the opening of indirect peace talks between Syria and Israel, under the aegis of Turkey, is a source of great hope but also suspicion.

Rosner Will he or won't he attack? It's doubtful Bush knows A fateful strategic issue - certainly for the State of Israel - became a plaything this week for the American election circus. The Iranian threat is now the Iranian debate: to threaten or talk, to attack or wait

Harel Too many question marks

Washington Post Israel, Syria Disclose Indirect Peace Talks Turkish Officials Mediating; Golan at Issue

ANALYSIS U.S. on the Outside in Peace Efforts By Robin Wright

Lebanon Accord Offers a Respite

Essential Issues Still Unresolved

Iraqi Troops Welcomed In Sadr City U.S. Absence Seems To Make Difference

The Old Titans All Collapsed. Is the U.S. Next?End of Empire? This could be the beginning of the end for the world's last superpower

Financial Times Europe is a geopolitical dwarf Most European geopolitical gurus believe that the EU can survive well as a free-rider on US power, counting on it to keep the world safe while Europe tends to its internal gardens. The paucity of European strategic thinking is stunning, writes Kishore Mahbubani

Obama inches closer to victory

But the Democratic party is weakened and divided. If the party is to succeed in November, the wavering super-delegates had better make up their minds

WORLD NEWS: Food prices forecast to stay high for 10 years

Guardian Obama backs off Iran talks pledge Campaign notes proper preparations must before committing to diplomatic meeting with Iran president

Persian pipelines Roger Howard: A century after the west struck oil in the Middle East, today's great secure energy hope is Iran

Peace delayed Leader: There are many reasons why the peace talks between Israel and Syria could fail

Newsweek How Israel-Syria Talks Could Affect Iran Ties

“DPRK-Syria Bilateral Contacts, 2005-2007,” Open Source Center, May 2, 2008.

Syrian Media – The Challenge and the Need to Act

Syrian Media – The Challenge and the Need to Act | Part II

Slate Travels in the Former Soviet Union Azerbaijan turns toward Islam. Joshua Kucera

RFE/RLA Potentially Lucrative Thaw In Relations Following talks in Baku, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan could be closer to agreeing on how to divide up the Caspian energy resources located between them -- and on a pipeline to send them west.

Bush's Islamist Enemies By: Mohamad Bazzi | The Nation
President George W. Bush was rightly condemned last week when he implied that Democrats want to "negotiate with terrorists" because they are driven by "the false comfort of appeasement," while Republicans are committed to fighting terrorism. But in his speech before Israel's Knesset, Bush made another dangerous statement that got far less attention: He lumped together Al Qaeda with the Islamist groups Hamas and Hezbollah

Syria and Israel: tactical advantage, MESH

Debka Analysis: Doha accord swings Lebanon’s balance of power to Shiite Hizballah

Why did Nasrallah disobey Tehran and Damascus in Doha?

Lebanese Crisis Ends: Hizballah Victory or Temporary Truce?, The Washington Institute

A Medal for Brass By: Nina Shea | The Weekly Standard
Already dogged by a reputation for promoting religious extremism abroad and repression at home, the government of Saudi Arabia now faces growing resentment at the soaring price of oil. As is their custom, Saudi rulers have responded with a public relations campaign. It's a campaign built on deception.

Defense Intelligence Strategy 2008 (PDF: 2.6 MB) Source: U.S. Department of Defense (via Federation of American Scientists)

Obama to Ahmadinejad: Atomic Assist By: Amir Taheri | New York Post Critics of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's provocative foreign policy were preparing to launch a series of attacks on him in the Islamic Majlis, Iran's ersatz parliament. But then Ahmadinejad got an unexpected boost from Barack Obama

Debating Liberal Internationalism By: Matthew Yglesias et al | The American Prospect Matt Yglesias explains how Democrats have been hurt themselves with incoherent foreign policy thinking and how they can improve in the future, and David Rieff, Justin Logan, David Frum, Derek Chollet and Anne-Marie Slaughter respond

Middle East Oil: Defying the Experts By: Roger Howard | International Herald Tribune
The arguments of advocates of "peak oil," who assert that global oil production has now climaxed and will start to decline, appear increasingly plausible. But a look at the history of such expert opinion provides reason for skepticism

New York Times Israel Holds Peace Talks With Syria The governments confirmed that Israel and Syria have begun indirect peace talks, mediated by Turkey, aimed at reaching a comprehensive accord.

Diplomatic Effort Seeks to Ease Tensions and Lead to Talks in Georgian Enclave

News Analysis: Advice Given, but Not Always Followed, by White House

Deal for Lebanese Factions Leaves Hezbollah Stronger

Breaking Impasse, European Nations Agree to Start Broad Talks With Russians

The Sole Superpower in Decline: The Rise of a Multipolar World by Shri Dilip Hiro.

The NCTC gets America's counterterrorism priorities right
By David Ignatius

WSJ Lebanon Deal Boosts Hezbollah

Rival Lebanese factions reached an agreement to resolve their 18-month political crisis. The breakthrough deal sets presidential elections for Sunday and gives Hezbollah and its allies veto power over all government decisions.

Wall Street Journal How to Think About the World's Problems
By Bjorn Lomborg
Global warming shouldn't be at the top of anyone's priority list.

Obama's Troubling Instincts
By Karl Rove The senator should be specific about what he intends to offer our enemies.

IEA to Slash Oil-Supply Estimate Energy watchdog IEA is preparing a sharp downward revision of its global oil-supply forecast, a shift that reflects deepening pessimism over whether oil companies can keep abreast of booming demand

NY Sun Submarines for Syria? – Editorial

Is Bin Laden Moving on from Iraq? - Paul Reynolds (BBC News)

Hizbollah and Lebanon: the curse of a state , Robert G Rabil

Kosovo to Kashmir: the self-determination dilemma, Sumantra Bose

China v Russia: communist mask v democratic hat, Christoph Neidhart

Daily Star Editorial Lebanon has given itself a chance to end a miserable, murderous cycle

Something radically new after Doha By Michael Young

Christian Science Monitor Qatari deal defuses Lebanese crisis The agreement gives Hezbollah and the opposition allies of the Shiite militants enough control in the government to have veto power over

Israel confirms Golan Heights talks with Syria The two countries, after an eight-year hiatus, are talking about an Israeli withdrawal in exchange for peace.

Guantánamo ex-detainee tells Congress of abuse Murat Kurnaz, who testified in a landmark hearing Tuesday, says he spent days chained to the ceiling of an airplane hanger. He was determined innocent in 2002, but held until 2006

Georgia sees itself as front line in fending off Russia The Columbia-educated president's party is expected to retain power in Wednesday's parliamentary elections. In an interview, he describes why he sees the country as the front line against Russian aggression.

Obama starts to attract Clinton voters Despite divisive primaries, he has a record lead over Clinton among Democratic voters, a new poll finds.

IHT BUSH AND 'APPEASEMENT' It's also called diplomacy By CHARLES A. KUPCHAN AND RAY TAKEYH History makes amply clear that longstanding rivalries usually require engagement.

Top ETA leader is seized in France

The Spanish and French authorities said that they had arrested one of the highest-ranking members of ETA, Francisco Javier López Peña, and three others in Bordeau

H 2

Israel, Syria hold indirect peace talks through Turkish moderators

Ha'aretz Turkey: Goal is direct meeting next month

Jerusalem Post Is Turkey's government starting a Muslim Reformation... By DANIEL PIPES

Is Iran holding Bayık as a bargaining chip against Turkey?

AP Türkiye raporu
Rapor, 'AKP kararı Venedik kriterlerine uygun olmalı' diyor

Avrupa'den herkese mesaj var
Avrupa Parlamentosu, hükümete 'Türban sorununu geniş mutabakatla çözün'; AKP'yi kapatma davasını görüşen Anayasa Mahkemesi'ne 'Venedik Komisyonu'nun ilkelerine uygun karar bekliyoruz' mesajı verdi